HYPERTEXT – Mapping
It’s been such fun the last couple of days getting into hypertext again. Working from Steve Ersinghaus’ New Media class collaboration of “Apartment 9”, the students were asked to select a point of entry and continue a story from there.
I find that writing flash fiction for a couple years has changed my style of writing as I mentioned in an earlier post but it’s becoming more second nature to me now to write into the hypertext narrative form. It all comes back; working with Eastgate’s Tinderbox software, recalling the process of rolling out story without being limited to a single linear arc.
The one thing that hasn’t changed: I find myself falling back into the process of a structured map. I find it easier to create several Notes at a time (blank–“untitled”) and have them ready to write into as the stories develop. Making a new note is quick and easy in Tinderbox, yet the fast-pace of story learned via writing and reading flash fiction calls for minimal interruption and having the blank text box Notes ready is helpful.
And I prefer the Map View to write into both for its visual appeal and for its obvious view of the “whole picture” of where the story is going. But I’m simply not able to make a map without creating it as a proportioned, orderly, geometrically sound piece of art in itself:
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology
October 14th, 2011 at 7:57 am
gret to see this, susan, i am also busy with tinderbox again, which is an invaluable tool when outlining and structuring a novel that as in my case, has grown from flash pieces. and keeps growing and growing…cheers from berlin!
October 14th, 2011 at 9:58 am
This is lovely Susan. Are you teaching? I am also interested in using hypertext for teaching. Kisses. Maya
October 15th, 2011 at 3:56 pm
Glad to see you using Tinderbox again Marcus. It’s really a phenomenal piece of software and I’ve used it both for hypertext stories and for organizing my writing of short stories into a more sorted grouping.
October 15th, 2011 at 3:57 pm
No, not teaching, Maya. I just sat in on a class to see what the students were up to. I’m about ready to get more into the form in writing myself.