STORYSPACE: Planning
As I’ve mentioned before, I don’t go about writing story with a plot in mind. The only time I’ve done that was when I wrote a novel ten years ago and believe me, though I’m down to just a copy on the hard drive and one hardcopy (lotsa good scrap paper here), I’m to the point of really being willing to delete it forever from existence.
Storyspace does allow for a super duper plotting system, what with it’s views of Tree, Map, Chart, and Outline. It does not, however, encourage one such as I to conform to a layout that requires preplanning of narrative.
I like that. A lot.
What Storyspace does encourage is a form of going with the flow, allowing the paths to wander yet be connected by threads, titles, and color coding. I am directionally dysfunctional in my real life and that, complete to the point of fear of getting lost, was the biggest stumbling block in reading hypertext for me. With Storyspace, particularly in Map View, I don’t get that ‘lost’ feeling; I feel like a god overlooking the planet. And, I can drill down into the minutest writing space in an hierarchy to still make a guy trip over a curb and spill his coffee.
Fun stuff.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology