Hypercompendia

With nearly 50 short hypertext pieces done in the last month and a half, I am indeed learning a lot in the process–though I really think that I may just start editing them before I go on. I do try to do at least the copyediting for several days after; catching all those typos and moments of thinking that come out as huhs?

There are some good moments too. The last piece, done really on a dare against a sarcastic remark I made that brought up the concept of a continuous loop of narrative (#48). That’s something that is intriguing as to hypertext structure (mobius strip?) and yet includes a brief lesson in story as well.

One thing that’s got me a bit happier is that while I’m not playing with elaborate structures here, something is improving. In #46 Suicide Notes, there is much better transitioning between the two stories being told by the first person narrator. While a few writing spaces are revisited, it is with purpose, and if some are missed in the reading, the stories still hold together. This was extremely important in this piece because of the twist at the end–which I thought was clever but maybe some readers will have guessed at it anyway. I’m sure even this piece, with the story, the structure, and the nature all rooting for it, could still use some cleaning up.

While the driving force behind my work in hypertext is to educate and intrigue to overcome a widespread distrust and reluctance by even the most voracious literary readers and students, it’s an uphill battle to drag them into my world. For me as a writer, I enjoy it enough to keep exploring the nature of hypertext narrative.