Hypercompendia

I’m not going to read any more of Hypertext Now yet, since I’m still putting down my own thoughts and feelings of experiencing Storyspace for the first time and don’t want to be influenced by what looks like a very thorough coverage from a creator’s viewpoint.  So I may be going about it all wrong, but it’s my own way to navigate, just as is the nature and purpose of hypertext anyway.

I’m finding myself very, very comfortable within the setting, the space of the program.  I would like to see it looking a bit more slick perhaps for presentation to the reader, but as a writer, it’s the comfortable worn spinaround seat and the golden oak desk and plunking away on the old Royal (did I ever mention that Susie Secretary here once slammed a carriage return so hard the typewriter flew off the desk?  I was secretary to the VP of Sales at the time).  While I’d mentioned a while ago that it didn’t seem as inviting as the MAC version, it certainly is welcoming and puts one at immediate ease.

The thing is, I’m almost feeling like I have found my niche.  Though I still tend to write a bit old-fashioned, I’ve updated from Baroque and lost most of the Poe influence.  In the right mood, I can get downright experimental but I can’t quite shake the underlying tone that is my voice as a writer.  Hypertext somehow suits my different personalities, accommodating all aspects and ranges of whim.  I also appreciate the freedom of flowing thought that doesn’t necessarily require tie-ins.  Up until now, only a few very close friends and my husband (okay, mom and dad did too) understand what I’m talking about when I present something either out of the blue or totally unrelated to a discussion.  The conversation, you see, was already at full throttle in the brain and was only granted oral rights when the proper moment came along.  This is a perfect framework for hypertext I would think, leaving readers with that what the hell? feeling.

So Storyspace and its hypertext advantages suit me perfectly.  The question may be whether I suit the hypertext environment.