Hypercompendia

Hmmm. While I’m working on getting the 100 hypertext stories into a Tinderbox file, some little problems are cropping up–not unexpected.

Have slowly changed the individual Tinderbox story files to include a note box titled “title” (or “titlec” which indicates the column css for the last 75 stories, although I’ve since changed the css on the first, but wait–that’s another whole can of worms because I’d have to change an awful lot of links already online so while they’ve been changed online to the column100.css from the main100.css, the title boxes still say title as they did–and this has to be the longest rambling explanation I’ve ever posted).

While in doing this, I’m matching the hard drive Mac file to what’s online, once I put the individual Tinderbox files into another main Tinderbox file, it reminds me that there’s already a file called “title” or “titlec”. Well, yes. There are 25 files that contain “title” and 75 files that contain “titlec.” So?

So this: In the main Tinderbox file I’ve changed the title boxes to reflect their numbers, i.e., “title33” etc.

But what about the notes that are titled “sex,” “love,” “end,” and all the rest? I’m sure that in 100 stories in 100 days I’ve duplicated many, many note titles. I can be only so creative.

I’m sure there’s an answer in agents or prototypes which ties back in with the original goal of being able to export only a single note container and it’s babies (children) to the new land of promise. This is all being done only because I wanna somehow use some of these stories to publish to a new hypertext story website by the end of the year.

Much to think about.

Just downloaded stretchtext from Nate Matias’ website as another toy element that I’m sure will add another dimension to working with hypertext.

I’ve only seen it used in fictional work by Steve Ersinghaus in a poem he wrote and had published early this year and could well see how it adds dramatic interest to a piece.

Now all I need is time to play learn.

Decided to do a little hypertext poetry in honor of the British Poetry and Poets:

The Wise Leaf

When I should have been working, I wrote up a quick poem in Tinderbox, exported it to html, cheated by picking a css color theme from the 100 Days group, ran outside and took a couple pictures of leaves, ran them through Photoshop mainly for cropping, stuck them in the poem templates, uploaded it to this site and fixed whatever I’d done wrong.

Then I let it sit a couple hours before I went back and edited a bit–not enough, just a bit–before calling it my creative output for the day.

A note from Auxhiler in Japan via twitter was like a glass of water to a dying plant this morning. He’s looking at NaNoWriMo with a text adventure slant.

I don’t want to do this, but with two words of encouragement I may be up and dancing. I went so far as to check into the word count problem. This just means that out of 15,000 plus participants signed up so far, in order to have the work recognized and official, you have to submit the text in full to the site’s wordcounter. Unfortunately, I think I’ve overcome the problem easily in Tinderbox by exporting the text into Page in a way that eliminates titles (though the path is a random one and can’t be easily read–wait a minute, maybe there is a path here that the program automatically sorts and is yet another interesting way of reading?!?!?!) I text-exported Blueberries and came out with a wordcount of 3,537 words. Most of the 100-Day stories were averaging about 1,000 so that’s 100,000 in three months.

Argh! So even though the wordcount problem has been overcome, the 50k words in 30 days is beginning to scare me. It’d be such a boost for hypertext by bringing it into the general populace of writers to do it. Gotta plan some more.

I’m thrilled to see this happening and happy to pass along the news of a great new website focused on HYPERTEXT. There’s a permanent link here to HTLit on the sidebar here and on Spinning. I’m going to copy and paste the announcement from Mark Bernstein here, as no one can say it better:

Eastgate is happy to announce the launch of  HTLit:

http://HTLit.com

HTLit focuses on reading, writing, and teaching hypertext, with daily news and useful compendia.

We hope this site will create a community in which hypertext creators, scholars, and critics can share new hypertext works, research, and teaching methods.  We’ll follow technological trends, emerging artists, and issues involving publishing, writing, and digital media.

HTLit takes a broad view of hypertext, and will cover all electronic literature and narrative new media as well as game theory, nonfiction hypertexts, electronic poetry, and inventive real-world applications of hypertext. We seek inspiration wherever we can.

The site will also include a wiki aimed at promoting discussion and collaboration.  We hope that the wiki will serve as the meeting place for researchers and creators to share their latest work to provide leads and inspiration upon which others might build. It will also serve as a portal to existing research, and a place for scholars to share their work and their sources.  To limit wikiSpam, wiki editing will be limited to HTLit patrons who subscribe for a modest fee.

We encourage you to lend a hand on the Wiki, and also to join us as a correspondent.  Send us links to interesting new media work, criticism, and tools. Tell us about courses, techniques. Show us terrific art.  We’ll give you thanks, a byline, and cash.  Here’s the scoop:

http://www.HTLit.com/Correspondents.html

PLEASE HELP SPREAD THE WORD.  Your links and Twittering make a real difference.

Please follow us on Twitter @htlit. Re-tweets and links are appreciated!

As always, thanks for your support of Eastgate!

Yes, my husband might possibly consider divorcing me if I commit to writing 18 hours a day for 30 more days, but hey, where’s he ever going to find someone like me again?

And the urge to write is there, and the ideas will come. Writing 1700 words a day wouldn’t be a big problem for me. The coding is getting easier and in fact, would be just a case of a single story rather than switching around for colors, etc. and daily exports and uploads.  I’m a lot more familiar with the medium of Tinderbox.

And the biggest reason to write of all, the driving force of getting hypertext better known and out to an audience who doesn’t have a clue it exists. Taking advantage of the NaNoWriMo reputation and interest would be a hundred times better than all I can say or do here. Even the fact that unless it’s uploaded to their site and word-counted by the NaNoWriMo officials I wouldn’t be considered a winner–and that’s of interest only because of the desire for publicity for hypertext–might have a workaround if I plead my case.

What stops me short though is that with all I’ve done to try to push the medium, there’s still so little interest and support from new audiences that I may as well just stick to doing it out of love.

Still, wouldn’t it have been cool?

It was just over ten years ago that, high on nicotine patches, I wrote a novel in three months. 180,000 words. I intended to be published before my 50th birthday.

Now, without nicotine absorbed or inhaled or any other goodies to get me going, I’m considering the NaNoWriMo, but on my own terms of hypertext style.

That’d be a good act to follow the 100 stories project, no?

Last night I took part in a panel discussion at Tunxis Community College (Farmington, CT) on the creative process along with five other participants in the 100 Days Project.

While I focused on the creative process of hypertext rather than my work, I probably inadvertently did a disservice to the medium. In showing the underpinnings of Tinderbox and the technical process of export templates, css, etc., I likely made it look more intimidating rather than a welcoming way of writing. The final stories, with their color and drama may have been more impressive and inviting than highlighting the html or the mapping–despite the fact that I personally find beauty in the symmetry and freedom of the process.

At any rate, being a writer not a speaker, I had my talk all written out and complete with the few visuals, have it available here and as a permanent link in the sidebar: The Creative Process: A Blend of Skills

While I’ve still not recovered from the 100-Day project to get back on track with reading and reviewing literature here, tonight along with five of the 14 participants I will be presenting a brief talk on the creative process.

Horror had been my most favorite reading for a couple decades in my younger days. It still attracts me, both in reading and in writing. The last of the 100 hypertexts was actually a horror story.

So that’s what’s coming through to me today, unbidden, and frankly, with a pile of picture framing to do, unwanted. But we’ll see who’s mistress and servant in my mind. Hypertext, by its nature of hidden rooms and dusty corners, is exquisitely designed to hold haunted houses and double-edged people.