Hypercompendia

Two kinds of magic, good and bad.  The black magic is obviously of my own doing: the get-too-excited-go-to-minimize-miss-it-hit-the-x-poof! type when I did forget to save what I’d just done.

Most famous quote from Mark Bernstein (or at least one of them): "Save your work."

The good magic: guard links.  I put one in after a text link from story #1 to prevent readers from following story #2 any further beyond that writing space.  It works nicely. Now this part is where the work comes in and I’m not sure if I want to edit the story first or do the guard links but I think that I’m at the very least going to spent a good portion of today checking out all the links (which I was supposed to do yesterday but realized that there weren’t even leftovers for supper, strange little people were banging on my front door demanding candy, and it’s hard to watch TV and work with Storyspace simultaneously).

One of the good things I have to work with in Paths is that not only are possible outcomes available, the past as seen through the eyes of three different characters touch at certain points since they are shared, but the perspectives will differ.  What I do want–or would like–to do is create a bit more of the background where there is more interaction between the characters as well as a feel for the times.  Don’t like the happy endings outshining the regrets as much as I have them here either. Must have been in a much less grumpy mood when I wrote this a couple years ago.  GD Susie Sunshine.

I do think I must check out what I have done up to this point, however; though it’s the worky-work stuff of links only.  What may be best, since it’s so close to complete, is finish it as is, then begin again with a revised version that I write directly into the Storyspace program and let my mind be creative  (while knowing what the f… I’m doing after already practicing with links and stuff). 

Later.

Oh! Oh! Oh!  Too skeered to start messing with untangling the delicate web I’ve woven, but antsy to do something for Pete’s sake, so I made a note.

A note is sort of an affiliated with the idea type of box that’s not necessarily relevant to the story, or at least that’s how I interpret it when I’m having random thoughts sparked off by an idea, or a phrase, or whatever can be expanded upon but in a linear narrative format would tend to distract.

See, in hypertext, you don’t have to squelch those neat distracting ideas.  In real life they happen all the time.  They circle in your head while you politely wait for the other guy to stop talking so you can relate your own jogged memory. 

What little time I had tonight to work on this was devoted to re-reading the stories, following the links I’ve made and marking them off against the chart.  What I’m running into now is a general feeling that I want to change this, set the stories free of their linear progression within themselves.

Also noticed that I write and think differently now and would like to play with these stories a bit more.  Though I think that I may finish what I have so far and learn the rest of the linking techniques before I go moving things around too much, since the revisions may end up being a complete rewrite.

Very interesting things are happening, I can see them.  it’s a matter now of learning how to put into words what change in thinking comes along, and what to write down when the mind wanders.  On the one hand I can see how a story builds itself by throwing out possibilities and making the characters own up (if past) or face up (if future) to the challenges.  On the other, I see the need to follow a character’s traits and tendencies so that he will act in character, even when he doesn’t (what drove him beyond? to take chances? to risk it?).

Now I’m a wanderer, true, but I’m also the conflicted by my near-anal tendency to focus.  Being a Scorpio and not believing in astrology yet fitting the hot/cold temperament near perfectly, I believe that what needs to be done here is to go ahead and scatter, and focus on it.  Or, the opposite can apply: focus on scattering.

Neat, huh?

So far, that is.  I have 76 writing spaces and 106 links, but that means that there’s actually a lot more since all you have to do is take one different and that in fact it’s a multiplier, but I’m not done yet.  Some links will be added, some will be eliminated, some spaces will be rewritten–one of the stories will be changed considerably–and I haven’t gotten into guard fields yet.  I’ve been focusing on story and I do see where there could be much, much more added to these to make them more than just reflections on past decisions. 

The concept of this story is perfect for hypertext, the cliche of "the one that got away."  I do have more to the stories, as any relationship is much more complicated simply because there are two individuals involved.  Goodness knows, if I wrote an autobiography there’d be a cast of thousands involved before I even brought in any other characters.

Now’s the time I’m looking for that cabin in the woods (or, Albert, Texas) so that I can do hypertext, all hypertext, and nothing but hypertext for a couple of days.

Several hours later and things have slowed down.  I’ve saved the project one more time as a "test" to play with the hierarchy option, and while I’ve done some good things in separating the stories, once I get beyond that it doesn’t seem to make sense for the story layout I am working with, since each has a certain linearity (ohdeargod, it just occured to me that within the stories are memory flashbacks and that’s where the hypertext should come in*) and so beyond that point it’s just a stackup for each of the four stories anyway.  Meanwhile, the map view doesn’t show the links between the stories unless I suppose I pull them out?  If I completed the process, the main map would look dopey with only a few boxes there until I produced mapviews of each writing space.

*This is yet one more point against squishing a story into boxes rather that to write for the hypertext format, and obviously, directly into it is best.

In clearing up the multi-link problem, I see that you cannot bypass the dialogue box on text links by setting priorities as you can with writing space links (at least I think so).  Not a huge problem, if I have three links to "toes" from a single "toes" it’s just a case of linking one only, then that "toes" to another, instead of back and forth among all four instances ad infinitum.  While it would be neat to have all three from one and have them selected at random (or by guard field, once I understand that option’s abilities) I knew even when writing these pieces that it was possible to overdo the hypertext environment to turn it into a jungle out of which the reader will never emerge with any grasp of reason or sanity.

A couple of quirky annoyances have started cropping up and I think it’s a case of how I’m clicking on things.  All of a sudden when I click on the title bar of a writing space it opens up to a full window and I can’t get behind it without minimizing it to see the map view where I’m trying to match a link.  Then, I find the map view in a minimized position.  Another thing is the writing space I’ve linked from (in doing text links) flies off to the side of the map upon occasion.  Luckily those link strings keep it onboard, but it’s tough knowing exactly where to move it back into proper position.    As I say, something I have to figure out what I’m doing wrong.

The most important thing I’m learning here is that the hypertext format is not just read differently, but must be written differently, that is, the story must be told in a different manner, keeping in mind a different set of rules and elements as a base.

While it’s not bad for a day’s work to have a project so far done that my mind wanders into the graphics–just one or two for the title pages, I think that I must take the time to learn the software because I am coming to a point where things’ll get messy if I go much further and then have to regroup.

Today’s goals (along with ironing, working on the new pc still laying nearly gutless on the couch and fixing a problem that naturally came up with the neighbor’s DVD/CD unit and oh yeah, putting some frame corners together and getting my drivers license renewed) are:

1. Work out the single link to many places scenario.
2. Understand and implement guard fields.
3. Understand and implement hierarchy if warranted.

Been reading the manual and looking for answers to these questions as well as reinforcing by reading the stuff I already know how to do–fast-scanning, really; Lord knows I’m not a devoted follower of directions having been among the .001% of the population that just had to find out for themselves why fresh pineapple in jello doesn’t work.

Spent all day on the couch working on this and my eyes are crossing.  This was the way to do it though; using an existing story pre-plotted for hypertext.  I have visible text and map to go by, so it’s a case of copy and paste and then look and link.  This way I can concentrate on learning the Storyspace software.

And it’s not as intimidating as I first thought.  I’ve actually read a good portion of the manual by referring to it to find out how to do something or reinforce a prior procedure (if it’s been longer than a half hour since I last performed it).  There are things I’ve screwed up, like ignoring the option of hierarchy and making use of the other views.  I also don’t know yet how to handle my three links from one keyword in the text without bringing up the link dialogue box (I think there’s a way to set priority), or if necessary, I can select different words.  And, I’m not sure I have to link back.  And, I haven’t played with guard fields yet.  But tomorrow’s another day.

So it’s been close to a 15 hour class today.  I guess I must like it.

Now this is what I was worried about when I was writing Paths in a linear format while planning it for hypertext and applying a form of linking through bold keywords and page numbers:  Toes may link to toes, but the box (writing space) or linkee you land in has to have more relation to its linkor than the word "toes" alone. 

Toes need to be wriggling in the sparkling shoreline of  Cape Cod to remember the white sands of La Jolla, preferably the same toes or those of someone those toes knows.

Might need to make some changes to story before I go plowing ahead.  Yep, time to tiptoe. (Aaargh!)

I didn’t know how to read the story as I’m ‘writing’ it into the Storyspace program, so I didn’t really check it out until now, when it’s all in there.  Wanted to see if the links are working right before I put them all in (like hundreds) and I found out how to read it as a reader would see it.

I know it’s no big deal, but just couldn’t help feeling like it was something special sitting there being told box by box, a bit at a time the way the story was meant to be told.  It just looks neat, and kind of professional and okay, okay, I’m kind of proud.