Hypercompendia

Oh how I wish I could show you my mapview of Paths.  Chloe and eggs and corn and murder are all in there, plus sex, you gotta have sex.

It just looks so pretty the way I’ve arranged it, although I’m sure that it won’t look quite so nice when all the links are made.  There are 70 writing spaces, most of which have links, some have several (and, several links have several link-type places to visit, such as link bars, where links are known to go after a hectic day at the office, especially on Fridays for Happy Hour.

Should have all the links done tonight, then I’ll spend the night tossing and turning for three hours’ of sleep before I’m up and changing and editing and rewriting.  After all, it can’t have been that easy.

Uh-oh.  I did a text link because it was within its own story line but I got to use the tunnel tool because the two writing spaces were not within view of each other (this’ll come in real handy when all four stories are in here).  But it just occured to me that in many (most) cases the text links are multi-used, that is, while I focused the story on specific keywords to connect the thoughts each word often has up to three places to go.  And back again, how do I do the back again?

This is neat.  Like a puzzle or a game where you find clues (try the manual, dum-dum), check out different rooms (create links), and eventually finish the task (story).

…that being the ‘oh crap, what did I do?’ section of learning, I came to a point where I could not save, I could not save as what I had, and could not save as anything at all.  You get that Warning! box (like yeah, I’m not already scared shitless) and you leave the program open for a while.  You minimize it, just in case that might help, maximize it back and try again.  You do this a coupla two-tree times and one time you even add a box–though you can’t add many more because hey, if anything that work is wasted if you just can’t save.

Finally you say the hell with it, it’s not a Pulitzer piece of literature here, and ‘sides, it’s always available in its boring Windows Word linearity version, so you close the program.  And you wait at least fifteen minutes, whisper a secret sacred phrase of magic, spin three times, clap your hands and open it again.

And dang it if it don’t work perfectly.

Storyspace makes its own chart as you work with it but there are some things that need to be figured out before they’re committed to the project, one reason why I’ve decided not to attempt to pin the collaboration of an ongoing experiment into the format.

Gotta figure out how to use Typepad "Pages" because I think this would be the perfect use, but for now, the chart I’m using for Paths is Paths Tree Chart .

This will be invaluable in speeding up the what links to what process and doublechecking that all links have been made.  Another thought is that with the color coding on the chart I do have some theme or basis to control the flow–and, backflow; I do have to add in how the story can progress once a route is taken.

Fun Stuff.

I think it’s time I moved my Storyspace adventures over to Hypercompendia, a weblog devoted to the arts of new media and hypertext in particular.  For one thing, as a learning experience the posts tend to get either glorious with discovery or take on an oh crap! what did I do? aura.

So while I may duplicate post here, the journal of the journey will be at Hypercompendia.

But it was exciting:  I had a map space laid out all nice and neat with title pages and links to the beginnings of four stories and one was on its way and I wanted to take a screenshot ’cause I was really proud of myself, y’know, but didn’t know how to do it and before I could open the manual to see if it could be done I’d messed around some more and lost the perfect image.

Next I’m going to do a text link, although I can’t until a good portion of the other stories are properly set into their boxes.  One good thing about using a ‘finished’ piece (I intend to do a lot of editing): I know I have a chart done up in Word that shows the paths.

(Duplicate posting from Spinning 10/28)

Seems I’m going to learn by trial and error(s) or maybe print out some of the Storyspace Manual pages or else I’m going to be knee-deep in empty writing spaces that appear to be breeding like rabbits.

I know there’s a proper way of doing it, but without the instructions staring me in the face and left to my own devices I’m a regular fertile Myrtle with the text boxes, touching one with intention to write and creating a cute little new box instead.

Right now instead of working with the collaboration work in progress–since it’s got more mysteries and random roads that without some skill with the software and with little idea of where this story’s going yet, I’m going to practice with something I have on file.

Paths is a composite of four stories that was published in linear format yet with a system of pseudo-hypertexting links between words that brought the stories together.  I’m familiar with it (since I wrote it) and figure maybe it’d be a good time to see how it works out in true hypertext form.  I suspect that it won’t be as creative as the hypertext environment offers, but it’s a start.

(Duplicate posting from Spinning 10/27)

Unlegalesed that means plotting and story.  In Storyspace, it seems that while your options are wide, wide open to follow wherever a thought leads you so that story winds back on itself and is ever-moving, unhampered by the tube top of linearity and story that needs to fall back on foreshadowing and backstory and where will I stick that? there will always be a need for organizing the threads.  I think of macrame’ and how the threads move from the base this way and that, meeting here and there and sometimes never again but all threads are tied up at the end of the body of work.  And a single piece made up of patterns and designs becomes the whole.

But, you do have to have some idea in mind as to how you will keep track of the different threads.  Shall I separate them by character–though the characters meet many times–or by motif which may be the best way of all.  Certainly not by time.  Time is the element we purposely have eliminated from our stories.

(Duplicate posting from Spinning 10/27)

Well I’ve learned how to do a few things and I’m trying to incorporate a story into the program just to learn and get comfortable with the software and the process. 

My basic learning style is know what you want to do and figure out how to do it.  Works somewhat, but I’ve had the manual to refer back to in many instances.  One thing in particular I don’t seem to grasp is the save feature for the file, and then pulling it back open again to work on it at a later time.  I keep losing it or can’t open it so it’s back to square one (literally).  But that’s okay, that’s reinforcement.

More later.

(Duplicate posting from Spinning 10/27)

Got it.  Downloaded and registered and ready to go.  I check out the manual and am almost intimidated: 317 pages.  I don’t like anything that takes 317 pages to learn. 

But I’d already played in this and now I’m ready.  The manual’s just a look-see.  There in case I need it while the story’s getting laid. 

I am not me and nothing I have written to this time will ever be the same.  It brings out poetics.  It brings ideas.  It is a map that’s ready to be designed into a story.

(Duplicate posting from Spinning 10/25)