Hypercompendia

Love the way this is going–it is as if the medium brings out a sense of magical realism that I’d noticed as well as a force working in Storyspace.

Yolanda was dancing with a large black bear.  It was
light on its feet and its smile revealed clean long white teeth.  She
was falling in love.

As the music gathered together in pace and
intensity, the bear whirled her around and around until she felt she
was flying.  She’d never felt so happy and free.  The sweet smooth
twanging of the guitars and the rattling beat stopped with a loud
flourish and he caught her in his paws and lifted her high above his
head.  An angel flying in the sky; a white cloud drifting over the
troubles of the cockroaches in the cornmeal and the putrid water from a
dying well.

She was in ecstasy.

The map, however, is not going to be one of many paths unless I learn a better way of maneuvering within it.  While I do like the idea of a  thread of  singular narrative and the side trail of embellishment or enhanced informational text, I think I do see this as a middle ground between the complete freedom of Storyspace and the restrictive borders of traditional text.  Then again, I may only need to adjust story to medium, or select medium to match story.

Just getting into this, so I’m using text only so far, but Yolanda and her bottle of beer are ensconced in the Hypertextopia format and I’m adding as I go along.

It’s kind of slick looking, fun and easy to do, though I’ve already noticed that I’d’ve liked to link what they call “shards” and this doesn’t seem to be possible.  These are text links while the main story travels along.  I may not be able to separate into paths either, which would not be exactly what I’d like.  But some playing this afternoon and tonight should reveal more.  Here’s the last text box I’ve written, and the story is developing as I type into the program:

Thanks to Grand Text Auto for the link, I’m trying out the capabilities of Hypertextopia as an online hypertext producer that works vaguely similar to Storyspace but produces the narrative immediately online and accessible once published.  Don’t have all the details worked out yet, but I’ll be playing with it today and in fact have already started ‘writing’ a story into it after setting up an account.

Will be back with more details as I experience it, but so far, it’s really neat!

First time in a few days I’ve been moved to go back in here and see what’s going on with Scott and his dead wife, Bonnie.  Good thing, too, since we find out more about that mysterious black-haired lady everyone avoided at the funeral service.

Well it’s a damn good thing I’m not guessing audience from what I get here in numbers at Hypercompendia else these posts might be better geared towards the more philosophical questioning of life such as why Jello will not perform properly when an additive of fresh pineapple is introduced into the mix.

Wonderful post this morning at if:book covering Graham Rawles’ novel Woman’s World.  Though produced in paper form, the unusual rendering of story in cut & paste (originally from ’40s and ’50s women’s magazines) might be suitably reproduced in online form.  The post provides visuals of the novel and some interesting theories of the piece.

While many folks may feel the initial response of reacting to a clue in a mystery novel, as this format appears usually in ransom notes or threats of some sort, I do wonder how the visual influences the reading once the text becomes the natural presentation merely by experience that overwhelms previous intuitions.

Have to copy if:book’s image here just to show what we’re covering here.

Noted author, screenwriter, and playwright Charles Deemer has been asked to produce a hyperdrama for the Hypertext 08 conference in Pittsburgh in June, and he has been recording his progress on his weblog.  It’s fun and inspiring to be allowed to watch a pro setting up in the Storyspace environment and I look forward to his many daily postings on the project to gain some insight into how the real experts work.

Preparing a paper on my life with Storyspace and how even at my age and far from higher intelligence status the transitioning of story, of writing from all aspects of the process adjusts itself to the new form and format.

Transitioning was my first word choice for the phenomenon.  Then Evolution, since I see it as an adaptive change that necessarily affects both writer and the product of his work, writing.  This is partially what I hope to cover in this presentation. 

But me being me–that is, the part that has not evolved/transitioned/plainly changed–I have to come up with the opening line first, or at the very least, a title, as it then acts as a crowbar to open the gates (keys and unlocking is just soo0 overdone, yaknow?).  And this is what I’ve settled on:

The Hypertext Effect: The Transfiguration of Writing and Writer

Just to make sure I was offending as few as possible, I did bother to look up the dictionary definition:

transfigure, v. t.  1. to change in outward form or appearance; transform; change, or alter.  2. to change so as to glorify, exalt, or idealize.

I like it. Sort of like a miraculous bolt of lightning type of experience.  I can see it now, that flash of insight, that moment of discovery, the martyr-nature of the average writer tripled, quadrupled by the endless possibilities of paths and woulda-coulda-shoulda’s.  And the satisfaction of a righteous God who allows that this self-doubt and bold but blind confidence that can endanger and deny, well that can all be passed on to the reader via the little but mighty link.

Okay, back to work.

Oh and yes, raised Catholic, I did of course play a bit with Transubstantiation but that gave me a definite feeling of the creepies; traditions and beliefs die hard.

It occurred to me this morning that there is a great cultural evolution going on and while as a member of the human race we all are responsible for its occurrence, there is likely little we can do to control or conform it to what we would like it to be.

The direction we’re taking because of technology is one of mass communication with others; a global warming of the heart so to speak.  What I see as well, however, is that as we step further out of our familiar boundaries, as we reach over fences via telecom of one sort or another, we seem to be distancing ourselves from the reality of the original boundaries of our senses.  We can just as easily see and hear someone on the other side of the world as we can our spouse, child. the neighbor next door.  What we cannot do is touch flesh on flesh–or at least with those in our reality with whom we are not on quite such intimate terms.  Let’s focus on neighbor then (if you’ve been intimate then just pick another neighbor–no questions asked). 

Okay, so we’ve got John across the street.  I don’t believe I’ve ever touched him and vice versa.  I’ve talked with him, therefore heard and seen him from a distance of let’s say about two feet–that’s further than your computer monitor away.  What is the difference then in interaction between an online communication and a physical one–aside from the ‘possibility’ of touch and the unfortunate possibility of scent being missing from the technological version?

Better minds than I have looked into all this and yet we’d not stop the revolution–er, evolution–if we could.  It’s progress.  We’ve seen the problems going backwards (Jurassic Park for example), but what will be up ahead for this new ‘hands off’ society?  Which brings to mind the fact that we’ve already been prepping for this with the laws covering everything from the cuffing of a wayward child to the hugging of a successful or proud coworker or  student.

On the flip side, I’ve already realized that even newfangled communication methods must be minded; We can’t just Twitter our thoughts without knowing who’s following our twittering.  What we want people to perceive is what we choose to present.  I’ve learned a long time ago to curb the rants of passionate causes, the ire of instant anger, the primarily flakey artiste that begs for attention as much as any drama queen, on the weblogs–though I still fall victim to spontaneity and often go back an hour later and horrified, delete the diatribe of a post that seemed so sane at the time it was written. 

Just recently, in the excitement of a new venture I gave out the weblog urls to someone I hadn’t seen in twenty years.  Now he’s my boss (though I don’t figure I hafta listen since I’m not getting paid) and he has likely passed the site info out to people I expect to be involved with yet haven’t even met yet.  What does this mean?

Basically, that I have to behave myself here until I’m sure that, like my family, they’ve lost interest and don’t check the sites and also, that I’ve gotta find yet another means of communication that can be carefully monitored as far as accessibility.

Hah!  Better communication indeed!

Sort of bogged down on this and losing steam rapidly, but now and then some ideas come through, last a Writing Space or two, and peter out and are left hanging. This space (below) seemed to be a natural offsprout and yet it leads nowhere–for now.  It may remain, it may get knocked out of the story, but for now it, like my antagonist, will be left hanging.