There was an interesting article this morning:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/mar/10/novelists-ebooks-challenge-fiction-rules
Did anyone else read those terrible books for children in the seventies where you had to make choices at the end of each page, meaning that you only read a thoroughly unsatisfying 10 percent of the book? Then later, linking hypertext to achieve the same low standard.
If they are not talking about creating games - which I think means choices and consequences, or embedding video content or linking to background material, what do you think they mean?
Previously my day job has been developing apps such as Learn10 - for language learners, so it's not that I don't understand the technology...
Is ebook just shorthand for putting a story with web functionality behind a paywall? What do you think?
Victoria, the good news is that all that you ask is very possible already,
If you took your entire 1.2 million words and put each paragraph into a field on a database, you could then label each paragraph with relevant tags, such as time, character, POV, etc. Then you "query the database" to pull out the paragraphs in the order you wish.
You can also use routing - the same techniques they use to conduct market research surveys where the answers to questions dictate the next question to be asked.
You could make a start on such a project yourself by learning how to use a database (and the advantage of this would be that you would understand the vast possibilities of the technology), however you'll probably need a designer and a programmer to make it beautiful - animated text and embedded sound etc.
You could also start such a project by using an online blog such as wordpress, putting each paragraph in as a new post and tagging these as you would a database (but then, wordpress runs from databases anyway). Wordpress is available for free for non commercial projects - so be careful if you want to sell your work.
The down side is only that such a project would be a lot of work - especially with 1.2 million words, and each story flow would need to be checked and edited very carefully.
Jennifer - it's funny, I was just thinking about how musicians have recently been pushed towards being performers (recordings are freely available, but the experience of attending a performance event can't be reproduced) - and wondering if writers would become storytellers in the same way - streaming live events, making appearances - though this, I imagine, would be some writers' idea of hell!
Adrian, I also felt that the article lacked specifics which would make it interesting. Maybe they didn't want to let the cat out of the bag.
Did you ever see The Beach on DVD? If you did, did you see the alternative endings? Did you watch them all? I know I did.
I don't think the point is that you will decide one path, stick with that and only read a smaller portion of the book (although that option would be there.) With really large storylines like mine it would give the reader a chance to drop sub-plots or delve deeper into them. Believe me, I've definitely written backstory, prequel and sequel to absolutely everything! I've got something like 1.2 million words which could easily be divided so the reader could choose the part of the story they were enjoying most. The reader wouldn't be choosing the direction of the story, just which part of it most excites them. The printed version would be like my 'directors cut'. My story lends itself to this kind of tech superbly. I didn't need detail. I could see exactly how it could work. SOMEONE PLEASE DEVELOP THIS TECHNOLOGY!
My story also has a sound track. And personal messaging which I would just love to appear on the screen in real time as if the characters are typing it there and then. I could then add the correct pauses instead of just three dots.
Oh, the things I could do. And I only write romantic fiction. Can't you see it? Whopping great epics reduced down to all your favourite bits, tailor-made, but a little different each time you read it, depending on your mood. Oh yes, sign me up!
The most obvious use of it would be to show a story from a different character's view on each reading. The reader could take something different from each character. The book could have a different central theme for each one but based on the same events. A thriller could turn into a an absolute heart-stopper, a tragedy or sweet tale depending on whose shoes you're standing in. In fact, the thriller I've always wanted to write has been waiting for this.
Please tell me some programmer somewhere read this article and imediately started working on the code, please!!!
Oh, and another idea just occurred to me. You know those series of books which don't have a first or a last but are all connected by characters and places. Maeve Binchy's Scarlet Feather, Tara Road etc springs to mind. They could be reorganised to be used in this format so the reader takes whatever they want from the story as a whole.
It just has so many applications. Expansion away from the traditionally linear story. I like it. No, actually, I love it!
I think the main thrust of the article is that new opportunities to experiment and expand storytelling may be opening up as technology develops.
Will Self himself was correct to point out just how relatively new linear printed storytelling is. Innovation is part of the history of storytelling.
What strikes me, is that, in the distant past, before the printed word and mass education, storytelling was a word of mouth experience. Perhaps more interactive than reading is. Closer to theater.
Could technology actually be taking us back to a form of narrative that was once our main way of transmitting tales?
I for one cannot be as dismissive as Adrian about this discussion. It's fascinating, if you ask me.