[NMP09] Hypertext, Writerly, and Narrative

Today’s New Media Perspectives class continued our discussion on the forms, structures, and terminologies of hypertext with a different piece called 253 by Geoff Ryman.

253 is what I would call a more accessible piece of hypertext in that it presents people, places, and events in a more descriptive manner. It has a more traditional “writing” style than others we have previously experienced. Those other works tended to be more poetic and conceptual. 253 is more concrete in it’s style and perhaps easier for those new to hypertext to better comprehend. Our class reading also wonderfully illustrated the basic tenents of the writerly text.

Our reading followed this five-node path in 253:

1. 253? Why 253?
   We started here because this linked us to the ground rules of the hypertext. “253 ? Why 253 ? describes the ground rules of the novel.”

2. End of the Line
   It was decided to start at the end (network - we can enter the story wherever we wish) because we were attracted to this: “Those seeking sensation are advised to select the End of the Line option.”

   We wanted sensation!

   Now we were told that: “Sensation and violence at last. Discover the horrible end of the carriage of your choice.” So we started at the top of the list with Car 1 end.

3. Car 1 end
   After reading this entire lexia, we were attracted to the first two sentences:“One-armed Milton erupts through the door between carriages, knife between his teeth like a buccaneer to kill Eveleen. She sees him and howls with laughter.”

   We were curious, who was Eveleen? Did this Milton really want to kill her? Why would she be laughing?

4. Eveleen
   Here we discovered that Eveleen had this strange step father who made her laugh to think of him trying to kill her. “Eveleen has a mad, one-armed step father who wants to kill her. He phones her day and night to threaten her. The idea of him, one-armed, trying to do her in makes her laugh.”

5. mad, one-armed step father who wants to kill her
   Here we find out about this troubled guy that helps us to understand why he was attacking Eveleen.

By manipulating the codes within the text, we were able to construct one short narrative (a series of events with a cause and effect relationship happening in space and in time) between two characters (Eveleen and Milton) out of all those possible from 253 people in seven train cars.

The question for everyone in class is: how do you take on the role of “writer” and plan and construct a “writerly” experience?