- Interactive novel
The interactive novel is a form of
online fiction . Whileauthor s of traditional paper-and-inknovel s have sometimes tried to give readers the random directionality offered by truehypertext ing, this approach was not completely feasible until the development ofHTML .Description
Paper novels (indeed, some digital novels) are
linear , that is, read from page to page in a straight line. Interactive novels, however, offer readers a unique way to read fiction by choosing a page, a character, or a direction. By following hyperlinked phrases within the novel, readers can find new ways to understand characters. There is no wrong way to read a hypertext interactive novel. Links embedded within the pages are meant to be taken at a reader's discretion – to allow the reader a choice in the novel's world.A typical example of this genre is [http://www.nodeadtrees.com/NDT/novel_main.html "The Interactive Novel: Pick a character, pick a direction"] , found on David Benson's "No Dead Trees" website. This fiction allows readers, who can also become writers, to explore the novel from a list of characters given at the site. The novel is intended to be read randomly, as the reader chooses to follow various directions.The genre has prompted some less than respectful responses, including a comment by
John Updike , who participated in an early effort at online fiction, that "books haven't really been totally ousted yet." [cite web|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/columns/navigator/981210.htm|title=Cyberprose and Cons|author=Linton Weeks|publisher="Washington Post "|date=1998-12-10|accessdate=2007-09-09] Other critics, while conceding the hyped and trendy nature of the genre, have found real value in the immersive if sometimes disorienting nature of interactive fiction. [cite web|url=http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~amerstu/573/hypehome.html|title=Hype or Text? An Anthology of Reader Responses to Hypertext Fiction & Links to Hypertext Sites|publisher=Washington State University|date=1996|accessdate=2007-09-09]There are many interactive novels on the Web. Some of the older efforts have fallen into disuse, but the ease of creating such fiction, with the lack of the
barriers to entry typical of traditional paper-and-inkpublishing , helps to keep the genre alive with new works. [cite web|url=http://www.linxnet.com/lib/libcyber.html|title=Online Interactive CyberNovels: Serial Novels, CyberNovels and Game Style Stories, All Readable Online|publisher=LinxNet|accessdate=2007-09-09]Notes
External links
* [http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/CMR9845.pdf What Hypertext Is Not Bound To Do: Digital Decisions in the Literary Humanities]
* [http://www.duke.edu/~mshumate/list01.html Fiction by Multiple Authors]
* [http://www.leo.mistral.co.uk/hyper/itmp.htm Reactive Writing Interview]
* [http://www.hypernews.org/HyperNews/get/www/collab/creation.html Collaborative Creation]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
