Andrew's Research: Web-Based Creative Writing

 

  Well I think I have finally decided what Im gonna do my research on. If it is feasable, and the Prof allows it, I think Id like to look at the relationship between web technologies and creative writing. I know its probably old and exhausted as a topic by now, but I still want to know about it. I have an associate degree in web management, and a few years' experience in making websites and other varying web technologies, and I am very interested in creative writing, so Id like to know personally what sort of growth potential I have. I know that there are the obvious trends of writers and their own personal websites, but Im interested in all sorts of technologies. For instance, I used to read the "choose your own adventure" books when I was younger, and I think there is definite potential to create something like this on the web. Or a site that has several portals and entertainment for aspiring writers. Maybe some online poetry, maybe some volunteer moderators and editors, a few contests, a few games, etc. Who knows.

Ill be looking at various ways that games and interactive materials have been formulating text, and maybe exploring into new ways to forumate text. I am very disappointed with the text in many of the newer popular games, so I also want to explore ways to improve writing in gaming.

 

Well, maybe I dont have the clearest idea on what I want to do yet, but I am getting there.

 

 

 

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2/16/08

 

Starting Off

Well I just found a pretty good site for my research. I predict that my most useful resources will be web-based, and so far its looking pretty good. Here I find some significant research into the what the author calls "Hypertext Fiction." I am in no means limiting my research to stricly fiction, but it is a good resource nonetheless. It comes form Duke University, so I believe it is credible (despite the poor design of the site.) If anyone is interested in the research on this page : http://www.duke.edu/~mshumate/hyperfic.html . This was not very hard to find. I simply did a google search and starting digging.

 

I found a great many poetry selection available online as well. It seems that poetry is the most viable option for publication on the web, but I still believe that lengthy prose will find its niche as well. My focus when dealing with prose will be to find remedies for the most common argument against prose on the web: eye strain. Nobody likes to read stuff on a computer screen. It hurts your eyes becuase these monitors acually project light through the image, shining directly into your eyes. Reflected light is much better for your eyes--i.e. printed materials. I want to look at ways in which color plays a role in eye strain (white really isnt the best choice), and also technological means to reduce eyes strain. I am sure there are plenty out there. Well, thats for later I guess. Oh, heres the list of online poetry I found : http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=833 (its from the university of california, santa barbara.)

 

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 2/29/08

 

Some Work on Prose...

I am still sticking with internet searches as my primary research base. I feel that I should stick to the theme as much as I can (until I run out of resources), since I am also an advocate for this genre (surprising, I'm sure). I have been focusing mostly on prose tonight, because I feel that it is in the most trouble. Why do eBooks fail? Why isn't there some kind of eye-friendly electronic reader we all know about? I'm not talking about audio books. Sure, they have been around for ages. They didn't catch on either. There is something about the written word that contributes to the effect of storytelling. I dunno, its just different somehow. So that's one reason I think people reject audio books. But why don't we have a reader? I imagine something small that fits in your pocket, that you can take to bed with you and fall asleep with in your hand. I also imagine something lightweight, and probably LCD (or something eye-friendly.) This device really isn't beyond our technical capabilities, so there must be some other reason why it hasn't caught on. I found a very articulate rant on the subject, and it provided me with some great insight: http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2007/03/why_the_commercial_ebook_marke.html .

 

This guy thinks its all about money. He thinks that the device would cost too much. Basically, why would people spend money on a device plus the software, when they can just buy the book for ten bucks? It's a damn good argument. So maybe a pocket reader isn't the answer. So are online books closed forever? It will take some more digging, but I still have hope that there are some optimists out there.

 

 

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 3/20/08

 

E-Books, and why they can't seem to take off...

 

I found an article on ebsco that addresses the E-Book market. This author cites a number of reasons, from marketing blunders to consumer confusion. It's a good addition to my research. Here's the link:

 

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9503152148&loginpage=Login.asp&site=ehost-live&scope=site

 

 

Another article cites DRM (digital rights management) as a major roadblock for E-Books:

 

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=31270504&loginpage=Login.asp&site=ehost-live&scope=site

 

It seems that we need to move toward a digital-rights-free portable reader that is affordable, universal, and effective. I am not at all surprised that this hasn't happened yet; it seems that lawyers and CEOs are once again keeping the rest of the world from moving forward Remember what happened when MPAA tried to keep video recorders from the general public? Luckily for them, they lost that legal battle...

 

 

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 3/24/08

 

E-Books and the importance of a good cover

 

Ok so I ran across an article tonight that talks about the importance of a good cover. Here is the article: http://www.searchenginecollege.com/articles/2005/06/judging-e-book-by-its-cover.html .

 

I got to thinking a bit about it, and it made alot of sense. People do judge books by their covers. I know I do, and I should be ashamed. But what does this mean for E-Books? A cover in print can only go so far, employing all sorts of cheap tactics like reflective ink and depressions for a 3d look. But when youre dealing with an E-Book, you can do ALOT more. THink about it: if you wanted to, you could have animation and sound. This blurs the lines a bit between book and movie I think. How far is too far when it comes to an attractive cover? And when were talking about E-Books accessed over the internet, usually with the use of a computer video card and monitor, and entire site could be written specifically for a book, with animated illustrations (and maybe even sound.) I guess Im jsut trying to work out some boundaries here.

 

I mean, if I created a website with animation and sound, along with my E-Book, would it still be a book? Or would it be a video game? Its a tough call, with video games often employing significant amounts of text along with the action. If one guy makes an imporessive flash object to market his E-Book, then everyone else has to do it too; its the nature of competition. With the power of Flash programming, I can see alot of possibilities. Could this technology help shape and define the future E-Book? Perhaps its this sort of uncertainty that keeps E-Books from flourishing in the marketplace.

 

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 3/24/08

 

What are you talking about?

 

I know my research topic still seems to be a bit unfocused.  I argue that this is the result of the abysmal nature of the subject, rather than a lack of researcher dilligence. I want you to know that I have a personal interest in this topic and therefore am comitted to sincerity. I just want to be honest. I want to explore many things that may seem unfocused, but in fact are relevant.

 

You can see that I am looking at things like market standing, technologies, predictions, etc. But these affect the livelihood of the genre, and therefore will play a large part in its eventual state. FOr instance, most argue that a portable reader is critical in creating a healthy E-Book demand. But what does this mean for the format? The final portable player could mean alot in how the E-Book looks and works. Interactivity, animation and sound are just a few charactersitics of possible E-Books, yet these are only possible if the player supports them. Should I then only focus on the possibilties or the reality? Or how will the market pan out? Should I focus on the format most likely seen in the player that will most likely be purchased? THese are all questions I have to ask myself before I choose where to go next. 

 

I am narrowing things down. My focus will be prose. I will eventually move away from viability and then form my own conclusion about the future medium which will serve us the E-Book. Then I will focus on possibilities within the genre itself.

 

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4/7/08

 

Stephen King

 

I wanted to take a look at Stephen King within the context of my research topic. I found a page that allows downloadable copies of certain works for a price. I looked at one in particular: http://ebooks.ebookmall.com/title/on-writing-king-ebooks.htm .  This book is about writing process. I found two versions, one is in a reader format, and the other is somewhat interactive. They are all the same price, regardless of format. It seems that this is built around the issue of interactivity. This also seems to be the primary difference between a printed copy and an electronic one. This difference may also be the selling point. Its easy to see the advantages of having an interactive search and chapter listing. 

 

Stephen King also tried his hand at online publishing in 2000. Quoting Wikipedia, "Stephen King was the first prominent, best-selling author to attempt the exclusively web-based publishing of a book." Stephen King picked up an old series and decided to try his hand at circumventing the conventional media rights environment and working off an horor system, asking $1 per chapter of his series "The Plant." He said he'd continue publishing sebsequent chapters on his website if the donor-to-downloader rate was satisfactory. It eventually had some problems. Here is the wired.com article that covers it in more detail.

 

This is important because digital rights management is a big issue in electronic media. Stephen King's approach is unorthodox, and he has been criticized heavily by many of his fans for his approach.

 

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4/15/08

 

This last leg of the research has been mostly about confluence. I plan on making a more user-friendly submission system, a "selected works" section, and some backend features for future staff. I have researched new functions in php. Most notably, a function that allows me to return an array containing the contents of a folder. This will be nice to use instead of a database. I want to make this as simple and adaptable as possible, because I think there should be freedom for each editorial staff to improve and be creative. SO, I think Im gonna make a simple form to handle student uploads, and then a simple php page to show the contents of the upload folder. I plan on storing useful data such as date, name, and genre in the individual filenames (yes, I can change those upon upload) instead of in a database. I will try to avoid using a database as much as possible, because I can't assume that future staff will know anything about HTML, DBs, Php, etc. So this would make it easy to understand (well, as easy as I can make it anyway.)

 

Since this will be on my server, its gonna be hard to get an email account. IPFW has an account for each user, but this site is not built around a user. I am merely attached to it. So in order to get a long-term email account, confluence would have to purchase a server. THis is about $4 bucks a month from godaddy.com . So I believe each new editor or editorial staff will have to use their own email addresses.

 

I imagine the process going like this: the editor and the readers access a page that has a list of all the submissions, and they would email the editor their ratings. This way the editor could do what she wanted when it comes to this process. Maybe she wants everyone to read everything, maybe she wants to assign certain readers to certain works. This way, there is room for her to do it as she wishes.

 

The selected works section will be more difficult. I still want this to work without a database, so Ill have to do more research on current methods both in the design/method and the programming.

 

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4/21/08

 

I have completed the uplaods/submissions function. I havent been able to test it on a large scale, so I'm crossing my fingers. I had to make sure that the code checked for all sorts of security no-nos and that sort of thing. I also decided to completely disallow any image files. This is because images submitted to confluence will be for print, and anything suitable for print will probably be pretty large and therefore unsiutable for HTTP transfer. These submissions will be brought to the staff in digital format.

 

I am glad this is finished. I have always felt that Confluence was a great way to writers to express themselves. Other avenues are less forgiving and perhaps too harsh for beginning writers. I wanted to add some validity to Confluence, and the website was the first step. Now that we have a server-side submission system, options for E-publishing are now open.

 

I have not included a page for selected works becuase I have no selected works to work with (wow that was a tongue teaser.) The design of this page shouldn't be too hard, but I need to know how it will be handled by the staff. For instance, I am hesitant to use a fully-automated system that reads from a database, complete with a backend for the staff, because I don't want to take their jobs form them. So, instead, I will contact IPFW to see if I can get a permanent user attached to the IPFW account, one that would be shared with the staff. That way, when the future staff decides on selected works (whatever way they do it) they can just send me the stuff and I'll hardcode it in.

 

I am not saying that an automated system is totally out of the question, but I would like to see what happpens over the next issue or two before I design this portion of the site.

 

I am glad to have produced something that is likely to get some use; alot of times i have had to create things just for a grade. This is both in the field of my research, and will be of use to the community.