It’s another instance of so many ideas, never enough time. As a writer, I’m always searching for ways to find something new in my work, improve it. For that reason, I took on the daunting task of trying to adapt formats for a story that can either be self-contained or (as it was originally written) part of a novella. My primary structure was to simply include the linear text that I’d written and branch out from there. Visually, for me, that made the most sense, and it enabled my original text to serve as a literal spine for the hyperlink story. Twine and the hyperlink format create the opportunity to really play with stream-of-consciousness in a way that was not originally in the story. Right now, I am just scratching the surface by incorporating images to represent things my character sees, especially when they trigger memories. Some hyperlink images are just that, especially when context needs to be provided. This story, like many of mine are very region-specific. My hometown of Altoona served as inspiration for Joel who is a railroad worker on disciplinary leave after the hit-and-run death of his daughter. For me, the real challenge was figuring out what added to the original text without giving too much away. Also, as I said, this work was originally one-third of a novella, so in some ways, I am trying to make up for what is lost in not having the other two thirds.

Although all of my hyperlink dead end, a few incorporate flashes of new text and images that are meant to illustrate the momentary tangents the human brain takes unconsciously. Ideally (and for my final project), I would like to find a few points where I can create divergent plots for the story that extend beyond my current, one-frame dead ends. I would like to continue incorporating the images and secondary internal dialogue for my protagonist, but my primary focus in revising this piece for the final project will revolve around adding two endings. I plan to use the structure of the previous hyperlinks to serve as a means to lure the reader into a false sense of security before diverting them into the new endings and excluding the opportunity to return back to the previous page. Ultimately, they will be making the decision to pass the point of no return without realizing it, which I think is a valid simulation of life. Even more so, it will represent a very subtle acknowledgment of the non-teleological approach (cause and effect rather than destiny) that I’ve found in works by Steinbeck and Flannery O’Connor in previous coursework. I’m really interested in the idea of consequences and a hyperlink story with a late opportunity for a divergent narrative really seems to play into this idea. Of course, readers could just as easily select the links that carry them to the story’s original end, but that is part of the journey. In some respects, it’s kind of a Pandora’s Box sort of situation because at some point the momentum of the decisions we make can’t be halted. It also makes me think of Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” in that he reflects that he cannot possibly take the other path at a later date because he will never be the same person he was in the moment he made the initial decision. I love the idea of allusion too, especially when it is almost too subtle to be called an allusion.

As much as I struggled with some of the tedium in incorporating these elements (mostly my fault–my central narrative was too long), I embrace the challenge and look forward to expanding upon this initial effort.