The Beauty and Power of Hypertext

Hypertext is a beautiful thing. Never have humans ever been able to connect knowledge together through language using a simple point and click interface. The ability (and tendency) to go off on tangents is what keeps the user engaged in progressive learning by successively following relevant links. Early web experiments like fUSION Anomaly, The Deoxyribonucleic Hyperdimension, and Temple of the Screaming Electron showed us the power of hypertext before Wikis were even invented. I was making my first websites in the mid 90s on Angelfire and Geocities free webhosts. These aforementioned websites had a huge influence on me.

Hypertext fiction is a new experiment for me, as I could see the need for a hypertext version of Soul Proprietor while I was writing it. Seeing how one could fully begin to appreciate the depth and complexity of a work like Gravity's Rainbow or Finnegans Wake through hypertext inspired me to wikify my novel. This project is still in progress, but the initial results are very exciting and encouraging. As it becomes more complete, I will open up the web version of the novel to the public and invite them to explore the story as never before. Stay tuned.

Introduction

Welcome to my author's journal. The main topic of discussion here is my novel Soul Proprietor, but you'll likely see posts about writing in general or commentary on other works as well. As of this post, SP is basically finished, I'm just scouring the text for grammatical errors and things that don't sound right. Trying to juggle this with my other projects may cause some delays, but that's just how I work, I always have several projects going on. I nibble on one here and there, gradually progressing in all of them. I've written a couple short stories before, mostly school assignments, but this is my first literary work of this size and scope. I started conceiving and writing SP in mid-2010. Several months later, I had written about seventy pages, but I decided that many things were not working, so I wrote a new beginning and changed many things around. This second incarnation became the book I call Soul Proprietor today. This journal will eventually be linked to the official website for the book when it is finished. There will be a wiki and a discussion forum at the least, possibly more. The need for a wiki about the novel and related ideas became obvious to me as I was writing the book. There are many topics that are touched on briefly in SP that when explored more closely will add great depth to the story. As for a forum, why the hell not?! People may want to discuss SP with me and/or other readers. A forum allows people to explore the plot carefully with Spoiler Alerts, etc.

One more thing: the point of this blog, the eventual website, and the novel itself is not ego-stroking or creating a fan club. If you're a fan of Soul Proprietor, that's great! I'd love to hear your thoughts about it and discuss them with you. Just understand that writing this book has been a humbling experience, and it is with humility that I am sending it out into the world.That's a lengthy enough introduction, stay tuned.

-Warren