This is an interesting approach:
Storyspace eastgate.com/Storyspace2.html
$300USD, though! I use their other product, Tinderbox, constantly. It is my main brainstorming and organisational application. Back when I was using Ulysses 1.2 for all of my writing, I would use Tinderbox to handle the organisation of my project, since U had absolutely nothing for handling large, complex projects. I still have yet to determine if Scrivener will be able to replace my Tb setup, but so far it is looking good.
Anyway, back to topic. Storyspace always intrigued me, but I have never been able to test it for lack of a Classic installation. It looks like they will have an OS X download soon, I’ll have to play with it when it comes out.
Another thing worth stating is that this application is specifically designed for the production of so-called “Hypertext” stories. Something which I have honestly never looked in to. I could never find any reasonably priced hypertext books. Spending $20 on something that may or may not be completely ineptly written is just not my cup of tea.
The basic concept of hypertext stories though, that interests me quite a bit. The novel that I am currently working on would be suited to such a format, as all the events within it are technically happening in the same instant. It has always been intended that the reader would be able to pick up the book and from any point in the story, be able to unravel the event, like being in an intricate garden. It would look different depending upon which gate you came in, but eventually your mind would build a cohesive mental struture as you wander through it. An interface like this would allow such a concept to exist free from the stigma of a linear stack of pages.
You have to wonder what Finnegans Wake would have been like if it were printed in some other bizarre medium like this.
Hi AmberV,
What an intriguing story concept. How tantalizing!
Wouldn’t like to swap brains for a week or two? Mine needs a holiday and yours is really alive and sizzling. How do you stay motivated?
I was intrigued by the layering of time motifs in Harry Potter. Was it the Azkaban story? Hermione’s time turner, pendulums, clocks and so on - just little ephemeral moments referencing horological mysteries.
I am fascinated by String Theory - that you can be in two places at the same time by bending the universe so that you are mostly parallel and then for a moment time stands still, but is eternal. Magic. The intriguing thing is that it is reasonably serious physics these days. Kind of like a Physics version of Hypertext as you intend to use it.
Your concept is a little ripper. Love it.
Hope you follow through.