i read the book … hmmm … decades ago and it blew me away

The commentpress theme is a WordPress theme, tailor made for blogs. I think they’ve pulled the download page from their website because I can’t find it (and they have a server change not too long ago, so they’re probably still moving things around). But you can read more about it here.

Okay, granted the split screen mimicking an open book is clever and advantageous. “what it does is that it allows your reader to comment on very specific paragraphs within your writing”. I agree with this.

But essentially, this is a blog. There are some definite technical points and nuances that enhance the ability to comb the text and to comment on it in specific places. But visually, I’m not stimulated at all. It reminds me of an electronic (scholarly) document. All white and black with lots of words and no space between paragraphs.

And as far as the comments go, how is this different than a blog set up for a limited amount of commenters?

Don’t get me wrong Eli, this is great for literature; it will get more people interested in discussing literature. But as it stands I’m not inspired by this effort.

Now I agree that the writer’s aim should be in line with the reader’s desire. But we are looking at this from the opposite end of the telescope. The if: book people are not the authors and they are not creating the text; they are elucidating it after the fact.

As a writer, I am in the process of creating an electronic text with the tools that I have available to me. Therefore I look at the project from the opposite end. I don’t think these two projects will ever look alike. I think they exist on two separate rails, if you will.

I love the exploration, the expansion, of digital media. And I’m really glad you told us about this. The great thing about your site is that you are constantly bringing these developments to our attention. I just wonder what the if: book would look like in a writer’s hands . . .

The if:book organization has for some time meddled with the effect of conversation in lit, and they’ve been particularly interested in how the two may be put together on the web. I’ve covered their release of the commentpress theme sometime ago – what it does is that it allows your reader to comment on very specific paragraphs within your writing, and display them in a non-obtrusive hypertextual form (think footnotes, only with AJAX magic that makes them pop up only when you want to read them). This experiment is taken to its logical conclusion here with Notebook. There are plenty more to learn from the Notebook project – for instance, notice the way pagination and bookmarking within the novel is done? Also, notice how Apt, the design firm hired to this project, creates a very strong visual identity for the book with nothing more than a calligraphic header and some subtle paper-like gradients? These are all qualities we can take, and learn, and apply to our own fiction.

I also disagree with the notion that we should divide online fiction projects into ones emphasizing the reader, or ones emphasizing the writer. It’s a tad unnecessary, really. A good digital fiction project is captivating for the reader. How the writer accomplishes this, or whether he chooses to make full use of the medium while he writes, is irrelevant if he cannot fulfill that first criteria. So the only question that matters, when you think about it, is: how can I best write and present captivating stories for my readers on the web?

All else isn’t really important.

I like the format of the project, how it appears on the screen, with the comments off to the side; and I think this works for established literature. There is enough interest to draw an interactive audience. And I see your enthusiasm for what this kind of online reading might lead to in a digital age. A sort of exegesis of each text by the common reader. It is a good exercise in close reading; a good tool no doubt.

But I’m more interested in what the writers can do. The purpose of this (Golden Notebook) project is to elevate an understanding of the text and to promote discussion. I’m not against this by any means; but I approach the digital text from a writer’s point of view. What can I do with the story to enhance the reading experience? Usually this involves a multimedia dimension, photos, videos, and other interesting links. Usually this involves creating an “intranet” of linkages within the novel itself.

All I’m saying is, there are two separate projects to keep in mind when discussing the future of online reading/novels; the readers and the writers. The Golden Notebook project is aimed at readers; and the future of this sort of online reading will begin with the classics. It will be aimed at reading groups and discussion.

I wish my novels were as deep as Doris Lessing so as to promote critical commentary. But I’m not there yet. Where I am is in the creative stage of production, and although my texts deepen as I continue to write more, I’m also interested in the web-specific presentation of my texts.

Does that make sense?

Chris