Editing Hypertext (section)

==Hypertext fiction==
{{Main |Hypertext fiction}}

Hypertext writing has developed its own style of fiction, coinciding with the growth and proliferation of hypertext development software and the emergence of electronic networks. Hypertext fiction is one of earliest genres of [[electronic literature]], or literary works that are designed to be read in digital media. Two software programs specifically designed for literary hypertext, ''[[Storyspace]]'' and [[Intermedia (hypertext)|Intermedia]], became available in the 1990s. [[Judy Malloy]]'s ''Uncle Roger'' (1986) and [[Michael Joyce (writer)|Michael Joyce]]'s ''[[afternoon, a story]]'' (1987) are generally considered the first works of hypertext fiction.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rettberg |first=Jill Walker |date=2012 |title=Electronic Literature Seen from a Distance: The Beginnings of a Field |url=http://www.dichtung-digital.org/2012/41/walker-rettberg.htm |journal=Dichtung Digital |issue=41 |hdl=1956/6272 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Berens |first=K. I. |date=2014-07-30 |title=Judy Malloy's seat at the (database) table: A feminist reception history of early hypertext literature |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/llc/fqu037 |journal=Literary and Linguistic Computing |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=340–348 |doi=10.1093/llc/fqu037 |issn=0268-1145|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

An advantage of writing a narrative using hypertext technology is that the meaning of the story can be conveyed through a sense of spatiality and perspective that is arguably unique to digitally networked environments. An author's creative use of nodes, the self-contained units of meaning in a hypertextual narrative, can play with the reader's orientation and add meaning to the text.

One of the most successful computer games, ''[[Myst]]'', was first written in HyperCard. The game was constructed as a series of Ages, each Age consisting of a separate HyperCard stack. The full stack of the game consists of over 2500 cards. In some ways, ''Myst'' redefined interactive fiction, using puzzles and exploration as a replacement for hypertextual narrative.<ref>{{cite web| last = Parrish| first = Jeremy| url = http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3134600| title = When SCUMM Ruled the Earth| website = [[1UP.com]]| access-date = 2008-05-02| archive-date = 2016-03-03| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160303213613/http://www.1up.com/features/essential-50-myst| url-status = dead}}</ref>

Critics of hypertext claim that it inhibits the old, linear, reader experience by creating several different tracks to read on. This can also been seen as contributing to a [[postmodernist]] fragmentation of worlds. In some cases, hypertext may be detrimental to the development of appealing stories (in the case of hypertext [[Gamebook]]s), where ease of linking fragments may lead to non-cohesive or incomprehensible narratives.<ref>{{Citation | url = http://biblumliteraria.blogspot.com/2008/07/es-el-hipertexto-una-bendicin-o-un.html | title = ¿Es el hipertexto una bendición o un...? |trans-title=Is hypertext a blessing or a...? |date=Jul 2008 | publisher = Biblum literaria | language = es}}.</ref> However, they do see value in its ability to present several different views on the same subject in a simple way.<ref>{{Citation | publisher = U Calgary | place = [[Canada|CA]] | url = http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~scriptor/papers/arthur.html | title = The Game of Reading an Electronic Sir Gawain and the Green Knight}}.</ref> This echoes the arguments of 'medium theorists' like [[Marshall McLuhan]] who look at the social and psychological impacts of the media. New media can become so dominant in public culture that they effectively create a "paradigm shift"{{Sfn | Green | 2001 | p = 15}} as people have shifted their perceptions, understanding of the world, and ways of interacting with the world and each other in relation to new technologies and media. So hypertext signifies a change from linear, structured and hierarchical forms of representing and understanding the world into fractured, decentralized and changeable media based on the technological concept of hypertext links.

In the 1990s, women and feminist artists took advantage of hypertext and produced dozens of works. [[Linda Dement]]'s ''Cyberflesh Girlmonster'' a hypertext [[CD-ROM]] that incorporates images of women's body parts and remixes them to create new monstrous yet beautiful shapes. Caitlin Fisher's award-winning online hypertext novella [[These Waves of Girls]] (2001) is set in three time periods of the protagonist exploring polymorphous perversity enacted in her queer identity through memory. The story is written as a reflection diary of the interconnected memories of childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. It consists of an associated multi-modal collection of nodes includes linked text, still and moving images, manipulable images, animations, and sound clips. Adrienne Eisen (pen name for [[Penelope Trunk]]) wrote hypertexts that were subversive narrative journeys into the mind of a woman whose erotic encounters were charged with a post-feminist satirical edge that cuts deep into the American psyche.

===Forms===
{{Original research|section|date=November 2023}}
[[File:Patchwork Girl Structure.png|thumb|A screenshot from a reading of Shelley Jackson's ''[[Patchwork Girl (hypertext)|Patchwork Girl]],'' where windows layer on top of each other]]
There are various forms of hypertext fiction, each of which is structured differently. Below are four:
* '''Axial''' hypertext fiction has the simplest structure. Its hypertext is situated along a linear axis. With a straight path from beginning to end, it is fairly easy for the reader to follow. An example of an axial hypertext fiction is [[The Virtual Disappearance of Miriam]].
* '''Arborescent''' hypertext fiction is more complex than the axial form. Its hypertext has a branching structure which resembles a tree, representing one beginning but many possible endings. The branches followed and ultimately the ending reached are determined by choices made by the reader at each branch point in the narrative. This is much like [[gamebook]] novels that allow readers to choose their own ending.
* '''Networked''' hypertext fiction is more complex than both axial and arborescent forms. It consists of an interconnected system of nodes with no dominant axis of orientation. Unlike the arborescent form, networked hypertexts do not have any designated beginning or any designated endings. An example of a networked hypertext is [[Shelley Jackson]]'s [[Patchwork Girl (hypertext)|Patchwork Girl]].
* '''Layered''' hypertext fiction consist of two layers of linked pages. Each layer is [[wikt:doubly-linked|doubly linked]] sequentially and a page in the top layer is doubly linked with a corresponding page in the bottom layer. The top layer contains plain text, the bottom multimedia layer provides photos, sounds and video. In the Dutch historical novel ''{{Interlanguage link|De man met de hoed|nl}}''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.demanmetdehoed.nl/presentatie/Welkom.html|title=Welkom|website=demanmetdehoed.nl}}</ref> designed as layered hypertext in 2006 by Eisjen Schaaf, Pauline van de Ven, and [[Paul Vitanyi|Paul Vitányi]], the structure is proposed to enhance the atmosphere of the time, to enrich the text with research and family archive material and to enable readers to insert memories of their own while preserving tension and storyline.