Fragments to Fractals: The Subjunctive Spaces of E-Literature

Abstract

This article chronicles the experience of two writers working in digital technologies to write fiction. One writer, the author of the article, describes how her experience writing with the software Storyspace influenced her writing of print fiction, changing her processes and challenging her notions of genre. The other writer, a 16-year-old secondary student, also wrote with Storyspace. While she did not find the form as challenging as the first writer, she followed similar processes of creation. The author compares the possibilities of digital and print text writing and suggests that there are different potentials. She also suggests that moving from a metaphor of fragments to fractals when thinking of hypertext writing may be a productive way to consider digital literary work.