Course description
What possibilities exist for storytelling in a world of expanded and hybrid technologies? In this course, students will have the opportunity to become creative writers in new media, as well as in more traditional formats. Experimenting with a range of platforms, digital and otherwise (including websites, blogs and social media), students will generate work in exciting new forms, while also developing traditional techniques essential to any writer.
In this course, students will learn the basics of reading, writing, and manipulating hypertext documents, with the goal of creating and distributing original works of experimental writing. The course consists of three parts: first, an in-depth tutorial of HTML and CSS, the layout languages that form the foundation of the web; second, an introduction to appropriating proprietary platforms on the web as a location for creative writing; and third, an introduction to Twine, an easy-to-use visual tool for creating hypertext work. Along the way, students will read and discuss important works made with these tools, or that otherwise engage relevant technologies. No programming experience is required to take this course.
Course methodology
This is a creative writing course, but it is also an engineering course. Most class sessions will take the form of tutorials, in which I introduce you to a technology and its particulars. You'll apply these skills in a creative way, engaging your own writing practice, and present the results to the class.
We'll be working very close to the technology in this class—maybe closer than you some of you are comfortable working! The goal of the course is not just to provide you with an opportunity to do work that exists on the Internet, but to better understand how the web works, and to create work that engages the web, challenges it and subverts it.
I'm a poet, a computer programmer and experimental writer, so while the name of this course is "Storytelling across Media," I don't really care if your work is narrative in nature. The constraints on assignments will usually be technical (rather than thematic), and it will certainly be possible to create work that meets only those minimal technical requirements. But remember: this class is time that you have decided to set aside to be on the hook for making work that is interesting and helpful for you. Take advantage of it!
Projects and assignments
The class has four assignments, a midterm project, and a final project. The schedule below dictates when these are assigned and when they're due (assignment descriptions and due dates may change as the course progresses—I'll let you know when changes take place). The assignments are designed to give you a chance to show mastery of the technical concepts we've discussed in class, and to give you an opportunity to use those concepts in making work that is useful to you.
The midterm and final project are both free-form—you're expected to take some of the technical concepts we've talked about in class and create a project of your own choosing.
You're welcome to collaborate on the midterm project and final project, but each student must complete their own assignments. (This is negotiable; ask me in person if you have an idea for an assignment that you'd like to collaborate on with another student.)
Assignments and projects must be turned in some time before class on the day they're due. Since all assignments and projects take the form of publicly accessible documents on the Internet, "turning in" the assignment consists of you sending me the URL of where I can find the assignment.
We'll dedicate time in-class on each assignment and project due date to discuss and critique student work in-class.
Reading
You'll be required to read a number of works of hypertext and web-based literature throughout the course. The assigned reading is in the schedule below, along with the dates on which we will discuss the reading in-class. Participating in reading discussions is the main way that you'll earn the "participation" part of your grade—please come prepared to talk!
The class does not have an assigned textbook, but you may want to purchase Head First HTML and CSS from O'Reilly Media, as a second resource for learning HTML and CSS. I'll suggest other resources for learning the technical content of the class as suggested readings in the schedule and in the notes.
I'd also like you to read The Cave of Time by Edward Packard. It's available used on Amazon for very cheap! Please order it ahead of time so you'll have it when it's time to discuss. (It's a very short book and a very easy read, so students might choose to share a copy or two.)
Laptops
You will need to have access to a computer running a desktop operating system (like Mac OS X, Windows, or Linux) in order to do the work for this course. I expect most students will bring laptops to class and follow along with the tutorials as I give them. Every effort will be made to supply written or screencast copies of the tutorials after they're presented, for those who are unable to (or prefer not to) bring a laptop to class.
Attendance and lateness policy
You are expected to attend all class sessions. Absences due to non-emergency situations will only be cleared if you let me know a week (or more) in advance, and even then only for compelling personal or professional reasons (e.g., attending an important conference, going to a wedding). If you're unable to attend class due to contagious or incapacitating illness, please let me know (by e-mail) before class begins.
Each unexcused absence will deduct 3% from your final grade. If you have five or more unexcused absences, you risk failing the course.
Be on time to class. If you're more than fifteen minutes late, or if you leave early (without my clearance), it will count as an unexcused absence.
In-class behavior
Laptops must be closed during class discussions, and while your fellow students are presenting work. You're otherwise welcome to use laptops in class, but only to follow along with the in-class tutorials and to take notes.
Attendance at Creative Writing Events
As part of their participation grade for this course, students are asked to attend the following three creative writing-related events at Fordham's Lincoln Center campus:
- Wed, October 8, 7pm–8pm: New Media Colloquium. (Featuring your instructor and Benjamin Samuel, Editor at Large at Electric Literature)
- Mon, November 24, 7:00pm–8:30pm: Poets Out Loud. (Featuring Erica Doyle and Angela Jackson)
- Wed, December 3, 7:00pm–8:30pm: Creative Writing Program Reading.
All three events will be held here: 113 W. 60th Street, New York, NY (12th Floor Lounge).
Grading policy
| Component | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Attendance and participation | 25% |
| Assignments (4 × 9%) | 35% |
| Midterm project | 15% |
| Final project | 25% |
Schedule
Week 1: September 5th
Syllabus and schedule review. Chrome Developer Tools demo.
READING #1: To be discussed September 9th. These readings primarily concern the history of the web and of hypertext structure in general. What is hypertext? What can it do, potentially? What does it actually do? Why does the web look the way that it looks now, instead of some other way? How can the structure of hypertext be used to create interesting works of writing?
- Bush, Vannevar. As We May Think
- Richardson, Leonard. The System of the World Wide Web.
- Aarseth, Espen. Cybertext (chapter 1 excerpt).
- Introduction to Electronic Literature: a freeware guide
Week 2: September 9th and 12th
Introduction to the web (web browsers, web servers). Using a text editor. HTML introduction. Uploading files to the web.
Notes: What is the web?, Chrome Developer Tools
ASSIGNMENT #1: Due September 16th. Use Developer Tools to creatively modify a web page on the internet. Tell a story. Satirize. Be intentionally banal. Take a screenshot and upload it (somewhere publicly accessible). Tell us in-class about what you did and why you did it.
Week 3: September 16th and 19th
HTML: style and structure, hyperlinks, embedding documents and media.
Notes: HTML: An elementary introduction
READING #2 (to be discussed September 23rd): Some classic and representative works of hypertext fiction, poetry, and criticism. Read all of My Body and Darnielle; spend a good amount of time with Paths and The Unknown but you don't have to exhaust them! What's the effect of the hyperlink in these works? Do they accomplish anything that couldn't be done through non-"ergodic" means?
- Gillespie, Rettberg, Stratton, Marquardt. The Unknown.
- Jackson, Shelley. My Body.
- Malloy, Judy. Paths of Memory and Painting.
- Darnielle, John. Amnesiac (read all ten parts!)
Week 4: September 23rd and 26th
Introduction to CSS.
Notes: CSS with style
ASSIGNMENT #2 (Due september 30th): Write a piece (or adapt an existing piece) for the web. Your work must span across several pages; incorporate some kind of embedded document (like images, videos, etc.); and include CSS to style one or more elements.
Week 5: September 30th and October 3rd
CSS introduction, continued.
READING #3 (to be discussed October 7th): The Cave of Time.
Week 6: October 7th and 10th
CSS: Positioning. Midterm project pitches.
Notes: Your position is clear.
MIDTERM PROJECT ASSIGNED. Due October 17th.
Week 7: October 14th and 17th
HTML: Simple strategies for interactivity. Midterm project presentations.
Notes: Simple interactivity.
READING #4 (to be discussed October 21st): Works that appropriate platforms. How do these works comment on the platforms/media that they use? Could the work have been accomplished in a different way?
- Rettberg and Montfort. Implementation
- Carpenter et al. In Absentia
- Jackson, Shelley. Snow
- Carpenter, J.R. The River Dart
- Hergenrader, Trent. Callypsis (you don't have to read ALL of this—just explore)
Also to read: Borsuk, Amaranth. The Upright Script: Words in Space and on the Page.
Week 8: October 21st and 24th
Platform tutorials: Appropriating platforms: Google maps, Twitter, Instagram.
Notes: Telling stories with Google Maps.
ASSIGNMENT #3 (due October 28th): Create a work on an appropriated platform. You have two options:
- Create a location-based work with Maplace.js and Google Maps. Write about where you grew up. Write an alternate history scenario. Write a sci-fi story. Write about places and people that are important to you. Write an interactive travel guide or guidebook. Or do something else entirely!
- Create a social media "performance" using words and writing. This should be a writing project that necessitates a sustained effort over time (say, an entire day). Optionally, include your writing in the world: inscribe your words on a real world surface (without breaking the law, of course), and document the results. Ideas: A Twitter account with nature poetry (like River Dart). Make a Twitter satire account, adopting someone else's persona. Write in an unusual medium (snow, dirt, water, street signs, pizza slices, whatever) in unusual places (parks, sports events, public transit, tourist traps, underpasses, office buildings, etc.) and document the results online.
Make sure to think about the question of audience: who are you writing for, and how does the form your writing take relate to that audience?
Week 9: October 28th and 31st
Appropriating platforms, continued: Wikis.
Notes: Working with wikis.
READING #5: Recommended works made with Twine.
- Esposito, Ben. Brooklyn Trash King.
- Anthropy, Anna. Star Court.
- Hennessy, Brendan Patrick. You Will Select A Decision, No. 1: Small Child In Woods
- Quinn et al. Depression Quest.
- Finny. At the Bonfire.
Week 10: Noveber 4th and 7th
Twine: Introduction and basic macros. Formatting text (incl. custom CSS)
Notes: Twine, an introduction
Also, consult these:
- How to make games with Twine (by Anna Anthropy)
- Twine wiki: Images
- Twine wiki: Syntax
- Twine wiki: Stylesheet
ASSIGNMENT #4 (due November 11th): Create a Twine game. Some ideas:
- Write a parody of Choose Your Own Adventure.
- Write a simulation of an activity---something that you're familiar with
- Imagine an autobiographical story (something that really happened to you) as a "what-if" scenario: what would have happened if you'd made a different decision?
- Write something outlandish.
Week 11: November 11th and 14th
Twine: Macros, variables, expressions and functions.
Notes: Twine: Macros, Variables, Expressions
READING #6: More works made with Twine!
- Porpentine. Howling Dogs. When you'e done, read Naomi Clark's review.
- Lutz, Michael. My Father's Long Long Legs.
- DeNiro, Alan. Solarium. When you're done, read Emily Short's review.
Week 12: November 18th and 21st
Twine: More on macros, variables, expressions and functions.
Extra credit assignment, worth 3 points (due November 25th): Modify one of your existing Twine stories, or create a new Twine story, that makes use of macros, variables, expressions and/or functions.
Please come prepared on the 25th with an idea for a final project and a rough prototype.
Week 13: November 25th
Final project pitches. Twine: Installing and using custom macros.
Week 14: December 2nd and 5th
Lab/workshop day; final project presentations.
Week 15: December 9th
Final project presentations.