RMIT University 2024 Digital Writing Lab notes and exercises.
Read (on top of the weekly readings):
- The kinetic poem "Taroko Gorge"
- The electronic poem "The Gathering Cloud"
- The hypertext fiction "First Draft of the Revolution"
- The interactive fiction work "Shade"
"Shade" is much more difficult to interact with so do read the "How to play IF" (link in the top right corner of "Shade") and look at the "Play IF card".
In this week's class, we discussed what everyone thought digital writing was and everyone's expectations for the class. I went through an overview of what would be covered in the coming weeks, and I discussed what is required for the assessments. As we get closer to the due dates, I’ll go into more detail for each assessment.
We then answered the questions:
- What types of writing do you do (e.g. fiction, nonfiction, poetry)?
- What tools (or techniques) do you use to write?
- Why do you use these tools (or techniques)?
- How do these tools shape the way you write (e.g., constrain the way you write or facilitate your writing)?
You should return to the last three questions throughout the semester as you use new tools in your writing practice and as you think about your final project.
We spent some time reading and discussing "Taroko Gorge", "The Gathering Cloud", and "Shade". In week 3 we will discuss them in more detail and in relation to print works.
No class due to the public holiday. Continue with the exercises for week 1 and the readings.
Complete the week 1 exercises. If you have problems setting up your GitHub account or repository for your digital writing folio, I can answer any questions at the start of class in week 3.
Read (on top of the weekly readings):
- The fiction game Depression Quest
- The Bitsy story Under a Star Called Sun
Read more works from the Electronic Literature Collection beyond those you wrote responses to in the week 1 exercise (note the works you look at in your digital writing folio). You must pick one of these works for your Individual Case Study to present in week 4. The selection should be finalised with me by the end of class week 3. You'll likely have more success with the works in later volumes. The only work you can't select is "The Durham Poems" in volume 4.
Bring a few short pieces of your writing (printed and have copies on your computer). They only need to be a couple of paragraphs, so microfiction or short poems are ideal. We’ll transform these pieces in class using different processes.
- Lydia: Aphiddd by Andy Campbell
- Sam: my body — a Wunderkammer by Shelley Jackson
- Luka:
- Alyssa: c-ya laterrr by Dan Hett
- Shane: High Muck a Muck by Fred Wah, Nicola Harwood, Jin Zhang, Bessie Wapp, Thomas Loh, Tomoyo Ihaya, Hiromoto Ida, Phillip Djwa, and Patrice Leung
- Kayla: Please Answer Carefully by litrouke
- Nicky: my Dear CoUntess by Danny Snelson
- Mallory: The Hunt for the Gay Planet by Anna Anthropy
- Chay:Writers Are Not Strangers by Lynda Clark
- Elliot: Redshift & Portalmetal by micha cárdenas
- Lucas: Yardley, PA 1997 by Todd Anderson
- Amelia: Chemical Landscapes Digital Tales by Edward Falco, with photograms by Mary Pinto and design by Will Stauffer-Norris
- Aster: Quing's Quest VII: The Death of Videogames! by Dietrich Squinkifer (Squinky)
- Lara: Everything is going to be OK by Nathalie Lawhead
- Tanna: Dawn by Reiner Strasser and Alan Sondheim
- Mina:
Make sure to submit your slides from your presentation to Canvas.
Read (on top of the weekly readings) Mark Bernstein's Patterns Of Hypertext
Install GitHub Desktop and Visual Studio Code.
- Interactive Fiction Database
- Interactive Fiction Technology Foundation
- Interactive Fiction Wiki
- Get Lamp
Make sure to submit your slides from your proposal presentation to Canvas.
- Game, Game, Game and Again Game (note: because of how the poem is accessed, it is a little laggy)
- The Jason Nelson Collection
In class for week 12, there will be an opportunity for you to get feedback on your developed creative work in progress and folio. We will only have one more week of class (the optional week 13) before the projects and folios are due.
No optional class in week 13. Email me if you need me to answer any questions on your developed creative work or folio.