Disorientation and the Conventions of Reading: It gradually dawns on me that the sense of disorientation the reader experiences during the process of reading hyperfiction would not last very long if the reader overcomes the conventions of reading print text and adopts new strategies for reading. Firstly, the reader has to be willing to enjoy the journey, not the destination. In a linear structure, events culminate towards the ending. The ending is the destination of the long straight reading path of the print text. In hyperfiction, the reading and the associative experience of the reading is the destination. The reader would not get a sense of disorientation or frustration with the understanding that there is no destination point s/he has to arrive at. Secondly, the reader has to grow more confident of his/her navigational skills and the decisions s/he made. In hyperfiction, the reader’s interest should be the ball of thread that leads to where the reader wishes to go, not the slavish desire to read everything. When the interest of the reader wanes, the hyperfiction ends for the reader as well. It would then be time to close the book (browser) and like Daedalus , fly out of the maze altogether.
Key: Green fonts mark internal links to other parts of the essay. Green highlights mark links to footnotes or bibliography. Peach highlights mark external links. All followed hyperlinks will have blue fonts. The experience of reading hyperfiction by |
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