50169 Writing and New Media

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences: Writing and Contemporary Cultures
Credit points: 8 cp
Result Type: Grade, no marks

Handbook description

This subject explores the impacts of new media on writing. Students examine a range of works in which writing and new media intersect, with a focus on blogs, hypertexts and other nonlinear interactive works. They investigate the emergence of the Internet as a publishing space for writers, the rise of blogs, and approaches to writing nonlinear works. They look at the relationships of image and text in new media writing, and explore emerging spaces for writing such as mobile phone/sms delivery. They learn how to structure writing projects for online/interactive delivery, and issues concerning writing for the Internet. Students gain skills in developing basic online works, develop a piece of collaborative writing in the form of a hypertext, and an individual project.

Subject objectives/outcomes

On completion of this subject students are expected to:

Be aware of the impacts of new media on writing practices
Be aware of the use of the internet as an alternative publishing space for writers
Develop skills in writing and planning new media works
Develop a collaborative writing project using new media
Gain skills in critically reflecting on new media writing/ hypertext projects
Develop basic technical skills in developing hypertexts
Extend writing practice through developing a hypertext or other new media writing project.

Contribution to graduate profile

On completing this subject, students will:

have a critical understanding of new media and contemporary cultural forms that support their writing in relation to these media and the formal innovations within them
be able to think critically and creatively about future developments in cultural industries
have a broad range of skills and knowledge, making for creative and critically informed communications professionals
have both general and specific skills in creative writing across a range of genres
be able to function within groups and be sensitive to the multiple dimensions of social and cultural difference.

Teaching and learning strategies

Lectures, tutorials, workshops, discussions, in class exercises, concept development, group and individual project development.

Content

This subject explores the impacts of new media on writing. Students will gain an overview of a range of works in which writing and new media intersect, with a focus on blogs, hypertexts and other non-linear interactive works. They will investigate the emergence of the internet as a publishing space writers, the rise of blogs, and approaches to writing non-linear works. They will look at the relationships of image and text in new media writing, and explore emerging spaces for writing such as mobile phone / sms delivery. They will learn how to structure writing projects for online/ interactive delivery, and issues concerning writing for the internet. They will examine key projects in the fields of literary hypertext and new media. Through workshops they will learn the basics of developing online projects using Dreamweaver. Students will gain skills in developing basic online works, will develop a piece of collaborative writing in the form of a hypertext, and an individual project.

Assessment

Assessment item 1: New media writing/ hypertext report

Objectives	a, b, e
Value	20%
Due	Ongoing weeks 7,9,10,11
Task	Working individually, will research a hypertext or piece of new media writing and report on it to the class as a 5-10 minute class presentation. It may be a blog, 'literary' hypertext, online poetry, new media narrative, game or other project as approved by the lecturer. Students will critically reflect upon the work, discussing key points of interest eg innovation, creativity, integration of image and text, use of non linear narrative, use of alternative distribution methods etc. The report will be verbal, supplemented by relevant audio visual materials to be provided by the student. A summary of key points must also be submitted to the lecturer, either in Powerpoint or as a written item.
Assessment criteria	Clarity of presentation Relevance of information and support materials Degree of critical reflection upon the work Degree of engagement with issues concerning new media and writing such innovation, image/ text relationships, non- linearity narrative, distribution methods etc

Assignment 2: Collaborative hypertext project

Objectives	b, c, d, f
Value	40%
Due	Normally week 9
Task	Working in a small group; collaborate to conceive, plan, write and produce a hypertext involving multiple narrative pathways. While the concept for the hypertext is to be devised by the group, the various paths are to be written by individual members of the group.
Assessment criteria	Creativity achieved within brief Demonstrated degree of effective collaborative work Degree of engagement with hypertextual writing Degree of technical/ aesthetic refinement

Assignment 3: Individual writing project

Objectives	b, c, f, g
Value	40%
Due	Normally Week 14
Task	Working individually, students will develop an individual writing project that engages with the intersections of writing and new media. This may take the form of a hypertext, blog, treatment for a more complex /media rich new media work or game, or project for sms/ mobile phone delivery. The length of the individual project is in the vicinity of 2,500 to 3,000 words.
Assessment criteria	Creativity achieved within brief Degree of creative engagement with the intersections of writing and new media, such as hypertext, non linear writing, impacts of new media on writing practices Degree of technical/ aesthetic refinement

Minimum requirements

Students are expected to read the subject outline to ensure they are familiar with the subject requirements. Since class discussion and participation in activities form an integral part of this subject, you are expected to attend, arrive punctually and actively participate in classes. If you experience difficulties meeting this requirement, please contact your lecturer. Students who have a reason for extended absence (e.g., illness) may be required to complete additional work to ensure they achieve the subject objectives

Indicative references

literary precursors

Jorge Luis Borges: The Garden of Forking Paths
http://www.cybergrain.com/ remediality/ borges.pdf.
and
http://www.geocities.com/ papanagnou/ cover.htm
George Perec: Life A User's Manual

ONLINE RESOURCES
Theory/ culture

Jill Walker, online e-thesis- 'Fiction and Interaction: how clicking a mouse can make you part of a fictional world' especially Chapter $: Addressing the Reader
http://jilltxt.net/txt/Walker-Fiction-and-Interaction.pdf
http://www.altx.net mark amerika's online portal
Fibreculture, http://www.fibreculture.org
Empyre .net http://www.subtle.net/empyre/
Ctheory, http://www.ctheory.net/ default.asp A huge array of digital / culture articles
Lev Manovich online http//:www.manovich.net
http://www.netartreview.net/
Sarai www.sarai.net/ compositions/ texts/ texts.html
Trace online writing http://trace.ntu.ac.uk/ index.htm
Art meets literature- Born magazine http://www.bornmagazine.org

blogs

Salam Pax' infamous Iraq war blog 'Where is Raed?' http://dear_raed.blogspot.com/
About blogging http://www.guardian.co.uk/ arts/ guesteditors/ story/ 0,14481,1194724,00.html
Rebecca's pocket http://www.rebeccablood.net/ index.html
http://rhodri.livejournal.com/
Mark Bernstein (Eastgate Systems) on blogs and identity http://www.markbernstein.org/ Apr0501/ BlogandIdentity.html
Adrian Miles on new media, education and video blogs http://hypertext.rmit.edu.au/ vlog/
Blogger.com

artist/ writer's works/ hypertexts online – as a starter

http://www.dreamingmethods.com/ eg The Flat, Dim O'Gauble @ Dreaming Methods
Mark Amerika http://www.markamerika.com/ check out grammatron especially

BORN magazine http://www.bornmagazine.com/
UBU web
Mr Beller's Neighbourhood http://www.mrbellersneighborhood.com/
World Without Oil http://worldwithoutoil.org/
Donnie Darko http://www.donniedarkofilm.com/
http://www.theorganiccity.com
http://www.invisibleideas.org/
http://knifeandfork.org/
Mark Amerika http://www.markamerika.com/ check out grammatron especially 253 – a hypertext http://www.ryman-novel.com/
Beehive http://beehive.temporalimage.com/
Electronic writing research ensemble http://ensemble.va.com.au/
Deena Larsen www.deenalarsen.net her own projects plus a huge amount of electronic writing/ hypertext resources and links to other writer's online works
Shelley Jackson http://www.ineradicablestain.com/ esp. My Body
Talan memmott/ Lexia to Perplexia http://trace.ntu.ac.uk/ newmedia/ lexia/ index.htm
Inflect http://www.ce.canberra.edu.au/inflect/
Komninos Zervos – poetry http://www.gu.edu.au/ ppages/ k_zervos/
Young Hae Chang Heavy Industries – Korean poet http://www.yhchang.com/
Jason Nelson http://www.secrettechnology.com/ resident/ residency.htm
Walker Art museum net art http://gallery9.walkerart.org/
Joseph Squire http://theplace.walkerart.org/ esp Urban Diary
http://www.digitalfiction.co.uk/digitalfiction
Melinda Rackham's early work eg a.land http://www.subtle.net/ aland/ index1.html
http://www.walksquawk.org/
MILK milkproject.net

books

Aronson, L. (2000) Scriptwriting Updated: New and Conventional Ways of Writing for the Screen, Allen and Unwin, Australia.
Bolter, J (1998 ) Remediation: Understanding New Media, MIT press
Bushoff, B (ed.).(2005). Sagasenet reader: Developing Interactive Narrative Content. München: High Text Verlag.
Garrand, T (1997) Writing for Multimedia, Boston: Focal Press.
Goggin, G (2006) Cell phone culture : mobile technology in everyday life, New York, NY : Routledge
Michael Joyce, (2000).Of Two Minds; hypertext pedagogy and poetics MIT Press, Leonardo Books
Korolenko, M (1997) Writing for Multimedia: a guide and sourcebook for the digital writer, Belmont: Integrated Media Group
Manovich,L. (2001). The Language of New Media. MIT Press
Mayakovsky, V and Lissitsky, L (2000) For the Voice, Vladimir Mayakovsky and El Lissitsky, MIT Press
Andrew Murphie and John Potts, Culture and Technology, Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
Stansberry, D. (1998) Labyrinths: the art of interactive writing and design, Belmont: Integrated Media Group
Tofts, D (2005). Interzone: Media Arts in Australia, Australia: Craftsman House/ Thames and Hudson
Tofts, D, McKeich, M. (1998) Memory Trade : A Prehistory Of Cyberculture, North Ryde, N.S.W. : Interface