Task 5: Twine task (Optional task)
Creating The Little Ice was both a creative and reflective process for me. I wanted to explore how digital writing invites readers to experience a story through interaction rather than passive reading. As Bolter (2001) explains, print and electronic writing coexist and depend on one another as electronic writing builds upon and extends print traditions. I designed each link in my story, such as choosing to “look at the stars” or “talk to the rose,” to reflect that extension, turning reading into exploration.
Heim’s (1999) description of the word processor as “the calculator of the humanist” resonated with the whole process. Twine functioned as more than just a writing tool; it became a space for experimenting with structure and meaning! I could easily move passages, test emotional pacing, and rethink the reader’s journey. It felt like I experienced the “fluidity” of digital text that Heim discusses. Writing in Twine made me aware that composition in a digital space involves not only language but also design. I can literally arrange “possibilities” rather than just sentences.
Engelbart’s (1963) idea of “augmenting human intellect” through associative linking also shaped my understanding of hypertext. Each hyperlink in The Little Ice acts as a conceptual connection, echoing how our thoughts move non-linearly through memory and imagination. Readers are invited to follow these connections, constructing their own meanings through choices.
All in all, creating this Twine game helped me see that digital storytelling is not only a new medium but it also represents a new cognitive process. Writing becomes an act of designing “experiences”, where meaning emerges through interaction rather than sequence.
References
Bolter, J. D. (2001). Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print (2nd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Engelbart, D. C. (1963). A conceptual framework for the augmentation of man’s intellect. In P. W. Howerton & D. C. Weeks (Eds.), Vistas in information handling (Vol. 1). Spartan Books.
Heim, M. (1999). Electric language: A philosophical study of word processing. Yale University Press. (Original work published 1987)