Færwhile & the Multimodal Creative Practice
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Færwhile & the Multimodal Creative Practice: Composing Fiction from Analogue to Digital by R. Lyle Skains Presented to Bangor University in fulfilment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Creative Studies and Media College of Arts and Humanities Bangor University 12 July 2013 Summary This practice-led research project explores the influence of digital tools on the composition of narrative. Its purpose was to create a fictional narrative in both analogue (print) and digital forms, observing and analysing the effects of this multimodal composition on the writer's creative practice, and on the resulting narratives. This project thus consists of both the creative artefacts and the critical exegesis that presents the analysis of the creative process and artefacts. The creative artefacts encompass the analogue novella Færwhile, included in this bound thesis as print novella, and its digital counterpart, included in the attached DVD as HTML digital fiction. The digital fiction actualises the narrative's fabula through a variety of narrative media, including Flash fiction, blog fiction, interactive fiction, and hyperfiction. These platforms were chosen in order to gain a broader understanding of the available media and their literary affordances; the selection of each was based primarily on its suitability for best crafting and communicating the characters, themes, and voice of each individual story or chapter. The critical thesis examines how composing multimodal texts refocuses the writer's cognitive composition process on media-specific semiotic translations, and results in texts that depart from traditional narrative forms into anti-linear structures engaging in unnatural narration. The chapters included present my practice-led methodology; an examination of how the specific materiality of digital media affords multimodal layering of meaning; an analysis of the shift from mimetic first- and third- person narration in work preceding this research to unnatural narration and anti-linear structures in both the analogue and digital artefacts; a discussion of the implicit collaboration that arises from appropriating digital resources such as visuals, audio, and source code shared online under Creative Commons licensing; and an exploration of how knowledge and awareness of digital technologies and ergodic literature results in changes to the composition process, shifting it from a monomodal translation of imagined story to written text, to a multimodal practice engaged in multiple media even in planning stages. Contents Færwhile: A Journey Through a Space of Time (Novella)............................................ 1 1. Lost, Seeking Found......................................................................................... 2 2. Puerta Cerrada de Unman............................................................................... 11 3. Awake the Mighty Dread................................................................................ 25 4. Threading the 'While.......................................................................................44 5. Streams Slipping in the Dark.......................................................................... 65 6. Swallowing the Tale's Tail.............................................................................. 99 Critical Exegesis.......................................................................................................... 109 1. Introduction................................................................................................... 110 2. Methodology................................................................................................. 121 3. "The medium is us": How the materiality of digital storytelling media affects the narrative strategies of technotexts....................................................... 138 4. The Fragmented Digital Gaze: The effects of multimodal composition on narrative perspective.........149 5. Fluid Texts: Implicit collaboration in electronic narratives....................................162 6. It's What You Know: The effects of developing multimodal knowledge on creative composition.......................................................................................... 174 7. Conclusion.................................................................................................... 192 Bibliography................................................................................................................ 199 Digital Creative Credits.............................................................................................. 213 Appendices A. "FuturePics LoveSounds" (Short Story)....................................................... 220 B. Revision Notes: "Puerta Cerrada de Unman"...............................................227 C. Revision Notes: "Swallowing the Tale's Tail"...............................................231 List of Figures Figure 2.1. Flower & Hayes's Cognitive Process Model.............................................. 125 Figure 2.2. The Geneplore Model................................................................................. 127 Figure 2.3. The Practitioner Model of Creative Cognition...........................................129 Figure 2.4. Outline of Practice-led Research Method...................................................133 Figure 5.1. Anna Rose's 2011 "childhood dreamspace map".......................................166 Figure 5.2. Interactive Image from "Streams Slipping in the Dark"............................167 List of Accompanying Materials Færwhile: A Journey Through a Space of Time — Digital Fiction on DVD Acknowledgements This project would not have been possible without my supervisor, Astrid Ensslin, who introduced me to the world of digital fiction and expertly guided me through the research. Asking her to supervise me was the best decision I could have made. Eben Muse's insights into creative insight have also been invaluable, as has his enjoyment of playing devil's advocate. I would also like to thank Jamie Sherry for his support during many chats about the process and the project, and Stephanie Marriott for coining the term "Lyle writing", which I sadly could not find a way to use in an academic context. My husband Paul deserves a hefty portion of gratitude for supporting me in every way possible throughout this PhD. Without him, I'd still be pulling my irradiated hair out over stray commas in nuclear safety documents; I'm grateful every day for his whisking me away to Wales and indulging in my need to add another diploma to the pile. You are my 42. My family has been excited about my research even when they couldn't understand it. I would like to thank and commend my mother not only for her support and love, but also for memorising a blurb about the project she could reel off when people asked what I was studying. When I decided to quit science and return to my (generally financially inviable) love of writing stories, my father merely commented "Of course you should quit. I don't know why you ever thought you weren't going to be a writer," and that was that. All of my parents — Julia & Al, Quin & Laura — are responsible for creating the me who could carry out this research, and I hope this project reflects their love and hope (possibly in lieu of grandchildren). The sibling relationships represented here are drawn from my own, and for that I thank my brother Tres for all our encounters — good and bad. I'm glad we didn't lose you, bud. I would also like to thank Amy for Friday night de-stressing sessions, and for helping me avoid the questionable tuna melts of life. I appreciate the friendship and support of the NIECI junta (Amy, Maggie, Sonia) and Kate & Nick, now with additional smiles and cuddles from Amelia. Lastly, I extend my gratitude to the School of Creative Studies & Media for encouraging innovation and interdisciplinary research, and for supporting not only my project but my career. Declaration and Consent Details of the Work I hereby agree to deposit the following item in the digital repository maintained by Bangor University and/or in any other repository authorized for use by Bangor University. Author Name: Rebecca Lyle Skains Title: Færwhile & the Multimodal Creative Practice: Composing Fiction from Analogue to Digital Supervisor/Department: Professor Astrid Ensslin School of Creative Studies & Media Funding body (if any): None Qualification/Degree obtained: PhD in Creative Writing & Digital Media This item is a product of my own research endeavours and is covered by the agreement below in which the item is referred to as “the Work”. It is identical in content to that deposited in the Library, subject to point 4 below. Non-exclusive Rights Rights granted to the digital repository through this agreement are entirely non-exclusive. I am free to publish the Work in its present version or future versions elsewhere. I agree that Bangor University may electronically store, copy or translate the Work to any approved medium or format for the purpose of future preservation and accessibility. Bangor University is not under any obligation to reproduce or display the Work in the same formats or resolutions in which it was originally deposited. Bangor University Digital Repository I understand that work deposited in the digital repository will be accessible to a wide variety of people and institutions, including automated agents and search engines via the World Wide Web. I understand that once the Work is deposited,