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Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Computers and comics

Tuesday, October 31, 2006 2:20 pm by M.   4 comments
Did you ever think that modern bestsellers seem to be written by computers? The plots, the characters, the progression of the narrative... the author becomes secondary because its authorship is diluted in a sort of mainstream narrative. Well, the fact is the computer program exists and the name is Newnovelist 2.0, created by Creativity Software. Vnunet.net reviews it
The starting point in Newnovelist 2.0 is an introductory wizard that prompts you for a title and a one-line pitch, and then presents you with 21 different story types in the plot, epic or character-driven categories. Having picked one of these you’re placed in the creative environment where all the action takes place.
On the left of the screen, your chosen story type is broken into twelve sections, and clicking on any of these produces a few hundred words of guidance about what should go into that section of your novel, plus two or three examples drawn mainly from classics such as Jane Eyre and Madame Bovary, but with the occasional frisson of a reference to Harry Potter or The Da Vinci Code.
Well, not everything is lost if Jane Eyre is one of the chosen examples.

As we informed previously, DameDarcy is touring presenting her illustrated edition of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. Yesterday, she was in New York.

She'll be reading, talking, signing copies of the book, and possibly even casting a few spells. If anything, it will be an unpredictably good time. After all, how often can you meet the founder of a coven the day before Halloween?
For more on the book, check out Slate.com's review. (Or you can read our review :P)

*I'm Dame Darcy's editor on this project, so to say I have a vested interest in its success is, of course, an understatement. However, I'm the editor on lots of projects, and I wouldn't foist something on you if it wasn't spectacular. This book is beautiful
and amazing. Really.


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4 comments:

  1. Anonymous10/31/2006 04:27:00 pm

    It's fine to get inspiration..but it is a really sad world if someone should resort to computers to provide a story.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous10/31/2006 04:54:00 pm

    Oh it definitely is sad! Then people wonder where all the good writers went to!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous11/24/2006 05:05:00 pm

    I looked at the website. One of it's selling points was supposed to be that, "It doesn't even feel like you are writing a novel!" Pfffft. If you want to write a book, you should love it. I love it, even though it's frustrating. If you don't love it, go be a dentist or lawyer or pretty much anything else.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous11/24/2006 06:18:00 pm

    Hello Miranda,

    We seem to live in an age where nothing should feel like what it is. 'It doesn't feel like working out!', etc. Not so long ago we posted about other software that allowed you to skim over books and texts in general and of course, 'it didn't feel like reading!'.

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