E-Literature and its Various Forms

Born Digital

What is E-Literature?

The thought of an online book, or the idea of a bookstore at your fingertips, can be an alluring concept for many people.People who enjoy the process of consuming literature and expanding their knowledge of the arts usually turn to faster, more efficient ways of getting their information.

However, E-Literature is different. E-Lit (because I am not gonna spell out E-Literature every time) is a little more expansive than simply a bookstore online. The Art of Digital Literature is not something someone can simply read and understand. Born Digital media is a form of literature that engages and encourages its audience to develop a sense of meaning to the digital work. It is a creating that is not transcribed, or scanned, to be more easily accessible online. It is a form of literature that transcends the traditional pen and paper.

Take the short hyperlink story "24 Hours with Someone you Know" for example. When you read through it, easily, a one-dimensional mind could understand the notion of the story that piece is trying to tell. However, when you add elements of reader engagement and switch-up the template for story telling, you dive into a word of many possibilities that help shape a story to the decisions that the reader makes. This is the art of Text-Based Adventures, and it's origins are quite fascinating.

Text-Based Adventures  were my first introduction to this genre of E-Literature. The ability to create and develop your own story while continuing to delve deeper into the world the author creates is something quite nerving. The creator of the story may have something up their sleeve around ever new bit of information. This stylistic choice for storytelling has been one of my favorite forms of Born Digital literature.
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