Ask HN: Short stories that take advantage of the web as a medium?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16913340

by faizshah • 8 years ago

5 2 8 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Hi HN,

Anybody know of any short stories that take advantage of the web as a medium in the way that Huffpo Highline or eminently the NyTimes Visual Stories use the web as a medium?

Huffpo Highline: https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/index.html

Example Highline Story: https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/nick-ayers-mike-pence/

Nytimes Visual Stories: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/21/us/2017-year-in-graphics.html

Example Nytimes Visual Story: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/02/24/travel/underground-railroad-slavery-harriet-tubman-byway-maryland.html

chasote• 8 years ago

I think this might be close to what you are thinking about:

https://www.sbnation.com/a/17776-football

I'm hoping your post gets more responses too because it is an area of storytelling that I am interested in as well. I have been wondering why such stories and even interactive fiction elements have not made there way to the web. I assume I am actually just ignorant of some great communities and stories out there though.

faizshah• 8 years ago

That's interesting, I haven't seen that before.

I assume I am actually just ignorant of some great communities and stories out there though.

I agree, I'm sure some people have done it. We just aren't aware of it.

I'm interested in people taking advantage of the unique things you can do with the web like motion graphics with D3. If you look at the nytimes visual stories I linked, they do things like move the text with you along the map as you scroll. It's a totally unique way to immerse a reader on the web into the setting. There's already visual essays out there on youtube like Vox and radio plays have picked up steam in the world of podcasts. It would seem that this is the web frontier for authors to try.

This essay by David Foster Wallace makes an interesting use of annotations for DFW's annotation heavy writing style. It actually creates a better experience than the experience in print: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2005/04/host/30...

I think people would pay 8 or 9 dollars for a novel with well done graphics online. That would be virtually all profit.

Ask HN: Short stories that take advantage of the web as a medium?

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