the object oriented novel

I described what I'm doing with Breakout at the moment, as an attempt to write an "object oriented novel." Which sounds a lot like some sort of quest in search of some mcguffin ring or orb or something, but in fact I'm trying to draw a connection to the object oriented mode of computer programing.

"Ah? What's that?" You ask?

Well as I understand it, object orientation encourages programers to write and deal with code as a series of objects (and classes and methods, etc, but lets just call it a bunch of units objects), that each do something, or are something. So rather than writing a program that tells the computer to do a list of things (procedurally) you set up an environment and allow the computer to respond to things that the user does. Generally speaking. Does anyone with actual coding experience want to clarify this explanation? Because I'm not going to act like I'm some sort of authority on computer science, I'm just fascinated by different ways of thinking and problem solving.

Anyway, why is object orientation good? It means that code is more modular and easier to find and reference particular things. Because rather than have to search/grep through a long list of ordered directions (that probably has a lot of overlap, because there are certain procedures that you're likely to have to perform more than once in non-OO code...) the objects are all sorted and ready to be referenced later when you need them.

Ok, so lets extend the metaphor to the novel and to fiction.

Our classic form is basically a long, ordered list of information which is processed linearly. Thousands of paragraphs, dozens of chapters, and an ass load of words. It's great, when it works, it's easy to screw up, and there are some stories that work really great in this format and some that do not.

While you can write novels in a more modular sense, it's my sense that even if people jump around a lot in a story. They pretty much write from beginning to end in at least a loose sense anyway. There are of course exceptions. But the end product is very linear (people don't really read book-length fiction out of order even if they were written out of order.)

My definition of a fiction-object is pretty loose, basically a unit of story/narrative/fiction-essay that conveys a piece of meaning in the context of the story. Objects [1] tend to be between about 250 and 1250 words, with the sweet spot being about 750 words, which is conveniently, the perfect length for my average scene, and the attention span of most users of the Internet for reading (where this project will be read).

What will make this a novel rather than a bunch of vinegettes/scenes/chunks, is the hyperlinking and inclusions that the html and a bit of PHP will allow, with a very thin layer of "guide" material to make the pages easy to navigate. I think I've mentioned this before on this blog, but the basic idea is that most of the document will be stories and "writings" by the characters, but there'll also be a little content written as parody in an encyclopedic style that will help connect things.

And what's better is that this pace is really sort of ideal. I get to spread out editing and drafting because editing is what leads to the creation of new content ("If I fix this up, I'll need to continue this plot, linked to this phrase") and as readers of this blog know, I'm really good at 500-800 word pieces, so it's a comfortable length, as long as I'm not expected to tell self contained stories within those bounds: and you don't want any chunk to be self contained, because once it is totally encapsulated, people stop reading. I suppose this is where the analogy breaks down.

But it's a good idea. I'll get a chunk out to you all in a few days, I hope.