Who creates these works? One person or a team of people?
Most of the projects on this website have been entirely created by Andy Campbell who established the website in 2000 as a platform for his experimental work. However a selection of the pieces are collaborative and the appropriate credits are given on each project's summary page. None of the work is created by a team of developers, writers or artists. Yet, anyway.
Isn't this just silly though? Shouldn't written fiction just be fiction, not some hybrid of media?
This is a good point, and one which Dreaming Methods is very aware of. Although much of the work here has been praised and enjoyed by site visitors, Dreaming Methods is just one interpretation of "digital writing" and doesn't work for everybody. Many people find it challenging, empty, vague, distracting and/or complicated to navigate. In some ways Dreaming Methods appears to be "between" a lot of things: between a game and an animation, between film and photography; between a reading experience and a frustrating fragmented narrative. But it always tries to offer at least a unique experience, an atmosphere, something that's been sourced from a genuinely felt place.
There is an undoubted move happening in publishing and writing from the page to the screen. More and more authors are trying out the possibilities of the internet to push their work to new levels. Some prefer to stick to e-books or audio-book downloads. Others are curious to try more experimental things, such as inserting fiction into Google Maps, or creating narratives with animated text. The possibilities are endless, and quite exciting, although it is an artform whose rules are still far from properly established.
Isn't the future of "digital fiction" actually computer games, not this stuff?
Some people believe so yes - the work here in places may be game-like but projects are not approached as games. Dreaming Methods has a particular interest in telling digital stories whilst retaining the written word. How much actual writing there is in each piece varies, but there is always some visual text. Dreaming Methods is interested in retaining the aspect of reading in each piece - not to do away with reading.
So who funds Dreaming Methods projects? Are they commercial?
Dreaming Methods' projects are non-commercial and created purely in spare time out of a passion for digital writing, without financial backing. For our day jobs, Andy Campbell and Judi Alston run an arts/media organisation called One to One Productions which can be accessed from the Network button at the top right of the page. We create websites and documentary films for arts organisations and charities.
In the near future we hope to make a little bit of income from Dreaming Methods by selling some of the orginal source code used in the works - and perhaps creating a subscription-only project, which will help to fund the endless number of hours we spend on each piece.
In the near future we hope to make a little bit of income from Dreaming Methods by selling some of the orginal source code used in the works - and perhaps creating a subscription-only project, which will help to fund the endless number of hours we spend on each piece.
Do you accept submissions?
No. Not any more. We were getting too many enquiries from writers who wanted their "normal" fiction turning into "digital fiction" because they didn't have the skills to do it themselves. Although if you have an exciting concept for a project or want to enquire about collaborating on a new piece of work, you can contact us. We'd prefer it if you'd made a start at least - and had something on the web to look at.