Personal Effects: Dark Art by J.C. Hutchins & Jordan Weisman
ITW author and contributing editor CJ Lyons sat down with JC Hutchins, one half of the writing team (with co-author Jordan Weisman) behind Personal Effects: Dark Art (St. Martins, June 2009) to discuss what it takes to write a "transmedia" novel.
Tell us about Personal Effects: Dark Art and how you and Jordan Weisman came to write it.
Personal Effects: Dark Art focuses on Zach Taylor, a young art therapist working at Brinkvale Psychiatric Hospital, an asylum for dead-enders. He uses his patients' personal effects to decipher the secrets of their psychoses. But Zach is soon overwhelmed when a new patient arrives at "The Brink": an alleged serial killer who is psychosomatically blind ... and doesn't want to be cured.
Zach's investigations start with interviews and art sessions, but then take him far from the hospital grounds -- and often very far from the reality that we know. The book recently received a starred review in Publishers Weekly.
Jordan is the man with the plan, regarding the creation of Personal Effects. In 2007, he connected with St. Martin's and presented a brain-bending innovation in publishing, which he and author Sean Stewart had pioneered the year before with the YA title Cathy's Book -- the "transmedia novel." At its simplest, a transmedia novel is a traditional book combined with a multimedia-fueled "out of book" narrative experience.
When you purchase a copy of Personal Effects: Dark Art, an envelope accompanies the novel. It contains authentic-looking items (such as photos, documents and business cards) that are directly referenced in the book. By following clues in the novel and in these transmedia artifacts, readers are propelled into a story-enhancing narrative told via phone, email and on the web. In the world of Personal Effects, book is just the beginning.
What kind of research did you do for Personal Effects? Any adventures in research?
The greatest challenge I faced during the pre-writing process was wrapping my head around the potential and nuances of transmedia storytelling. Jordan is a founding father of this form of tale-telling: he was instrumental in creating the Alternate Reality Game genre, a (mostly) online-based -- and often very ambitious -- version of the "out of book" experience seen in Personal Effects: Dark Art. I was a newcomer to this trailblazing way to tell stories, but was keen to learn everything I could.
One of the most important things Jordan expressed to me in those early weeks of the project was that the portals to our "out of book" experiences could never feel forced, cheesy or gimmicky. The edict: each item that came with the novel must have a narrative or resonantly emotional effect on the story and reader. Putting narratively-hollow "bling" in that envelope was verboten; instead, we wanted to craft a lean-and-mean tale that moved people. I admired that creative commitment, as it served the reader above all. It's ethical storytelling, if that makes sense. No sizzle. All steak. Once I understood that, the story practically wrote itself.
Tell us about Personal Effects: Dark Art and how you and Jordan Weisman came to write it.Personal Effects: Dark Art focuses on Zach Taylor, a young art therapist working at Brinkvale Psychiatric Hospital, an asylum for dead-enders. He uses his patients' personal effects to decipher the secrets of their psychoses. But Zach is soon overwhelmed when a new patient arrives at "The Brink": an alleged serial killer who is psychosomatically blind ... and doesn't want to be cured.
Zach's investigations start with interviews and art sessions, but then take him far from the hospital grounds -- and often very far from the reality that we know. The book recently received a starred review in Publishers Weekly.
Jordan is the man with the plan, regarding the creation of Personal Effects. In 2007, he connected with St. Martin's and presented a brain-bending innovation in publishing, which he and author Sean Stewart had pioneered the year before with the YA title Cathy's Book -- the "transmedia novel." At its simplest, a transmedia novel is a traditional book combined with a multimedia-fueled "out of book" narrative experience.
When you purchase a copy of Personal Effects: Dark Art, an envelope accompanies the novel. It contains authentic-looking items (such as photos, documents and business cards) that are directly referenced in the book. By following clues in the novel and in these transmedia artifacts, readers are propelled into a story-enhancing narrative told via phone, email and on the web. In the world of Personal Effects, book is just the beginning.
What kind of research did you do for Personal Effects? Any adventures in research?
The greatest challenge I faced during the pre-writing process was wrapping my head around the potential and nuances of transmedia storytelling. Jordan is a founding father of this form of tale-telling: he was instrumental in creating the Alternate Reality Game genre, a (mostly) online-based -- and often very ambitious -- version of the "out of book" experience seen in Personal Effects: Dark Art. I was a newcomer to this trailblazing way to tell stories, but was keen to learn everything I could.
One of the most important things Jordan expressed to me in those early weeks of the project was that the portals to our "out of book" experiences could never feel forced, cheesy or gimmicky. The edict: each item that came with the novel must have a narrative or resonantly emotional effect on the story and reader. Putting narratively-hollow "bling" in that envelope was verboten; instead, we wanted to craft a lean-and-mean tale that moved people. I admired that creative commitment, as it served the reader above all. It's ethical storytelling, if that makes sense. No sizzle. All steak. Once I understood that, the story practically wrote itself.
CSI's Anthony E. Zuiker says of Personal Effects: "This is the future of storytelling, and it's a thrilling ride." What plans do you have to bring the story and characters to life beyond the page?I believe the transmedia experience we've crafted for Personal Effects: Dark Art is truly groundbreaking, in that it provides readers with an opportunity to become a protagonist of sorts: they can follow the investigative steps taken by hero Zach Taylor, and explore the documents, photos and websites just as he does in the story.
That's a fascinating experience -- and while it enhances the narrative, in the end, it simply parrots what is seen in the pages of the book. That's why Jordan and I went the extra mile and created "out of book" subplots and experiences that hero Zach may never experience. These are opportunities where readers can learn story-changing information that Zach may never discover. We've concocted at least one plot twist that fundamentally alters the reader's perception of the story. I'm particularly proud of that. I call it our "Sixth Sense moment," alluding to the gobsmacking revelation at the end of that movie.
To be clear: the book can be read on its own, and stands on its own as a cohesive, complete narrative. That was mission-critical for me. However, readers who are curious about these peculiar items that come with the book can delight in at least a dozen "out of book" narrative experiences designed to add layers, context and plot twists to the printed book. And while these experiences require creative thought and effort to discover and "unlock," we've made certain to make them accessible for readers. Our contract with the reader: Pay attention, follow up, and your curiosity will be rewarded.
This is indeed the future of storytelling, crafting compelling tales that leverage not only the best elements of the printed word, but also the most impactful, resonant elements of media such as audio, artwork and photography. Why not embrace these media whenever possible? I've taken to saying, "once you go transmedia, you don't go back" -- meaning, once a writer untrains his brain to think in terms of telling a story on just the printed page, the narrative landscape ... and the opportunities there ... shifts dramatically. There's no better time in history to be a storyteller.
In addition to the transmedia experience connected directly to the Dark Art narrative, we've unleashed even more groundbreaking online content. For instance: Rachael Webster, a character in the novel, is described as a "snarky video game blogger." Visitors to PixelVixen707.com (mentioned in the book) can read Rachael's blog, which is written in real-time. She makes frequent posts, interacts with readers as any other blogger would do, answers fan mail, and is even on Twitter. Nearly all of Rachael's fans know she is fiction ... and yet ignore/embrace her brain-bending unreality by treating her as a "real" person, whose commentary is worthy of respect. That both amazes and humbles me.
I'm currently heading another fun and innovative promotion, in which fans of my work and Personal Effects fans can "commit" themselves to Brinkvale Psychiatric Hospital and become a patient of Zach Taylor. Fans visit my site, describe their fictional mental malady, upload an image of their art or creative photograph ... and within a day or so, they receive custom-crafted (and authentic looking!) Brinkvale "patient paperwork" via email, featuring the profile they created. Even cooler, their art is posted to Brinkvale's official website in the patient art gallery. It's a way for readers to inject themselves into the Personal Effects universe, and receive public acknowledgment of their creativity.
More than 200 people have already "committed" themselves. It's a fascinating, groundbreaking, community-fueled experience. I'm currently using these fans' names and fictional backstories as characters in Personal Effects: Sword of Blood, a podcast-exclusive audio novella prequel to Dark Art, which I'm currently writing and releasing at my website.
We'll also soon debut "Personal Effects: The Mobile Experience," a Dark Art-enhancing multimedia narrative told exclusively via cell phone. Fans can opt in to receive SMS text messages from the book's characters, and follow a multimedia narrative told exclusively via mobile phone.
Our goal is to change the way stories are told, and create experiences that stick with readers long after they've closed the cover of the book.
Where can readers find you on the web?
My website, which is brimming with Personal Effects information and news, is JCHutchins.net.
As a pediatric ER doctor, CJ Lyons has lived the life she writes about in her cutting edge suspense novels. Her debut, LIFELINES (Berkley, March 2008), became a National Bestseller and Publishers Weekly proclaimed it a "breathtakingly fast-paced medical thriller." The second in the series, WARNING SIGNS, was released January, 2009 and the third, URGENT CARE, is due out October, 2009. Contact her at http://www.cjlyons.net
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