Michelle Anderson Inspires Bliss With Her Online Memoir "The Miracle In July"

There has been much discussion about the future of the book industry, and how it will play out for each party involved.  For authors in particular this discussion has largely revolved around their ability to build a following online and leverage this following to ensure that any and all book releases “go viral.”  Getting comfortable with blogging, Twitter, Facebook and the other varied and numerous social media platforms is an increasingly integral part of any authors path to even a modicum of monetary and/or personal success.  This is especially true for new authors trying to break into this ever shifting and unforgiving landscape.

In looking for an example that may portend what the future holds for authors, and how these technological tools are being put to use in a unique and progressive way, look no further than Portland writer and multimedia producer Michelle Anderson’s (@mediachick) online memoir The Miracle In July.  Anderson describes the project as such:

Sparked by my true heartbreak and the push of a true friend, this story began as a form of therapy for me. The Miracle in July is a work-in-progress manuscript, told in several segments in three Acts, and bookended by a Prologue and Epilogue. The Miracle in July explores what it means to follow your bliss.

Videos, images and music created specifically for this story will be embedded to help submerge the reader into the experience of falling in love online. New interactive elements will be added as I discover them. With sound, words, images and hyperlinks, this digital story is an experiment in interactive sculpting, using tools available to anyone with a connection to the Internet.

The incorporation of multimedia creates an atmosphere that comes as close as any I have experienced to truly getting inside the mind of the writer.  Granted, the fact that this is a memoir enhances this feeling, but it’s an approach that with a little creativity could be adapted for nearly any other genre as well.

You want to know what song was playing while Anderson crafted a certain paragraph?  Just click the link and it begins to play in the background while you continue reading.  Need a visual of what Anderson looked like as a first grader in order to better imagine her getting in trouble in the lunch room?  Click on the link and there she is pink ribbon and all.  Another link brings up an email sent to a friend upon Anderson’s arrival in her new found home of Denmark.

An essential element to the success of Anderson’s approach is her use of Apture, an elegantly crafted WordPress plug-in.  This plugin allows for each of these extras to be incorporated with minimal interference to the overall flow of the story.  Quite simply it wouldn’t work if you were constantly switching back and forth between the story and Flickr, or the story and Wikipedia, or the story and Last.fm, etc.  This would quickly get tiresome, and readers would either ignore the added elements or they would turn away entirely.  With Apture, each of these elements pop up in a non-obtrusive way, and most importantly they don’t take you away from the page the story is unfolding on.  So although you can still read through each segment of the story without clicking on every possible link, you can feel safe that if you do you won’t be taken away into Internet oblivion.  In fact, The Miracle In July was featured on Apture’s website as a recent “pick of the week,” being given high praise for “leading the charge” in “a new generation of story telling.”

Anderson started this project in July of this year and has just begun Act II, after a brief hiatus following Act I that allowed for a revision of the manuscript and incorporation of reader feedback.  In September Anderson joined forces with Baker’s Mark (the boutique Portland agency behind the success of Boilerplate, City of Readers, and others) to help fulfill the vision of bringing all three acts of The Miracle together in traditional book form.  A screenplay is in the works as well.

The best part about all of this is that in taking on this ambitious experiment Anderson has inspired others to do the same.  A recent post on Anderson’s blog described the feeling of being told by “peers, readers, and loved ones” that her aiming for what she desired has them “painting again,” trying their “own hand at multimedia storytelling,” and “trying again to follow [their own] bliss.”  As the title of the post says “Warning: Bliss-Following Is Contagious!”

For further information check out OurPDX’s great piece on Anderson and the MIJ project, as well as her recent appearance on Strange Love Live with Personal Assistant @MeaganKate.  You can also become a Facebook fan, and follow #themiracle hashtag on Twitter for updates and information about MIJ.