2. Google Map Write-Up

My Google Map project is a rather interesting one. I wanted to create an entirely fictional universe, and use Google Maps as a method of delivery of this story. So while I could potentially write a book with these events, I thought doing so in Google Maps had numerous benefits. But, before going into these, I want to talk about the 'so what' of my project.

So What: This project is meant to show the capabilities of Google Maps as a medium to deliver fictional writing. Hence, I harnessed numerous positive things about Google Maps. For example, being able to write non-linearly, and have each piece play off each other as they create a universe, with elements multiple pieces use. Such as the stalker, Q, who is mentioned in numerous pieces. Another thing of note is that because there is no reading order of the pieces, it becomes a world of back stories and infilling. As what was mentioned in one piece, such as Xavi's parents divorce, is actually featured in another piece (I think this is a rather cool part of this medium).

I also could tie the stories into the locations on the map. There's a piece set at Xavi's school, that occurs at an actual school! The McDonald's piece, occurs on the map at an actual McDonald's!!! And so forth with the airport, and hospital psychologist etc. I also used some of the other capabilities, such as custom logos, links, and image imbedding. (I tried using lines and making shapes, but the problem there is that I didn't see any reason why this project needed it, especially judging that all I would use it for is small areas. The problem here is that when one zooms out, the size of the shape gets smaller and smaller. Hence I didn't use it.)

Overall, these are examples of how I tried to harness the capabilities of Google Maps to show what could be created in it, and show how it could be used as a storytelling medium. Especially the idea that small pieces contribute to an overall story/character, and that the pieces can be written in different styles. (There are 10 pieces total, in 9 different styles, which include formal letter, psychological report, blog post, diary entry, speech and first person narrative).

I find Google Maps really annoying however. It needs better functionality and more customisation. For example, when editing the text in a placemark, the actual window needs to be bigger. It's really hard to edit in the ridiculously small window. Another thing that could be improved in Google maps, is that size of the window when reading. It would be great if one could customise the width of that window, as at the moment, it is too narrow. Also sometimes my text is too large for the window, and it doesn't add a scroll bar to it, so it just overflows on the map, this is a bug I found. This is what annoyed me most about Google Maps.

In the future, I might use it as a medium to deliver my writing. I feel like the idea of using Google Maps in a way similar to my project is rather interesting, and something I might do in the future.