After reading and rereading Stitch Bitch, the part I actually started to understand was the introduction. Shelley Jackson was referencing that she could be confused with Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein. Both works, Frankenstein and Patchwork Girl, take parts from others to create or ‘stitch’ together a whole. Jackson, however, is denoting to hypertext and it’s nonlinear form. In fact, Jackson writes Stitch Bitch in this hypertext fiction, with a meandering course that is stitched together in a roundabout way.
Hypertext lays out all the information right in front of the reader in fewer words. It gives the readers a choice and a chance to think for themselves. The reader does not have a set way to move about the information, unlike a book, where the reader turns the pages and reads from left to right, front to back. With hypertext, the information has no history or any expectations for the future, giving the readers the opportunity to create their own adventure.
With new electronic media and the Internet, Jackson believes people will be inspired to create great works. She urges people to write in ways that interest them, not letting others decide what is important to think or write about. I appreciate her rule of thumb: “keep in mind that you are someone else’s ‘other people,’” after she bluntly states other people are wrong. This is a way for her to acknowledge that there are people who criticize her own style, but also take a stab at those who use linear writing.