28 Oct Under the Dome – Stephen King’s Newest Novel is a Social Experiment
I’m a fan of Stephen King, even though I find some of his work to be a bit daunting and overwhelming, he is still one of the greatest literary giants of our time. There’s really no denying that. His stories are often gruesome and bone-chilling (Cujo, Carrie, The Shining), and some are even heart wrenching and beautiful (Stand by Me, The Shawshank Redemption). Others are epic works that encompass entire lives and worlds (The Stand). Now, King has embraced the power of social media and adapted a new way of storytelling by sharing peices of his latest story, Under the Dome, all over the world. 5,196 pieces to be exact. The book itself can be bought on Amazon and other outlets on November 10th, but where’s the fun in that? Nowhere’s the fun, that’s where.
Where the fun IS, however, is in the social experiment King– and his people, I reckon– are concocting. Basically the idea is to string together pieces of the novel that are scattered all over the internet (and beyond) and put them together in a readable format. Simple as that. But wait, there’s more…
The Story
Under the Dome, at its core, is the tale of a village in Maine that is suddenly encased in a giant dome. The dome is a virtual forcefield, and no one can get in, or out. The story features over 100 characters, including town officials, kids, and even a few dogs. Under the Dome rings in at 336,114 words (or about 1200 pages) and is being touted as King’s most epic work since The Stand.
Seekers
One way you can enjoy King’s latest work is by exploring the web for pieces. These pieces are snippets of about 100 or less words, and are random pieces of the entire novel. As people find the hidden slices, they are able to copy them into a special form on the King website, where they then populate a spacey flash piece that you can drag and drop pieces into your desired order. This could prove to be the most daunting aspect of the experiment, with over 5K pieces to find and sort, there might have to be an easier way to arrange them. So where are the pieces hidden? Well, wherever YOU choose to hide them.
Hiders
Now this is the part that all you clever folks out there will appreciate. You are the ones responsible for hiding the snippets in whatever creative way you see fit. According to the website, you can “hide it anywhere you like online or offline along with our web address (as long as it is legal to do so). It could be in the sand on a beach, the frost of a car windscreen, in the code of a blog or hidden in a photo on Flickr or Facebook.” All you have to do is leave a clue on UtD’s Twitter or Facebook. There’s even a prize for one lucky hider who is most creative with the way they hide their snippet. Super cool, if you ask me.
Writers
If all of that wasn’t enough for you, there’s an opportunity for writers to have some fun and get in on the action, too. You can submit a story for a chance to have it read by King himself, along with a signed copy of Under the Dome. There’s a 2000 word limit, with the prompt of “Under the Dome” as your inspiration.
This project seems like a lot of fun, and it is using the power and energy of crowds to do the clever work normally associated with an ARG. There are even blogs and Twitter accounts from characters POV’s, which may or may not be the publishers’ doing, but nonetheless, someone is getting creative. Follow Scarecrow Joe to see what I’m talking about. I think this also illustrates the way that social media is affecting publishing in general, but perhaps that is a different post for a different time. I’d love to hear your thoughts on King & Co.’s foray into the depths of this social experiment, and I would love even more to hear your clues. By the way, I’ll let you know that I have hidden a clue in this very post. Let me know if you find it.
