Dvorak is a series of serial novels that all share a common storyline and world. They are all published according to a set schedule (currently every Friday) and are all written using the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard. The plot surrounds scientific string theory, in which universes collide and separate at random. Dvorak follows an inter-universal organization called QWERTY (yes, that's a pun) which handles these collisions and separations.
Basically, it's a serial series. (Although try to say that three times fast.)
The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard
The Dvorak keyboard was designed in the 1930's and named after one of its creators, D r. August Dvorak. It was designed to replace QWERTY , placing the keys most used in the home row to greatly reduce strain while typing. Dvorak never quite c aught on, and QWERTY is still the standard to day.
I became interested in the Dvorak keyboard after typing for years using QWERTY. As a pianist who also writes novels, the strain started to become too much on my hands. I investigate d my other options and decided to try and learn the Dvorak keyboard. I knew that since I was fluent in QWERTY, however, it would take a while to get used to the other keyboard. My solution ? Learn cold turkey. A pril was around the corner, and that meant Camp NaNoWriMo -- a version of National Novel Writing Mont h that took place outside of the normal November timeframe.
My goal became to write an entire regular NaNoWriMo-length novel -- 50,000 words -- in thirty days, only using the Dvorak keyboard. I decided to up the ante and not plan at all. I typically plan out every novel I write to the last detail; it's part of the fun for me. So not only would I be writing using a different keyboard, I'd be pantsing it the entire way.
I told my friends on Facebook that there were only a few conditions: there would be two main characters, a boy and a girl; the story had to take place in New York City so I wouldn't get totally lost; and the boy and girl weren't allowed to die (at least until the end). Other than that, the plot was wide open. (I did figure that, if by the end of the month I had nothing, I'd just make it all into a huge dream.) The name of the story would be Dvorak, just like the keyboard I would be writing it on.
The response was overwhelmingly positive, and the plot took off, with random events happening to the characters right and left. Soon, the girl, Carissa, and the boy, Mac (both names suggested by friends), were working together to find out why all these strange things were happening. It all pulled together in the end, setting itself up for a continuation -- and I decided to do just exactly that.
The Format
Dvorak is always written using the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard. The only exception is when a different language keyboard must be used (for example, when Tamasine is speaking Japanese in The Dealey Five).
The original Dvorak updated every day in the month of April 2013 . Beginning with The Dealey Five, one chapter is uploaded every Friday. T he chapters in The Dealey Five are twice as long as in Dvorak Classic to compensate.
All Dvorak stories are free to read in their original serialized form on the Internet. They can either be read on this website or on Wattpad, a free serial website and social application. The serial is then edited and printed in book form, available online as a collectible or if you want to read Dvorak on the go.
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