The Story Lab 2016 – Blog Post Week Four

Through this weeks classes we tackled a range of activities and ideas. Having thoroughly moved into the world of interactive and transmedia storytelling, unsurprisingly, the majority of our work surrounded stories told across multiple media platforms.

Our first seminar for week four involved choosing “games” to play online. These games were interactive; the outcome of the games stories dependant on the choices of the player or audience. For me, this class was particularly interesting – that’s not to say the games were interesting. On the contrary actually. Instead, I found the class intriguing as it solidified my personal opinion on interactive storytelling.

I look at this type of storytelling in two main ways. The first, in awe, as for the well constructed stories, I am always amazed at how clever and well thought out they are. Having planned and constructed an interactive story myself, I am able to appreciate just how difficult pulling together a story in which ultimately hands over much of the control to the audience, really is. But going back to class this week, I played ‘The Matter of the Great Red Dragon“. While it’s interface’s appearance could have been more appealing, the number of ways in which the ‘player’ could alternate the story was intriguing. The creators provided links to multiple different levels or information in order to keep moving forward. It was interesting, but like most interactive stories I encounter, it wasn’t captivating.

I am a traditionalist when it comes to storytelling. That’s not to say I don’t like transmedia storytelling (ask anyone just how much of a Marvel fan I am). However, when it comes to telling a story or narrative, I like to simply have the story given to me. As a reader or viewer, I believe we already do a great amount in being an active audience. Each an every reader will decipher content in their own manner. No one will understand the themes, plot or messages in the same way as anyone else – including the author. However, the reason for my favouring of this more traditional form , I believe, is because it offers a more solid and lifelike form of narrative. Let me try and explain myself.

When I am given an interactive story, it is up to me to chose the path of the narrative. This option of continuously having to chose where the story goes next is a constant reminder that the story isn’t real. Every time I am asked to make a decision, I am hurled back into the now, reminded that the story is simply that – fiction. In a way, it is almost a breaking of the fourth wall. You are taken out of the story world, unable to become fully immersed. In addition, I think it’s important to note that many people partake in storytelling to escape their own reality, their own minds. When I read a novel, I want to find myself in the head of another, the life of another. Interactive storytelling does not let me do this. Sure, I am faced with scenarios I would never encounter in my everyday life, however, it is ultimately my own self – my own morals, ideas and characteristics – choosing the way in which the story ends. Please be aware that I am speaking of simply written forms of interactive storytelling. While I am in no way a ‘gamer’, I believe that this is another matter entirely. Though it is the same concept of interactive storytelling, in my opinion, the audience seeks a different mode of agency through it’s completion. But that is a different matter entirely!

Back to interactive storytelling vs. traditional storytelling. Interactive storytelling is in contrast to, for example, when I read a fictional novel, a more traditional mode of story. The characters and plot are laid out for me. There is no question that, ‘oh, she could do this, but she could also do that’ because the character is a solid and sure person. If you do not stop reading at each chapter, there is nothing to stop you from becoming entirely immersed in the story world. I am sure I have not explained myself as sure or clear as I would have liked, but I hope that my ideas have translated to some extent.

However, despite my thoughts on the matter, my appreciation for creators planning is extreme. Being able to plan for multiple links and storylines is something that is no easy task. In my own experience, I have found that planning such a story is aided by undertaking in activities such as mind mapping and colour coding, while even creating key words for particular events and plot lines can also be of assistance. However, perhaps the most important thing I learned from creating an interactive story was that I worked much better having printed off key sections or data from story and having physically in front of me. This way, I was able to move cards around right before me.

Another important thing to note – which also has to do with our second seminar for the week – is that working with others can be beneficial – especially when creating an interactive story. While opinions and ideas can collide, it is important to keep an open mind, to take everything that is offered and question it in relation to your own ideas. While you may not chose to employ the idea into your story, other peoples ideas may just make you raise concepts you might not have ever thought of otherwise.