I need your help and valuable insight!
I've been working on an online fiction project that would let readers control the progression of the story throughout. Like the 'Choose Your Own Adventure' books and similar.
I really should consider changing the name of my blog to "Someone Probably Said/Did This Before". Yes, it's been done, but not by me.
Of course, the reader can only make decisions at certain times. I mean, you could design it so every other line allowed the user to decide what to say, wear, eat, scratch, or gargle with.
Too many decision points would distance a person from the narrative. A reader needs to be able to immerse themselves in the story, and too many pauses would be problematic.
How much decision-making is too much? Too little? It would vary by reader, but there will be an average preference. It's all about user feedback and tweaking. The introduction would be the longest period without a decision for the reader, while character and setting are established.
I've been thinking on this idea for a while now, (years) and I've worked on and off on the content. I bought a domain name and started working on a web site.
I didn't know how to even begin to design a web site, so the first design was a learning experience and it was pretty crappy.
About a year later, I redesigned the original site from the ground up. And after about a year of working on art and layouts, (hundreds of hours worth) I realized that I really stink at art and html.
I wish I'd spent that time writing the stories, instead of trying to get the site just right. But I wanted to cement the format before I did a plethora of writing.
And it's gonna take a hell of a lot of writing. Take a normal novella, say 100,000 words, and multiply it by four to allow for the variations in path. It's like writing four books instead of one. Which is fine, but time consuming.
Once I discovered Blogger, I realized that this was the perfect format for FictionInteractive.com - (Yeah the catchier names were taken, and I have this silly need for web site names to apply to the topic therein.) the ease of creating new pages while maintaining a congruent layout.
The internet is so relative, and my web design skills so minimal, that I couldn't come up with something that looked good on everyone's PC. (This is my biggest gripe with the internet)
So I've been working on the FictionInteractive.com blog version for a few days now... It's still pretty basic. In some ways, it's going to stay that way. In the end, it's text and links to more text, really. So the writing has to be engaging.
I think I'm going in a good direction, and hope people will enjoy it (eventually) but I don't know. There could be some fundamental flaws with the basic premise that I'm not seeing. There's no art at all yet - I need to remove the bland blog header and place the logo art, and such.
And do lots and lots of writing...
I've been working on an online fiction project that would let readers control the progression of the story throughout. Like the 'Choose Your Own Adventure' books and similar.
I really should consider changing the name of my blog to "Someone Probably Said/Did This Before". Yes, it's been done, but not by me.
Of course, the reader can only make decisions at certain times. I mean, you could design it so every other line allowed the user to decide what to say, wear, eat, scratch, or gargle with.
Too many decision points would distance a person from the narrative. A reader needs to be able to immerse themselves in the story, and too many pauses would be problematic.
How much decision-making is too much? Too little? It would vary by reader, but there will be an average preference. It's all about user feedback and tweaking. The introduction would be the longest period without a decision for the reader, while character and setting are established.
I've been thinking on this idea for a while now, (years) and I've worked on and off on the content. I bought a domain name and started working on a web site.
I didn't know how to even begin to design a web site, so the first design was a learning experience and it was pretty crappy.
About a year later, I redesigned the original site from the ground up. And after about a year of working on art and layouts, (hundreds of hours worth) I realized that I really stink at art and html.
I wish I'd spent that time writing the stories, instead of trying to get the site just right. But I wanted to cement the format before I did a plethora of writing.
And it's gonna take a hell of a lot of writing. Take a normal novella, say 100,000 words, and multiply it by four to allow for the variations in path. It's like writing four books instead of one. Which is fine, but time consuming.
Once I discovered Blogger, I realized that this was the perfect format for FictionInteractive.com - (Yeah the catchier names were taken, and I have this silly need for web site names to apply to the topic therein.) the ease of creating new pages while maintaining a congruent layout.
The internet is so relative, and my web design skills so minimal, that I couldn't come up with something that looked good on everyone's PC. (This is my biggest gripe with the internet)
So I've been working on the FictionInteractive.com blog version for a few days now... It's still pretty basic. In some ways, it's going to stay that way. In the end, it's text and links to more text, really. So the writing has to be engaging.
I think I'm going in a good direction, and hope people will enjoy it (eventually) but I don't know. There could be some fundamental flaws with the basic premise that I'm not seeing. There's no art at all yet - I need to remove the bland blog header and place the logo art, and such.
And do lots and lots of writing...
I was tempted by the same idea a few years ago and quit after just a few months of writing and coding. A few things I discovered before scrapping the idea (which is not to suggest that you do the same, just a few pitfalls to be aware of):
ReplyDelete-- Internet readers shy away from anything longer than a screen. I noticed you have several screen's worth at a time. Probably too much.
-- To make it truly interactive, you need to link in choices all the time, e.g., "I pick the (choose) colored jacked" which would later prompt other characters to say things like, "Hey, why are you wearing that (choice) colored jacket?"
-- The above probably means you should incorporate some sort of javascript and cookies to remember the choices
-- You certianly don't want to wait three pages (9 screens) before getting to your first choice. Keep it interactive and give the readers something to do all the time or they will surf away.
-- Use all of your web page goodies to their fullest to keep it visually more interesting than a page full of text: pop-ups, expanding menus, maybe the occassional graphic to indicate types of choices, etc.
Even after adhering to all of these rules, I finally figured out that the only people willing to read a novel on the internet were probably looking for porn in the first place, so I gave it up. But keep at it. I'll swing by every now and then to check up on you.
LOL- Cool idea- My vote is for Horror and then erotica or romance.
ReplyDeleteAre you going to be writing all this yourself or are you going to have selected contributors as well?
Good luck!!
facinating idea--I've been kicking around choose-your-own as well . . .
ReplyDeletesomething is missing in the genre . . .
something clean, simple, obvious. when a person finally sees this, all will be well with the universe . . .
in the meantime, how is your site different than an online role playing game?? seems to me that people who are interested in net-reading want visuals and instantaneous gratification (which ain't all that bad-ha!)--
what would this genre of writing have to offer over those types of games???
i do believe you are on to something--just defining it may help sculpt it--
yeah, it's me
hey--i'm really asking a question here . . .
ReplyDelete