Non-linear Storytelling for Interactive Media

Lecture Handouts

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Creating Stories

An Interactive Lecture On Writing Linear and Non-Linear Stories.

by Shawn Quirk,
B.A., Creative Writing, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
M.A., English, University of Connecticut

Please take 15 minutes, or so, to jot down notes and write responses to the following questions about stories. "Stories" here refers to any oral, literary, or film stories that are fictional--children's stories, folk stories, songs, poems, short stories, novels, plays, movies, interactive CDs, multimedia stuff, etc.

  1. Character/Characterization
    1. Who is your all-time favorite character from any story you have heard, read, or seen? What most intrigues you about this character?
    2. Identify a story that you find interesting but does not have interesting characters? What makes this story work for you?
  2. Setting and Plot
    1. Identify a story that is "plot driven," that is dependent upon its clever plot for its overall success.
    2. Identify a story that creates audience interest with its physical settings: where. In what way is the physical setting interesting?
    3. Identify a story that creates audience interest with its time settings: when. In what way is the time setting interesting?
  3. Point of View (Who is "seeing" the story for the audience?)
    1. Identify a story that is interesting because it is told by an unusual narrator in the 1st person, "I".
    2. Identify a story told in the "you" point of view; the "they" or the "we" points of view. Identify a story that shifts point of view from character to character.
  4. Language
    1. Identify a story (or poem or song) that you've read that depends upon its use of language for its success.
    2. Identify a Writer or storyteller who is noted for his/her rich descriptions and detail.
  5. Theme
    1. Identify a fictional story that changed your life.

Last modified 7 APR 97 by Sandro Corsi.