Interactive Storytelling: NetNarr Alchemy Lab

Very excited to be part of this dynamic and creative NetNarr 
Alchemy Lab which included creative and stunning story creators including Niall Barr, Todd Conaway, Charlene Doland, Sheri Edwards, Simon Ensor, Roj Ferman, Terry Greene, Kelli Hayes, Kevin Hodgson, Sarah Honeychurch, John Johnston, Alan Levine, Keegan Long-Wheeler, Algot Runeman, Wendy Taleo, Clare Thomson, Susan Watson and Lauren Zucker.

https://sites.google.com/view/netnarr-mediajumping/home

CLMooc 2017 Maker Cycle: Animation

I've always been interested in telling stories in different ways. And when I saw the makers cycle for this week, and I read the description about telling a story through pictures, it brought me back to a concept that I had a long time ago. 

The idea was to create the image of a house destroyed by a tornado and bring that to the computer. By clicking on the interactive screen, people could read about the various clickable pieces of debris and from the story they think is important, based on their desire to click on elements in the debris. That being said, I never found the right way or even the possibility of doing that project. 

For this cycle, it is important for me, as a writer to hold on to the writing part of my projects but still do something that is animated in some way. I still wanted to create something similar to the tornado story, but I had a vision. The concept and the vision came all at once. I would write The Fire. It would be 10-20 flash fiction stories woven together based on an image of a fire. Using an image from the tragic London tower fire, I am trying to connect and make the story work. 

The first part will be the stories and how they connect. The next part will be navigation. And finally, the overall look will be important to the story. While I know that not everyone will love reading this and connecting the concepts, the most important element is to try it. Prezi seems to do the job right now and I think it will work out in a linear fashion. I think my vision of clicking into a space and having it tell you a story would work, but for this first prototype, I will have to let the presentation play itself out in order. 

CLICK HERE TO SEE MY EXPERIMENTAL STORY 

Storytelling can be interconnected and there are a lot of different elements now to teach and tell these stories. I worked with students to create panel cartoons to tell stories. I gave the students complex stories and asked them to tell those stories in five panels. In some cases, it was near impossible, but there is something important to cutting it down to just the basic story and attempting it. I also had them create their own superhero or (as some preferred) anti-superhero to create their own satirical space for storytelling. I created the Dyslexic Man comic because of my own issues and created the dread "homonym brothers" who always confused people with their confusing words. 

The infusion of image and word and the evolution of the digital age has brought us to an interesting time and space. In The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image, the visual need to engage the world is returning. And the coded (male dominated) alphabets and convoluted languages are falling away. Storytelling and the modes to tell our stories will certainly change. With abbreviated text-language and memes evolving into shorthand, we are already speeding along in a new way of seeing the world, laughing, and making complex and satirical points about society, politics, and our own experiences. 

#DigiWriMo - Cool Graphic To Navigate The Story Jumpers

#DigiWriMo / Collaboration, Mentoring, and the Stigma of Writing in Isolation.

In terms of writing, collaboration is important and sometimes critical in expanding ideas and concept. Even fiction writing can be collaborative and exciting (as our Story Jumpers proves). But what is the power of creative collaboration?

Experimental Collaboration 

A few years ago, I wrote a story with someone else and the idea was similar to our Story Jumpers, I would write five pages, and the other person would write five pages and we would see where it might go. The hardest part was never really being sure where the story was going. It feels odd to write something that you are ready to connect and relate with, and then pass it off to someone who has their own ideas and connections. That was difficult because even if I planned something with implications to the future, it might be shifted or dismissed in the next few section. And that was unsettling. The writing that the other writer presented was excellent and often connective, but without the ability to move through a story arc, plot, or character development - it felt like every submission was a let's wait and see what happens. 

What happens when we lose control? And why is it important for us to see the whole things? Some writers feel like they should know the end before they even start a story or a creative endeavor. For that type of writer -- this idea of collaborative writing might be maddening. No closure, no completion. 

Storyjumpers 8: The Messenger Arrives

This is part 8 of a story jumping activity for Digital Writing Month. Bruno started it, followed by Kevin, Maha, Sarah, Ron, Tanya and Kay.  Sign up in theGoogle Doc if you'd like to join in.

Part8

An old car pulled up in front of Kevin's house. Now, they were sitting. The blind man sat calmly in the passenger seat. "He is in there, I can feel it." he said in a breathless voice. The henchman, a tired older man who cracked his knuckles. He looked around at the neighborhood. "These places freak me out. Everyone wants a life on the up and up.  For what? Expensive coffee and whacked out hobbies. Bullshit." The henchman got out and went to the passenger door. He helped the blind man out. The henchman, Marco Billings, was his given name but most people called him Bull, walked the blind man up the path and to the door. Bull rang the bell. He pulled open his jacket and laid his hand on the butt of a gun. "You know these people are crazy." The blind man said, "Easy now. We need to see the map, not blow holes in it."

When Kevin came to do the door, he looked surprised, hold a magnifying glass in his hand. "Can I help you?" The blind man smiled oddly and snickered. "I am sorry to bother you. We heard there was a little disturbance at the pub recently and we just wanted to take a statement." Kevin nodded. He looked them over. "Do you have some kind of police identification." Bull pushed him back into the house, "Yeah, here is my identification." The gun came out and Kevin dropped his magnifying glass. The blind man shuffled in and stood in an aura of calm. "Easy Bull. You can kill him in a few minutes. Now, let's have the map." Bull punched Kevin in the stomach, and he slumped down. Bull quickly found the map and handed it to the blind master. The blind master took off his gloves and began reading the map with his fingers. It seemed impossible that he could feel anything on the map, but his fingers sensed the slightest etchings on the sheet. "Sir, do you know what this is?" Kevin shook his head but didn't answer. "I have been searching for maps that can alter reality. I've found these elements mapped out over time and space. I have become the master of the maps. I'm very powerful because of what I know."

Kevin looked up, "So, now you kill me and take it." The blind master smiled. "No, that is very melodramatic -- but we aren't going to take this." Bull turned, "We came all this way for it, boss." The blind man touched the paper a bit more, "No, this map doesn't show you where to go - not at all." He snickered, "This map tells them how to find you." He sighed and seemed a bit nervous. Bull went over and looked at it. "Bull, hand me a cloth. I don't want my prints on this." He wiped different spaces of the map with a cloth so gently. He put his gloves back on. "Bull, give the poor wretch his map back. They will be coming and we don't want to be here when it happens." Bull tossed the map at Kevin and let it flutter to the ground.

Kevin looked up in a Bruce Willis, save the world moment, "How much time do I have?"

The blind man nodded, "Not nearly enough."

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Hand off to Dana Murphy (@DanaMurphy68)