A story’s “shape” can provide insights into how it might be structured as a transmedia narrative. For example, using the traditional Freytag’s Triangle shape will probably be best suited for a story told using a single medium (e.g. book, movie, etc.). On the other hand, a vertical story shape with multiple narrative “shafts” might be well suited for presentation using several media.
These questions should be answered when designing the story:
- What is the “story shape”? (Story Level Design Tasks)
- Freytag’s Triangle
- Freytag’s Triangle adapted for a story with one “big scene”
- Freytag’s Triangle adapted to incorporate flashbacks
- Freytag’s Triangle adapted to incorporate multiple scenes
- Multiple “side trips” branching from the main story thread
- Spiral story structure circling towards a central point
- Horizontal story structure with multiple intertwined threads
- Converging story structure with multiple individual threads coming together
- Vertical story structure with multiple “narrative shafts” along a central thread
- Multi-layer episodic story
- Are the story genre and “story shape” consistent? For example, a vertical story structure might support a transmedia narrative in which different “narrative shafts” are on different media. (Story Level Design Tasks)
- Is the type of interactivity (external/exploratory, internal/exploratory, external/ontological, and internal/ontological) consistent with the story genre and story shape? (Story Level Design Tasks)