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Theme, story arc, and plot are essential to the design of effective stories. These questions will help in their development: What is the controlling idea (theme) of the story? (Story Level Design Tasks) Is there a story arc that spans multiple elements of the story? (Story Level Design Tasks) WhatContinue Reading

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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 withContinue Reading

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While the storyworld is an essential part of a transmedia narrative, it is the individual stories that keep the audience involved. These questions can serve as a guide when creating the story: Does this story serve as a “point of entry” to the storyworld? (Storyworld Level Design Tasks) What isContinue Reading

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Designing a cast of characters for a transmedia project is a complex task. These questions can serve as a guide. What are the physical characteristics of the characters/class of characters? (Storyworld Level Design Tasks) What is the character’s gender? What is the character’s date of birth? What is the character’sContinue Reading

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Characters are one the most important elements of any story. In transmedia storytelling, they can be critical to overcoming your audience’s resistance to moving from one medium to another. These questions can be used as a guide when creating characters for a transmedia project. What classes of characters exist withinContinue Reading

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Transmedia narratives provide an opportunity to engage more senses than a story told using a single medium. When developing a transmedia project, these questions provide a starting point for addressing how the five human senses can be engaged. What are the visual characteristics of the setting? (Storyworld Level Design Tasks)Continue Reading

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Ethos is the “explicit and implicit ethics of the world and (moral) codex of behavior which characters in the world are supposed to follow” (Klastrup & Tosca, 2004). It is the knowledge needed to “know how to behave in the world” and that defines what is acceptable or inappropriate behavior inContinue Reading

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Topos is the setting of the world in a specific period and detailed geography (a futuristic technological world in science fiction, the middle ages with magical elements in fantasy, or a crime-ridden underworld in a detective/gangster story). These questions should be answered as you develop your storyworld. Is the toposContinue Reading

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Mythos is the established conflicts and battles of the world, the characters of that world, its stories and rumors, and its creatures. This is the “back-story of all backstories” – the “central knowledge needed to interact with or interpret the events in the world successfully” (Klastrup & Tosca, 2004). WhenContinue Reading

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Creation of a rich storyworld is an essential part of developing a transmedia property. These questions (and others over the few posts) can guide a creator in putting together such a storyworld. Is the story fiction, non-fiction, or a hybrid (i.e. an integration of fictional and non-fictional elements)? (Storyworld LevelContinue Reading