Events are a change in the state of an entity such as a setting, character, or an element of the larger storyworld. The elements and properties of events are: Internal: An internal event is a psychological change that occurs in a character, typically as a result of an interaction withContinue Reading
A setting is the backdrop within which a narrative occurs, but it goes far beyond the physical characteristics of a place in which events happen. Settings occur on both the storyworld and individual story levels. Settings at both levels are similar, but are differentiated by scope and the level ofContinue Reading
Campbell’s structure of the hero’s journey has been adapted and used by many writers. Numerous examples of modified versions of the hero’s journey exist, but most retain the essential steps identified by Campbell. One such modified version is included in 45 Master Characters: Mythic Models for Creating Original Characters, whichContinue Reading
“Hey…I’m not ready for a relationship with you yet.” Social media will play an increasingly important role in transmedia storytelling, but there are a few things that storytellers are going to have to learn first. One of them is not to push users too quickly to enter into a relationship.Continue Reading
Campbell identified the three stages of the journey as departure, initiation, and return. Within those three stages, Campbell identified a series of steps (Campbell, 1949, pp. ix-x): Departure: The departureis the first of the three stages of the hero’s journey and consists of five steps: Call to Adventure: The call toContinue Reading
An interesting question about fiction and nonfiction transmedia storytelling was raised in a recent LinkedIn discussion. Wendy Bancroft, in the Transmedia Storytelling group, said: Most people interested in transmedia approaches have fiction in mind–stories that can move across platforms, that can change, that can involve gaming… What about non-fiction? HowContinue Reading
Different characters play different roles in a story. These roles fall into three categories (Card, 1988, p. 59), with the major characters identified in more specific roles: Major characters: The major charactersdrive the plot through its twists and turns and move the story forward. The major characters fill a varietyContinue Reading
The second category of existent is the characters (human or otherwise), which are sentient beings with the ability to feel, perceive, or to have subjective experiences. Characters have a number of properties that help define them. These include: Physical characteristics: The physical characteristics are what the character looks like. TheContinue Reading
Significant objects are one type of existent. There are two types of significant objects: Plot-Signficant: A plot-significant object has a substantial impact on the story’s plot. Character-Significant: A character-significant object has some sort of significance to a particular character but does not have a significant impact on the story’s plot.Continue Reading
Over the past few weeks we have been looking at the first (transmedia project) and second (storyworld) level design tasks. Once work at these levels is substantially complete, it is time to move on to the next level of tasks. The third level of design tasks occurs at the storyContinue Reading