For our first micro-writing assignment, I’d like you to create your own digital story. Consider the stories we have read so far in this class, as well as the theorists we’ve used to think about the process and goals  of story-making. What is the idea that you would like to communicate through a digital narrative? Why is digital an appropriate form for this narrative? You can write a true or false story, a fantastic or mundane one.

Part 1: Creation

Good news: You don’t need to learn code to complete  this assignment. Instead, I’d you to experiment with Twine, an online tool for creating digital hypertext narratives. We will work with Twine together in class, but if you miss class or still have questions, here are some tips.

To get started, visit the Twine website and work online or download the app (see upper right corner of the webpage) to begin creating your story. Twine will take you through a brief tutorial, but if you get lost, check out their wiki help pages. If you’re using Twine 2.0, this section is very helpful. If you are using Twine 1.4, check out this tutorial.

There is no length/word expectation for this assignment. I expect you to spend ~3 hours on the “creation” part.

After you’ve created and downloaded your story, please upload it to AdventureCow, a website that publishes interactive stories. Save the link!

*Some have been having trouble with AdventureCow, as it does not accept html files downloaded from Twine. If you’re having this problem, try uploading to TextAdventures (who knew there were so many websites doing this?):  https://textadventures.co.uk/. First you’ll have to register for an account, then log-in. Once you’re logged in, click the “Create” tab at the top of the screen. Then, just below it, click “Upload Game.” From there, the site will explain how to complete your upload. Click on “View Game Listing” to get the link to your story. Email me for help with trouble-shooting!

Part 2: Reflection

This course is about more than academic writing – it’s about becoming a more critical and intentional writer. As a step along this path, I’d like you to reflect on the choices you made as the writer of your story. In fact, I’d like you to focus on ONE choice you made. You might choose to write about titles, and the role they played in driving your creation and/or shifting a reader’s understanding. You might instead choose to reflect on the idea behind your story, and how you took it from idea form to story form. Maybe you discuss hyperlinks or language choices. Maybe you decide, in your reflection, that you could’ve made another choice, one that better suits your intentions. This is fine.  The purpose of this assignment is to give you space to think back on your process as a writer and be critical.

Please write 500-700 words and post your reflection, with a link to your story on AdventureCow, to our class blog. We’ll work on and learn more about the blog next week – for now, we’re just getting material up there.

Good luck! Have fun!