In trying to decide on a topic for my Twine, I worried that a longer more creative story with a lot of twists and turns might be too overwhelming for my first time using the software. For my first foray into Twine I created an interactive learning story for a hypothetical dog-sitter trying to navigate the wake up routine for my sweet and elderly dog, Daisy. I realize that this is my second task that has focused on her but she is my constant companion in this online master’s program and a source of everyday magic and inspiration. 

Please follow this google drive link to view my Twine about Daisy’s Morning Routine. If you download the file and click on the file in your downloads folder, it should open up the Twine on Google Chrome.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BwlAZ2MyniWt1KPEAqMWPG2Wei00Y4Vo/view?usp=sharinghttp://

The strategy I used in creating this simple hypertext story-game was to create the most complicated and involved option for the story first, which served to create the vast majority of the screens. I continued the process by creating the most straightforward storyline next and determining which slides still needed to be created and how the most complicated storyline needed to intersect with the most straightforward one. The purpose of the story was to simulate troubleshooting strategies for completing part of a morning routine with an unfamiliar dog, and although the participant is meant to feel that they have the ability to change the story along the way, all versions lead to the successful completion of the morning routine by the dog sitter.

The process of trying to formulate links and move the story forward using hypertext links reminded me of a game I used to play during my time as an undergrad. The game involved several competitors using the random page button on wikipedia to access an article and using the links within the text to navigate around Wikipedia to reach the page about toothpaste and be declared the winner. Although the game is undeniably silly, it does highlight how my generation interacts as naturally with hypertext as previous ones did with other literary forms. The chief benefit of hypertext links in benefiting human intellect is the emphasis that it puts on linking ideas to one another and creating an interconnected web of understanding. 

The story that I created was originally intended to be much longer but through the creation of the hypertext game I was naturally drawn towards the minutia of each decision and wanted to follow each option through to its natural conclusion. This text medium helped to clarify options and potential outcomes of decisions, lending itself well to more analytical thinking.