HTML version of my Twine story:  You Can Choose.html

Reflection:

Playing around with Twine was fascinating and rewarding, especially when my attempts to add a new HTML worked after pressing Test From Here. The more I worked on Twine, the more I realized the importance of developing a solid narrative. When choosing my story, I was inspired by a game app that often appears as an ad, where a character faces life dilemmas, such as deciding what to do when discovering a cheating spouse. So I decided to create a high school version, where players shape the protagonist’s journey through significant choices in three different stages: teenage hood, career path, and relationships.

To make the story engaging, I focused on three distinct personality archetypes for Carolyn: the Overachiever, the Social Butterfly, and the Rebel. Each personality type influences how she interacts with others and makes decisions. This approach allows players to empathize with her and feel more engaged by creating a scenario that feels personal.

Writing the story in the second person point of view was a deliberate choice to make the experience more immersive. This style helps players feel directly involved in Carolyn’s journey, making decisions that shape her path. Changing the language style was also important to ensure players don’t feel like they are reading a book; hypertext stories are meant to be interactive, so I avoided lengthy texts per click.

What’s more important is thoroughly developing story elements such as characters, conflict, and plot. Developing side characters was essential for creating a rich narrative. Although I couldn’t develop all characters in depth (like Carolyn’s mom or other characters I could’ve added), I focused on making interactions based on Carolyn’s personality type to add depth and uniqueness to each scene. Things like adding dialogues and actions helped show character traits and conflicts, making the storytelling more vivid.

Experimenting with interactive elements like link-reveal macros was crucial in keeping players engaged and making the screens less dull. I used different elements, such as italicizing Carolyn’s inner thoughts or changing the font colour to enhance the experience.

This project has allowed me to utilize my storytelling skills and my ability to create interactive, player-driven narratives. I find Twine to be an excellent resource to share with my students, as it’s a great tool to help them develop new media and storytelling skills. I will certainly be using it in my classes to foster creativity and narrative development.