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Lebrenth



Joined: 29 Dec 2005
Posts: 1483
Location: Utah

Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2010 4:53 pm    Post subject: Nastogawrimo  

I just had a crazy thought and I wanted to see if anyone else had an opinion on it. You know about Nanowrimo? What about a storygame that had the same requirements? Would it be too much to keep up with or would it be exciting to have a storygame that went from start to finish in one month?

For those unfamiliar with NaNoWriMo, it is a writing organization that focuses on getting a 50,000-word novel completed within the month of November. The name is an abbreviation for National Novel Writing Month, and it's a big event that has thousands of participants all writing at the same time. It is considered a competition, but all you have to do to win is write 50,000 words. All rewards are intrinsic unless you somehow manage to sell the work you did.

Even if the storygame version of NaNoWriMo turns out to be a terrible idea, there will probably be a few IFians that participate in the conventional version. I'm planning on doing it again this year, so let me know if you want to keep in touch with me. Yes, it's still more than a month away, but I'm already getting prepared. So what do you think?
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Shillelagh



Joined: 11 Mar 2010
Posts: 398
Location: Kansas

Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 12:27 am    Post subject:  

The concept is amusing, but the actual process of voting doesn't always lend itself well to the streamlined, mad rush of writing which NaNoWriMo usually entails.
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Thunderbird



Joined: 13 Sep 2009
Posts: 2139
Location: Rising from the ashes

Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 9:01 am    Post subject:  

Perhaps a good 'requirement' idea, as I don't think a word count would be an optimal solution there, would be to require a chapter once a week... and if anyone fails to keep up, they fall out of the competition.
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Crunchyfrog



Joined: 12 Dec 2006
Posts: 3998

Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2010 12:02 am    Post subject:  

I think it could work - although you may be hard pushed to find enough people to keep up with 50k words in a storygame over the period of a month.

There've been speed SG's here before - a chapter or even more per week - a low wordcount per chapter, such as 500 words might be easier for people to keep up.
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Lebrenth



Joined: 29 Dec 2005
Posts: 1483
Location: Utah

Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 8:05 am    Post subject: Nonlinear SG  

How about a storygame with a lot of background information? It could possess a lot of details, such as a case file for a murder mystery, with a normal sized story section that contains hyperlinks to important information that could be read at will. I would call it a Nonlinear Storygame, because the path the reader takes through the story could be different for everyone, but on the surface it would appear to be a normal SG, with 1000-2000 words per chapter, DP suggestions, and polling.

Throughout the normal chapter, there would be links to a separate thread. This separate thread will resemble a Choose Your Own Adventure book, with all of the story and facts all mixed up in one big messy practically unreadable pile. That's ok because it's just a depository for randomly accessed information which will be organized within the normal story section.

Ideally, the main story section will be playable all by itself, without having to follow any links and get any background or extra information. However, a reader who wants to investigate more closely can do so. For a mystery game, this could be extremely effective because the flow of the story is uninterrupted, but the little facts and clues have a place to be reviewed as well to help unravel the mystery. If done well, this could result in a storygame that is as detailed or as casual as the reader wants.

Will it work? I don't know! But I'm giving serious thought to trying it for NaNoWriMo. If I do it, after December 1st there will be a 50000 mystery waiting for all of the IFians. In fact, I'm considering making it a two-chapter storygame: one chapter to introduce the mystery and present the hyperlink facts, and the second chapter is a conclusion based on the votes of the participants. If the participants are correct, the mystery is solved, if not, the mystery keeps its secrets.


How about a test run? Go to the topic called "Murder in the Intergalactic Garden" and give it a try. ... I'll need some time though, so give me a few hours if you don't see it yet. (it's taking longer than I thought it would!)
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Lebrenth



Joined: 29 Dec 2005
Posts: 1483
Location: Utah

Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 10:22 am    Post subject:  

Actually, it's taking a lot longer than I expected. I think I'm going to end up launching this as a storygame so I'm in development. I might not post until tomorrow.
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Lebrenth



Joined: 29 Dec 2005
Posts: 1483
Location: Utah

Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 1:43 pm    Post subject:  

Ok now it is ready. One thing I can say, it is very time consuming to do all of those hyperlinks! But with enough readers, time consuming is ok.

Here's another link (I'm getting better at them):

Murder in the Intergalactic Garden
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