Writing Excuses Transcripts

Writing Excuses 12.21: Narrative Bumper Pool, with Bill Fawcett and Carrie Patel

From http://www.writingexcuses.com/2017/05/21/12-21-narrative-bumper-pool-with-bill-fawcett-and-carrie-patel/

Key points: Writing for games, interactive storytelling. Narrative bumper pool -- choices, but constrained. Branches and funneling. Vines! Different choices, but similar results -- every choice leads to the valley. Wide range of choices, different interactions, but common outcomes. No binary choices -- not yes or not, but do you want this sandwich cut into squares or triangles? Consider your verbs -- what are the ways the player interacts with the game? Don't forget the rewards! Story events, boondoggles, and a compelling reason to go where you want them to go. Lots of rewards. Being able to make your mark on the story world. Make the player actions move the plot forward, discovering, conquering, doing things. Rebuilding! Beware ephemeral mayfly questing.

( Roll 2D6 and get... )

[Dan] All right. So we're out of time, unfortunately. But we have time just for a quick bit of homework from Bill.
[Bill] All right. My next book is 101 Stumbles in the March of History. Where I and a few of my friends like Harry Turtledove, Eric Flint, Chuck Gannon, Mike Resnick write about great mistakes and how it changed history that they did it wrong, and then speculate what would the world be like if that mistake had not been made. Anything from Columbus's math error to Stalin training the German army, which, by the way, he did. He provided both equipment…
[Howard] What a terrible idea.
[Laughter]
[Bill] And places, when the Treaty of Versailles prevented it. So I would encourage all of you to go out there and think of a mistake that's been made somewhere in history. I don't care if it's last month or Napoleon or Caesar, and how you would have prevented that mistake, and then think about what your life would be like today if it hadn't been made.
[Dan] Cool. All right. So, lots of research and some cool stuff to do. This has been Writing Excuses. Thank you very much to Carrie and Bill. You're wonderful. You are out of excuses. Now go write.