What is an interactive story?

All types of stories are aimed at engaging and immersing the reader. Interactive stories do that, but they take it to the next level. They don't just immerse the reader, but actively involve the reader in deciding the route the story takes, often using second person to do so.

As a short example, a page of an interactive story might read something like:

You stand at a crossroads.

To the right, there's a forest, ominous whispers coming from within.

To the left, a large field, grass swaying although there is no wind.

Straight ahead, a twisting path which dissolves into thick mist.

Which path do you choose to take?

Right - forest (Go to page x)
Left - field (Go to page y)
Centre - mist (Go to page z)

The idea here is that the reader would choose where they go next, and the storyline would follow on from their previous choice. There's many ways of doing interactive stories - the above is just one example.

What are some types of interactive stories?

Interactive story types include (but are not limited to):

1. Stories where the reader gets to choose the course of the story.

This is the most common type of interactive story. In these types of stories, the reader chooses their own path (from several options) at the end of each chapter, each path leading to a different outcome. For example:

Path A --> Outcome #1

Path B —> Outcome #2

Path C —> Outcome #3

2. Stories where the author provides the reader with several different people/places they could choose from.

For example, there may be a google form link every few chapters, and the plot of the following few chapters would be written based on readers' choices. In this example, the author devises the subgroups.

i.e. Sally meets [Ann / Ann with an E / Lily] by happen of chance in the bathroom. What happens next?

3. Stories in which the plot is driven by readers' choice of media.

The author provides a playlist (i.e. using Spotify) filled with song options and the song the reader selects determines the story's path.

A couple of examples:

1) The author provides several different playlists on Spotify. Each playlist has a different theme. The author allows the reader to select a list, and the songs from that list determine the story's direction.

2) The author provides a google form which includes an option that indicates "what music genre" and rank the songs by genre popularity and use it to inspire your chapter's flow and content.