Sunday, September 2, 2018

2018 WRITE: EDU: An interactive, social 3D writer's workshop in a browser. And how to mix workshop with interactive fiction.


An interactive, social 3D writer's 
workshop in a browser. 
And how to mix workshop
with interactive fiction

A writer's workshop is developing in a 3D place on the web (3DWebWorldz).  The features of the workshop can also support interactive stories (allowing several levels of reader participation).  This article shows how.  
Starting view in the werewolf scene

  • The little info boxes tell the beginning of a story (still under construction).

Two Web worlds in public beta


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More after the break
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Metaverse events, recent and upcoming

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How to get to the workshop

  • Go to 3DWebWorldz
  • You can log in as a guest--no registration, no password.
  • If you don't choose a destination, you will start at the train station.  
  • There are instructions there about how to move around and interact.
  • To go 3D, click the 3D area.  
  • Move the mouse, press the arrow keys, press Page Up and Page Down.
  • Get a feel for what these controls do
  • To leave the 3D mode, press Esc. 
  • Mouse over the buttons at lower left, read what they do.
  • Find the one that offers teleport directory:  Click that.
  • Scroll down, looking for Writers Swamp.  Click that to enter it.

Meetings of the Writer's Web Workshop

  • Mondays: We gather at Greyville, on Nara's Nook, at 6 PM Pacific Time 
  • HG address:
  • world.narasnook.com:8900:Greyville
  • Put the HG address in the Find bar of the World Map. Click Find, TP

  • Recent exercises came from The 90-day novel, by Alan Watt
  • Nara's Nook Virtual Writer's Colony
  • Current activity: Writer's Workshop development

  • Writing groups upload free OARS, creating a fictional world.
  • We use these worlds for practice of specific writing skills.

  • For scene development, we will use role playing in the environment.
  • For plot development, we will find idea packages and develop plots.
  • For character development, we will choose characters and enact them in role play.
  • An existing group of writers will start the workshops and develop exercises.
  • We will add exercises and suggestions to stimulate ideas for visitors. 

Workshop entry note 

  • This is a place to sharpen your story-making skills.  
  • You will find notes left around.  
  • These are parts of several stories.  
  • Hover the red circle over a note to get a pop-up showing the contents. 
  • (Be sure your browser is set to permit pop-ups.)    
  • -
  • Each note tells part of a story.  
  • As you collect the parts, you will begin to write possible plots in your head. 
  • Maybe you will like them better than the story unfolding in the notes.  
  • -
  • More than one story will be told in the notes.  
  • Notes that look alike will be part of the same story.  
  • At least one of the stories will lead to another place and another part of the story
  • -
  • This workshop is in development so the stories may not be complete yet.  
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The backstory 

Interactive fiction

An exchange of letters makes a story

A story in social media exchanges

Multimedia writing

  • The notes are just a little of what you can do in a web-world.
  • You can use text-to-speech to provide audio as part of the story.
  • Or you can use sound files to present dramatic episodes.
  • You could insert videos (from YouTube) to fit instructional units.

But is that interactive fiction?

  • Not according to interactive story.
  • There should be multiple stories that are selected by reader choices.
  • We are building this potential into the workshop: the story leads to another place.
  • Another place, in a web-world, is another web page. 
  • Reader choices could lead to alternative places and thus alternative stories.

Possible extensions of  the note-story model

  • Use this format to tease parts of your novel.
  • Make the stories into a series, one episode per week.
  • If your series draws traffic, you might sell ads placed in the 3D scene.
  • If your series draws traffic, that might help sell the novel from it.
  • Create some interesting characters, invite others to make note stories
  • Use the Exquisite Corpse model to create a series.  
  • Invite readers to submit stories branching off from the current episode.
  • Use text-to-speech to deliver the text in voice (for visually impaired).
  • Use sound files to deliver audio relevant to the story.
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License

  • Original text in this blog is CC By: unless specified public domain
  • Use as you please with attribution: link to the original.
  • All images without attribution in this blog are CC0: public domain.
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Drop by my web office Weekdays: 12:-12:30 Central time  (US) 

Videos from virtual worlds

News and Notes

Metaverse beginner help

      Articles in this blog

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          • For more, follow Selby Evans in Google+
          • Annotated screenshots made with Jing
          • Second Life, Linden, SLurl, and SL are trademarks of Linden Research Inc. 
          • This blog is not affiliated with anything.   Ads are from Google.
          • Selby Evans in Kitely, Thinkerer Melville in Second Life
          • Lauren is funny
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