Hey there, everyone.
I've been writing on my free time for several years now (amateur novels and interactive stories within the fantasy, horror, sci-fi, adventure genres), mostly for myself, though my girlfriend, a few friends, and certain online communities have seen some of my projects as well. I absolutely love bringing plot ideas, characters, factions, monsters, etc. to life, and this outlet enables me to do that while providing something others find worth their time: and that really makes my day. My inspiration stems from numerous videogames, movies, and books; some prominent writers being Lovecraft, Ian Livingstone (Fighting Fantasy), and George Martin, though I'll be the first to admit I don't read as much as I would like to.
Anyways, I believe creating interactive stories (or gamebooks, if you'd rather) suits my writing style better, and I usually do have more fun developing these than regular novels. In case you are unaware of what a gamebook is, it's basically a text adventure where you are the protagonist and, thus, can make your own decisions. The story develops by numbered sections, and at the end of each section you are often prompted with a choice; for instance, 'If you'd like to follow the mysterious silhouette down the alley, continue on section number 18. If you'd rather not, you can return to the tavern on section number 35.'
More detailed interactive stories may offer skill points, items which you can collect and use, a dice-based combat system (I actually had a ton of fun developing one of these not so long ago), among other features.
In case you are interested in developing your own nonlinear stories in online format, Twine is a program that will help you with that. It's quite easy to use, with a tree-branching layout where you can keep track of what happens if a certain decision is made. You are able to set information that changes depending on players' decisions, like "Show X if Y is enabled. Otherwise, show Z". This makes for some incredibly fun interactive adventures! Besides, Twine does not cost anything to download, though you are welcome to donate if you so wish.
If you would like to see and play text adventure games other people have created, or even if you would like to share your own, you may try visting textadventures.co.uk. It's also a user-friendly link, featuring a myriad of story genres, from horror to comedy.
If you are an amateur writer and are struggling to get readers (assuming it's an aspect that bothers you), many online forums have a neutral literature/art section where you can advertise your own projects. Increase your range by posting (without spamming) on multiple platforms.
Writing fan-fiction material, if that's something you enjoy doing, is a good way to get noticed as well, I've realized. Official franchise forums (videogames, movies, books) should also have a section dedicated to fan-fiction. Developing a story that takes place in a universe other people are aware of can make it easier to put yourself out there than creating everything from scratch; people are more likely to check out something they're already familiar with. However, my advice here is to always try to do better than your last work, be creative, be original, and give credit where credit is due.
I'm not entirely sure why I've created this topic. I suppose I just wanted to talk a little bit about this whole writing interactive stories thing and provide some helpful pointers. Thanks for reading!
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