INKLEWRITER is the perfect site for both budding and reluctant writers to create new stories, using the interactive fiction model, where readers get to ‘choose your own adventure’. What makes this site unique is that Inklewriter handles the branching story paths while the author concentrates on the writing itself. Once written, authors can share the stories with whoever they choose via its own unique web-page.
Writing for interactive fiction requires many of the same skills as other writing, but adding the “risk” element, in the choosing of your own outcomes, adds a game-like dimension to the story. And we all know how kids today love gaming! This tool is thus a great option for the reluctant reader/writer as it combines some of the concepts of games with the process of writing, namely risk and reward.
A short web-based tutorial is available to explain the process, after which writers can create their text-based adventures in no time. Anyone who has read a “Choose your own adventure” book must have wondered how easy it would be to write one. Making a game out of words and branching narratives, with multiple storylines and converging plots … wouldn’t that be a logistical nightmare to keep track of it all? This is where Inklewriter comes in. Without a fully pre-planned plot, or any coding experience, you can just start writing, and the story will move forwards. Whenever it reaches a decision point, you simply “add options” and enter the appropriate text. Then the software takes care of the rest while you continue your story, alerting you to loose ends you still have to tie, or leading you where you need to go.
The bottom line is that Inklewriter lets you write interactive stories in a short space of time and then share them via a unique URL. (One can even convert it to Kindle for a small fee.) Learners today love things that are quick and easy, but given the option to publish on a global page often motivates them to think more carefully about the quality of their writing and to do the necessary editing to ensure near-perfection. This writing for an online audience can transform writing tasks way beyond the old “write a page about your summer holiday” task for the teacher to mark …