The Gradient of Storytelling
A whole gradient of storytelling is under heavy development. On one end of the spectrum is the traditional form. This is the form of choice of the great orators like Homer, Shakespeare, and Garrison Keilor. On the opposite end is a completely interactive form of storytelling. Throughout this gradient we will see the lines blur between author and reader, publisher and consumer, and plot and real life.
On the newer end of the storytelling spectrum is a process still consisting of a story and one or more authors, but this is where the similarity with the traditional ends. The creative and constructive processes at this end function in a more interactive and evolutionary fashion. Instead of having one master architect who orates a single, static piece of work, stories will instead consist of one or more people operating within a storytelling framework to fashion an infinite number of stories both in the virtual world, in traditional medium, and even in the real world.
Today, we can kind of see the new end of the storytelling spectrum evolving. Massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPG’s) such as World of Warcraft consist of hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people playing in a virtual world. In this massively popular world, players participate in mini stories, or quests, which are stitched together into some kind of overarching story. While this approaches the newer end of the storytelling spectrum, there is still much to be done. Eventually we will see a framework where players can tell the story.
This new framework is more similar to the pen and paper game Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) than World of Warcraft. In D&D, a Dungeon Master comes up with a story, and then invites the players to interact with the characters of the story. The story that develops is a result of the Game Master’s original, and usually vague, idea and the players input. Both the Dungeon Master and the players operate within the same framework of rules. Because of the interplay between storytelling and participation, an infinite number of resultant stories emerges. Unfortunately, D&D is a very inefficient storytelling framework because of its obtrusive rules.
I foresee storytelling further evolving into a set of authors leveraging a rich storytelling toolchain to construct highly dynamic stories that are profound and personal. The tools for doing this may exist in the virtual, real, and printed worlds, and the story may even span these three realms as a result. Try to imagine a game where players unite behind common goals to craft a story of valor, humility, or compassion using tools like online gaming systems, multi-author publishing systems similar to wikis, and mobile devices that augment the real world with virtual entities.
Tags: future, storytelling
