Aim Higher school project, and other news

In the spring of 2013 I worked with around 20 Year 11 pupils from a local school, as part of the Aim Higher initiative. I wanted to see if young ‘uninitiated’ writers would be able to use Genarrator to build pleasing new-media stories. We've done similar work before, see the Portland project, but this was the first time I've used Genarrator with school pupils.

The whole project could be run by the school teacher, without the need for specialist technical backup. The goal was to introduce the school students to the concept of interactive storytelling, get them to use a range of media to make their story, use multi-media within their story, and build and publish a story that could be read and interacted with online. If Genarrator is doing its job, this should be easily achieved, assuming the young writers have some ideas!

The Year 11 students were firstly briefed, at their school. My approach is to talk very simply about the idea that a story is a kind of journey; but a journey, as we all know, doesn’t always unfold along a straight path. So they are asked to come up with a short story idea, and to think of all the possible digressions, diversions, choices, obstacles, alternatives that the protagonists may encounter. The pupils easily relate to this conceptualising of interactivity because, of course, it is a game-like proposition.

Following the briefing, the pupils write storylines and create their assets: images drawn or photographed, or Googled (copyright free of course!),  maybe video, sound effects, animated gifs. Much can be created in something as accessible as a mobile phone: photos, sounds, videos can all be uploaded from such familiar ‘kit’. Genarrator can handle all kinds of files, and it's easy to upload everything into the file manager, and then the pages can be designed, and hyper-links created to make the story 'come alive'. 

The final part of this small project was to bring the pupils into Bournemouth University’s Media School for an afternoon, put them in front of our iMacs and let them build their stories in Genarrator. Of course, the results are variable, but the pupils enjoyed their project, and they finished their work back at their school, using Genarrator comfortably. The finished pieces show that, very quickly and easily, multi-media, interactive stories can be made by young, non-technical writers. 

For me, this is part of my overall aim to develop interest and understanding, and expand the audience for interactive writing. The more writers who grow to love this wonderful narrative environment, the better for the art and for audiences in the future. I await the first best selling hyper-novel to come out of a major publisher, and I urge anyone who has a story to tell, to have a go at using Genarrator!

In other news, I've just been approached by a lecturer from Cardiff Metropolitan University, who wants to use Genarrator in his undergraduate teaching, on a Digital Publishing course. Fantastic! Genarrator is beginning to prove its worth outside of my own work, and we are also seeing new stories being published from the wider world of who-knows-where: i.e. the public are finding and using Genarrator.

Genarrator going from strength to strength

Since this project began, Genarrator has been used to teach new-media writing to around 120 students at Bournemouth University, and the ambition and range of the stories being built is continuing to please me! This year, with support from Unicorn Training, I've been able to pay Jim Ready to add some functionality to the writing tools, and there are even more possibilities now.

We've added a 'display rules' function, which allows the writer to hide selected story elements (eg, items such as videos or text, or whole pages) from the reader until they've seen other selected elements. This enables the writer to create tension, anticipation, plot twists, and of course the game-like quality of 'find this you before you can find that'.

We've also added a musical soundtrack option, so that music or soundscape can play across the whole narrative, regardless of which pages are being viewed; or music changes when  the page changes, allowing moods to be created via sound as well as visuals and text.

Animations can now be uploaded and controlled within Genarrator, meaning that all sorts of navigation, design or story elements can be made (eg in Photoshop) or found from non-copyright sources on the web. Again, this has added enormously to the design possibilities for writers.

So, I'm looking forward to seeing what this term's students come up with.

Finally, I'm going to be running a writing workshop with school pupils next term, as part of the Aim Higher initiative. It will be fun to do and exciting to see what younger writers create. Also, a good test of Genarrator's usability.

thoughts about teaching new-media narrative

Since I began my PhD in 2002 (I've finished it now, btw!) I've been thinking about how I might help to expand a readership which enjoys hyper-fiction, and also how I might encourage writers to try using new-media for their creative ideas. Part of the problem has been the complexity of the software needed, but Genarrator has been a big step for me towards teaching hyper-writing.  So, below are a few pedagogic procedures which have proven useful and productive in my teaching since Genarrator has been fully functional:

1. Really encourage students to find examples of interactive narrative for themselves - there's so much out there, and they will quite easily find examples they like. Getting students to feed back on the 'likes' and 'dislikes' is a big first step towards students understanding what works and doesn't work for readers. This procedure needs to be backed up maybe wit lectures on history and theory around hyper-text/narrative reception, and even game theory; but there's no really substitute for students experiencing pieces for themselves and analysing various elements of the work they experience. See 2. below for aspects students should be analysing.
2. My own research tells me that the following  are essential components to consider - navigation system, purposefulness of hyper-links (these need narrative importance, not just random linking for 'fun'), use of interactivity (is it meaningful or mere decoration?), narrative movement, site orientation tools, freedom of movement for the reader (ie you should be able to g where you want ideally, so if a narrative is strictly linear, it has better be very engaging!), flow (effort and reward should be balanced., ending (is it clear when this has been reached/Most readers want to know this).
3. When they are beginning to conceive narrative ideas, encourage students to think beyond the printed page - depending on their backgrounds and own reading/gaming/viewing/interacting preferences, they will come with a preconception of what an interactive narrative might be, but 'book' is often the pre-set. So, ask them to be sure that what they are creating could not work in print.
4. Planning the 'plot' on paper, by sketching and mapping, is very helpful when thinking about the hyper-structure. Plot is not a pre-fixed structure now, because the writer is offering choices, branching pathways, multiple endings, or 'versions' of the narrative which depends on what elements are read or not read (or maybe viewed/not viewed. or listened to/not listened too - remember this is a multi-media world). Family trees, flow-charts, storyboards are all possible approaches to designing narrative structure.
5. Students should create screen designs on paper, or a digital sketchbook, eg in Photoshop. Assuming your students are not specifically art and design students, simple sketches or even mock-ups done in Photoshop are really useful. Saves time, mistakes, frustration, and focusses on issues of navigation and interactivity, but 'seeing' these on paper before committing to screen.
6. Because I'm working with non-technical students, I encourage 'borrowing' from the web - allow students to openly find images, mp3 files, animations, video, etc, and acknowledge these usages in a bibliography. Certainly they can create their own materials if they are able, but why not use the WWW? Many of the pieces created last year by my BA Communication and Media students used stock images, for example, to good effect.
7. Road testing an chosen audience is vital - students should know who their audience is, as with any narrative medium. The should test their work and write a report on what their reader-testing tells them, prior to finalising designs and content.

New Media Narrative at Bournemouth Univesrity

I've just finished marking the first ever batch of interactive new-media narratives to be created at BU using Genarrator. The pieces were all made by final year BA Communication and Media students. They are not technical wizards, but just interested in new forms of writing. Genarrator has been designed for this use, amongst others - to help 'non-technical' writers make a start on interactive storytelling. The work is really good - I'm very pleased with the way the students have not only taken on board some of the key issues about new-media storytelling that I have introduced, but also how well they've used Genarrator - often in ways I hadn't anticipated.

I'll be honest - some of the students used a simple website creation tool called Wix, and also created some great narratives. But overall, Genarrator has proven its worth, and I'm now looking for ways to expand the project. Next I think I'm going to work with local school children.

Poole Literary Festival/undergrad teaching

After an intensive spell of bug-testing and refinements, we have been able to really use the Genarrator software in earnest:

At the Poole Lit Fest this weekend (Oct 30/31) I ran four digital wrting workshops for the public in which we talked about interactive writing, and people tried out Genarrator. The software works really well - thanks to Jim ready and Tom Gooday for the technical expertise and skill.

People who came to the workshops obviously found the software easy to use and I'm looking forward to seeing work appear on the homepage.

I'm also now using Genarrator in my undergrad teaching - final year students on our BAComms and Media are making interactive narratives with Genarrator.

It's beginning to feel exciting, and I believe that software like this, which is easy to use and free to access, is one way to expand interactive storytelling into a much wider community.

Look at the Genarrator site if you want to see some early pieces: http://genarrator.cemp.ac.uk/

latest developments

Haven't posted for a while, but a lot has been happening.

First, Tom, Jim Ready and I have been re-skinning the Genarrator interface and adding functionality to the tool kit. This is all coming along well, and the new version will be online very soon.

Second, I am helping the Poole Literary Festival to run a competion for a New Media Writing Prize. We hope to draw in innovative and interactive writing (as we know, 'writing' includes images, sound and anything else you can put on a PC screen). The prizes will be given at a special awards ceremony at Poole Lighthouse on October 31st, so do please follow the link and enter if you have anything new to say! It can be fiction or non-fiction.

Third, I will be running workshops at the Poole Literary Festival using Genarrator, where anyone can come along and make an interactive story. I'm going to provide resources and give instruction on using Genarrator. It will be fun, and I hope we get a good turnout of people wanting to try their hand at telling stories in new media.

Below is the new-look Genarrator interface.

Liverpool conference

I presented Genarrator to a group of teachers from schools, colleges and universities, at John Moores University, Liverpool, on 9th September. The online demo of Genarrator's tools went well, and there was lots of interest in the software's potential.

Please have a go at using the software. All you need to do is register for free and start creating.

http://genarrator.cemp.ac.uk/

Ready to beta test!

Jim Ready has got us to the point where we have a beta-version of Genarrator ready (no pun intended).

Please have a look, and have a go at making a short interactive story. There's a facility to report bugs, and we'd be pleased if you'd let us know what works and what doesn't.

http://genarrator.cemp.ac.uk/

nearly ready for road-test

Jim Ready, Tom and I met today to look at Jim's latest work on the Genarrator platform. Below are the aspects we need to finalise before can go out for a road-test.

 

Functionality

 

1. Generic stage size should be 800 x 600

 

2. Users should be able to change the background colour of the stage.

 

3. Maybe have a grid/margins on the stage when creating the narrative.

 

4. Possibly save the site map, and display with the narrative once published (users could turn this on/off)

 

5. Make the information bar more prominent and use rollovers where needed.

 

6. Maybe adjust menu size to scale the width of the stage?

 

7. Video upload/converting (and have auto play and show player functionality)

 

8. Publish button (Maybe call it genarrate?)

 

9. Make sure the website is scalable.

 

10. Admin/account section (change password etc...)

 

11. Different permission of log in (user and admin)

 

Design/Visuals

 

1. Create icons for each functionality (Layering, Link, Text etc...)

 

2. Use graphic on homepage.

 

3. Make it look pretty!

 

Think that is all for now.

 

We are aiming for Monday 27th July deadline. We'll meet on that day to show the prototype and discuss the next stages of the project.

latest designs

Jim Ready, our developer, has sent further work on the look and format for Genarrator. At the top is the home page, below that the writer's view.

We've looked at the functionality Jim has built so far, and we have a good basic system in place now for creating pages, inserting text and media boxes, shaping boxes, keeping track of pages. We need hyper-linking function, and tools for modifying text; the site map generating system has yet to be built, but that's coming soon.

Genarrator visuals

Our developer, James, has sent us some initial visuals of the way the composition screen will look to a writer: see the image on the left. Tom, Jon and I have discussed James' ideas, and I've drafted a revised writing-screen design, which you can see below.

We are on the same wavelength - the principle aim of enabling interactive writing for 'novices' is clearly there, and I'm getting excited about the possibilities for this platform.

latest design spec - March 2009

Jim Ready's detailed brief including technical spec is as follows, with my notes (x1,2,3 etc) at bottom of page.

'GENARRATOR' PROJECT DEVELOPMENT BRIEF 09/03/09

Aims and Objectives

· To produce an online application allowing users to create and view interactive narratives.

Target Audience

· The project is aimed at anyone wishing to create an interactive narrative, without any prior experience.

Design

· Should be as simple and easy to use as possible
· Should fit on 1024 x 768 resolution with as little scrolling needed as possible.[X1]
· A suitable colour scheme should be used.

Registration [X2]

· Users should register with the site in order to create interactive narratives.
· Registration will require them to enter the following information:
◦ Name
◦ Age
◦ Email Address (should be verified)
◦ Password (entered twice for verification)

Creating Narratives

Users should register in order to create narratives.
Users should be able to add:
Sound
Video Files
Images
Text[X3]
Hyperlinks
Links to other pages in the narrative.
An optional sidebar with links to all pages.
New pages
Page Names (for creation use and use in the sitemap)
A site map should also be created showing the way in which pages are linked:
[X4]
A drag and drop system should be used to allow users to add these items as it is easy to use and will be familiar to most users.
An upload form for images, sound and video will be outside of the flash application (as flash does not have upload options).
A list of uploaded files will be displayed in flash, allowing them to be dragged into the narrative.
Options to resize and rotate images should be included. (Images can also be resized on upload to reduce file size as many users will not be able to resize them prior to upload)
Could be developed to allow users to change the background image.

Viewing Narratives

· Video and sound should have options to fast forward, pause and play.
· Mute button should be included and mute all sounds when pressed.
· Should display optional sidebar with links to all pages of the narrative (to the left of the narrative at first.. if different templates are introduced, the bar can be moved accordingly).
· Previously visited pages should be marked to inform users.

Front Page[X5]

· Displays the latest narratives viewable by the public (name, author, creation date and description, with a link to view the narrative)
· Has options to register/login or link to view/edit your narratives if already logged in.
· Possibility to search narratives.

My Narratives[X6]

· Has list of all narratives user has created with options to edit/delete them.
· Has options to edit user account information.

Technical Spec

· Should run in flash with PHP4 (xml feeds bringing data into flash)[X7]
· A mysql database will be used to store data, images, sounds and video will be stored in appropriate folders on the server


User Levels[X8]

· Admin
◦ Can delete all narratives
◦ Can modify user accounts

· Author
◦ Can edit and delete only narratives that they've created

· User
◦ Can view narratives.[X9]

[X1]No scrolling?

[X2]Tom and I like this

[X3]And images.
Question – what range of file types can be uploaded?
Elements need to be ‘ordered’ ie front to back, control which element lies I background, which element overlays.

[X4]Site map needs to be moveable. ie visually re-arranged to suit the writers’ conception of narrative structure. Also needs to show hyper-linked elements within a page, not page-to-page links

[X5]We like this v much

[X6]Good!

[X7]Good – Tom Ok’s this but Tom will check RackSpace host (php5 used?)

[X8]Maybe call this ‘Permissions’ ?

[X9]Maybe add a comment/discussion facility for readers later

the 'alpha' phase - initial design features

(I think that's what they call it anyway) - Jim Ready and I talked through the features of the Genarrator writing platform which we feel we can develop in the first cycle of design and testing, given time and resources. Below are the key features that Jim will build:

For the Writer:
Text entry (in movable/shapeable boxes)
Image import/insert (in boxes)
Video import/insert; video control insert (for end user)
Sound import/ insert - with control for the user (maybe able to be triggered by mouse rollover, or maybe via control bar)
Front-back ordering of element boxes
Hyperlinking from/to page or media element or text element
Site map generation to keep track of and display links (e.g. as Dreamweaver)
menu/timeline/site position view - to be adjustable and placeable on page, by writer
Font choice
Font colour choice

For the end-reader/user:
Site overview always on view
Page/chapter menu on view
Bookmark facility (i.e. where am I now? Where have I already been?)
Backtrack facility (non-linear, i.e not just browser function, but in any direction and able to jump steps)
Clear 'home' page

Looking forward to seeing Jim's designs.

developer appointed

We've appointed James Ready to help us design and develop the Genarrator platform. James has done work for CEMP in the past, e.g the Horizontal Boxes project, and we think his know-how and ideas will kickstart Genarrator.

My plan now is to be able to beta-test in the summer term, and hopefully carry out bug-fixes and revisions in time to use Genarrator for teaching in October.

I'm also now building a bid for funding through AHRC, through which I hope to create an original interactive fiction of my own, using Genarrator.

interviews

We have advertised now for an undergrad or recent graduate to support the development of the Genarrator platform. We have five applicants and will be interviewing soon. So, hopefully, we can really getstarted on the project after what has felt like a bit of a false start.

Progress?

So far, we haven't found a professional developer/designer able to help us get started on the digital platform - one or potential guys have either not had the time right now, or are unsure of the scale of the project. Funding then becomes a factor - but Jon at CEMP is certainly backing the project so that ultimately we will have a platfom called Genarrator which people can use to create and present interactive narratives.

I want, ideally, to be able to get a 'template' up and running by the summer so I can take it out and road test it with undergrads or college or school students. In order to do that, and make full use of the research time I have this academic year, Jon and I considered that if we can't get a pro developer on board soonish, we might go 'back' (in one sense, but forward in another) to the original smaller project - this would entail designing a protoype platform, maybe in an existing software application as simple as Word, which we can test for the various areas of interactive writing I feel are crucial, such as navigation design, meaningful narrative-driven linking, constant-context view, purposeful interactivity.

Then, even if this year we don't get to the point of having a downloadable, uploadable system with a CEMP host for 'Help', design advice, project gallery etc, we will have tested my design and writing prinicples- from that we can go forward next year to the 'bigger' phase.

We're going to meet with Ben Templeton (local web developer) to discuss 'spec', soon - and from there see what we feel we should do to get the platform design underway.

October 22nd latest

Just had a meeting with Jon and Tom in CEMP (Centre forExcellence in Media Practice), and the project has suddenly made a hyper-jump (appropriate metaphor here, do you think?). It's very exciting, and what Jon proposed somewhat overhwelmed me because I'd been thinking pretty small, and Jon has been thinking a lot bigger.

Essentially, I had been thinking of Genarrator as a small-scale software platform, something we could give away on a CD, which would allow non-techie people to create interactive stories. That's still the main aim, but Jon has opened the project up by suggesting that we create something that can be offered to users via a CEMP-hosted site, an application which can be downloaded, along with the offer to writers of being able to upload their creations to the host-space. That way we can create an archive of cool material which will serve as a display case for others to view, and a record of how our research is being translated into practice. From a CEMP perspective, there would be a financial implication to hosting work, so ultimately a small charge might need to be levied - initially though, users would be offered the software and upload free of charge. And we can still use the application (Genarrator) with partner institutions, schools, writing groups etc, so that interactive narrative hopefully begins to become much more widely practiced and understood.

Finally, we will be able to use Genarrator for the teaching of interactive writing, and it could be used in other pedagogic areas, such as the teaching of self-evaluation, recording students' learning journeys, or documentary and biographical writing.

So, we're going to speak to potential web developers very soon, to see who might be able to assist me (given that I'm being unusually strong-willed about what I want to be built into Genarrator in order to make it usable and productive for writers and readers).

So far, so fascinating

The date is 15th October 2008. We've just got the blog up and running, and I'm learning how to use Blogger-style facilities. Tom Gooday is helping me (a lot).

This is a brief update of where we are so far.

The project was conceived back in the summer, and after some fascinating discussions with Prof Stephen Heppell, and a lot of backup from Jon (Wardle) I worked out what I wanted to do: CEMP needed a project within its Pedagogic Innovation Fund which would add to pedagogic understandings and techniques, and I wanted to continue to develop my research and creative exploration of interactive narrative.

I didn't want to re-run the Portland project (see 'Gallery' for details and examples of the work done there), but I did want to use the experience we'd gained during that project.

What had I learned from Portland? Two major things stand out -

1. Interactive fiction (hypertext narrative/digi-lit -call it what you will, seeing as no one has hit on THE term for it yet) does work. The school kids created really fun stories, with narrative structure and meaningful interaction, in interfaces that were easy for end-users to learn and use. So, in future, if we got the balance between absorption and interaction right, we could make more sophisticated narratives that really grabbed the reader (see my Convergence piece for some reasons why a lot of interactive fiction fails in this regard: http://con.sagepub.com/cgi/content/refs/12/4/447

2. The concept of a template into which an interactive narrative could be 'poured' worked really well. I'm aware of the dangers of restricting the creative flow: a template could be too constraining, but for 14-year-old not-highly-technical students it was fine. But, from that, I realised that if we could design a template that was as easy to use, but which could be flexible enough for older writers to work within, we might be able to 'launch' interactive writing into a wider population of creative writers. There are plenty of writers 'doing'' interactive fiction, but the platforms are tricky to use: e.g. I've tried Eastgate Systems' pioneering Storysace software, and it's fun, but limited and its interface is not very 'now'.

Talking with Prof Heppell, it became clear that an intuitive, easy to use (for writer and reader) digital platform could also offer learners the chance to tell the stories of their learning 'journeys'. And of course, then my explanation to the Portland kids of interactive fiction being like a journey with loads of paths and side-roads and digressions seemed highly appropriate (clever me!)

So, I crystallised the project into its current form: research into devising and designing a flexible digital platform for writing and reading interactive stories, and of course, the teaching of both. We probably won't use Flash, even though that worked brilliantly in Portland, because it's quite hard to learn as a writer, and we want to be able to give our platform away, to schools and colleges perhaps, and to be able to use it with our own students who might not be skilled multi-media types.

If/when we get a usable platform, we'll beta test it.

Then I'll write about it and do a conference maybe... and then we'll refine it and make interactive narrative as mainstream as narrative in film or books... so far, so very fascinating...