Mechanics of Story (ATEC 6342.501)

Topics include linear and non-linear storytelling methods across multimedia and trans-media methods of delivery with a focus on 1) reading/viewing/ playing stories, 2) critical analysis of storytelling mechanics in various works, 3) creating and publishing original student works using the most modern and appropriate new-media methods such as social networking tools. We will examine a range of topics, including storytelling in a multiplayer environment; narrative techniques for a 3,000,000-page novel; continuity (or the impossibility of it) in pervasive fictional worlds; managing multiple intertwined narratives; the spatial experience of virtual worlds; Emergent adventure texts created by designers and fans; and the serial storytelling, among many other essential insights into how fictions are constructed and maintained in very different forms of media through to the beginning of the twenty-first century.