The Cursed Baker
A weary baker discovers a mysterious golden book that begins to shape reality with each page turned. What starts as an uncanny coincidence soon leads them to a hidden part of the city, an eerie statue garden, and a choice that could alter fate itself. As the book’s pages turn blank, the baker realizes the ending is theirs to write—but magic has a will of its own.
Building a Choose Your Own Story (CYOA) Twine was an engaging but challenging experience. At first, I struggled with the complexity of creating multiple pathways. It was easy to lose track of the narrative, leaving many loose ends. However, as I began to approach the task through the lens of storyboarding, the connections between passages helped make the narrative more manageable. This method allowed me to visualize the structure and streamline the development process. It was as if the flowchart gave my story the clarity I needed to shape its direction.
Reflecting on how I might use this tool in my own work, I see great potential in it for facilitation. In the past, I’ve used similar interactive techniques during workshops on time management and academic integrity for post-secondary students. For example, I created a character named Carlos, a first-year engineering student facing a breakup amidst midterms, and students had to make choices for him. This technique was well-received by my audience, and I believe Twine could elevate this experience by offering more complex decision-making pathways.
Kress (2005) highlights how digital environments are shifting authorship, where users are no longer passive recipients but active participants in constructing meaning. In CYOA stories, the reader's decisions shape the direction of the narrative, challenging the traditional concept of fixed reading order. As Kress (2005) suggests, "If order was fixed, as the order given by the author... then what was the reader's task, and what or where was the reader’s freedom to act?" (p. 7). The interactivity in CYOA stories invites readers to immerse themselves in the story world and actively influence its development, turning them into co-authors of the narrative. This experience made me reconsider the conventional definition of reading, particularly in the digital age. Through Kress's work, I recognize how CYOA stories allow readers to move beyond passive interpretation, offering a deeper sense of agency and engagement.
Reference
Kress, G. (2005), Gains and losses: New forms of texts, knowledge, and learning. Computers and Composition, 2(1), 5-22.