StoryVerse October Double Feature
New Nodes and a Quick Recap
Dear Reader, today, I have a quick extracurricular update for you. Two new authors have joined the StoryVerse!
added two fantastic nodes (14z/15z) to the Zombie side of things. What will that three-headed zombie writer do? Fight or make friends? Jump right back in at node 13z to continue.
And over in the realm of the living,
continues the musical riddle (28/30/31) and expands it into something wonderful, but listen for yourself.
And special thanks to
for creating an interactive map of the StoryVerse, you can drag those nodes around, mouse over them, click on each node, which links to the corresponding page, and even filter by authors. Very cool!
A Quick Recap
Since its inception on March 13th 2024, the StoryVerse has grown considerably, and we now have 15 collaborators who have written 46 nodes thus far. A big thanks to all who participated and contributed to this mad adventure. Much fun was had to create these, and we hope you’ll have fun playing through them.
What is it all about, you may ask? The StoryVerse is an interactive fiction experiment on Substack, a branching narrative about a character who wants to start writing a newsletter (Node ⍺) but never really gets around to it (so far) as the strangest things keep happening.
Explore the nodes to find out more about this writer’s journey. Where will it lead? Where will it end? You decide, each of you. Feel adventurous? Want to join? Here’s how.
Write a Scenario
Did you find a StoryVerse node with an open (unlinked) choice you want to continue? Someone has challenged you? Excellent. What will the next player do?
Write a scenario for your first choice (max 100 words). Think about Player Agency. Does the choice matter? In what way? What are the stakes? How does it fit the narrative? Not every choice has to be about life and death. They can be small, personal, or far-reaching choices that matter in some way.
Two choices, two paths, none of them alike; one leads down a road less travelled, maybe. The other leads to pain and suffering or, perchance, happiness in the end. Who can say? Dramatic situations, thirty-six1 of them, the choice is yours.
When you are done, send the two scenarios to me along with two pictures (1920x1080) via direct message or join our TFTD Discord. You could add video or music, too. If you don’t find any suitable images, I can help you find one. We will try not to use AI-generated images.
Once we have a final draft, your two scenarios will be added to the StoryVerse section, with you as the guest author and you can cross-post them on your Substack, link them on Notes and your own posts.
What will you send?
100 words max. for your success node (choice A or B), an image (or video/audio), and the two choices from where the next person continues.
100 words max. for your failure node (choice A or B) and an image. The only choice here is to go back.
Your Author’s Blurb to include at the bottom of each node.
The name of the next node author you have chosen and who has accepted the challenge.
Ready to create your nodes? Ready to continue the story? From writer to writer, from player to player, from choice to choice, throughout the StoryVerse.
The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations is a descriptive list which was first proposed by Georges Polti in 1895 to categorize every dramatic situation that might occur in a story or performance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thirty-Six_Dramatic_Situations
Thanks for the update all, and nice work Jack on the double node. Great to see the node layout, David.