In a post by J.C. Hutchins (here) I read about a new form of storytelling. Well maybe not a new form but some new ways to get the story through to the reader. Ways that could pull the reader into the story when reading on a tablet of comparable device. But you’ve already read the article now so why am I talking about this? Because I have two cents and I’m just GIVING THEM AWAY!
The possibilities shown in the article are good, kind of tacky, and kind of gimmicky. Though for an idea that is still embryonic it’s not bad. I envision this going much much further. Turn a mystery book into an interactive crime scene analyzer, where if the reader wanted to spend extra time on a crime scene they could click on evidence to find a clue. Or they could pick and choose certain things that they could send to a forensics lab that would give clues away, or misleading evidence that leads away from the actual perpetrator.
This kind of goes into choose your own adventure and mixes a game with a book (done before) but never has the opportunity been so great with so many comparable devices capable of interactive reading. The reader could be in control of the questions asked of a suspect or methods used in interrogation. Which person a vampire drinks from. The quadrant the space ship travels to.
Other things that could help this new media approach would be music that matches the mood of the section of the book you’re reading. front facing cameras could be used to scroll the screen using your eye direction and reading pace. Videos could be added into the book instead of images. The speech could be audio in the book. You could put a countdown timer on the outer edge of the screen to increase tension in ticking timebomb situations. A suspect list with a reference profile page for each. A victim list that is easily accessible to gather clues for more immersion. Clickable words in the book that go to a thesaurus or a dictionary so that people don’t get lost. Character profiles when you click on a person’s name to refresh backstory.
The opportunities are huge for this type of media and I can only grasp the edges of what could be possible for interactive books. I imagine that there will be some that will be considered games, and some almost indistinguishable from books but many in between. I’m excited about this and would love to start experimenting with it, unfortunately I would have to get writing, and that means work. Which is a four letter word.