What happens when stories leave the page?

We are used to reading stories. We have been reading stories for a relatively short period in human development.

Originally our myths are cyclical. Gods kill the serpent, build earth, eventually Ragnarok. Cycle begins again. Mayan clock ends, earth is destroyed, clock starts anew.

No one owned stories prior to the printing press and the idea that you could make money as a writer. We have experienced, humanity, a very weird temporary condition were an author could expect to have authority over his own work and canon.

Now that technology is making it difficult to keep people from controlling their work, we are returning to a period where fans will appropriate good stories, share them, and add to them. The original story is lost and will build layers and layers of folk contributions. Authors will never embrace this. But it is the default way storytelling has been handled since the dawn of human history.

I’m not sure the introduction of new media will soon result in new ways of storytelling. Most of the attempts I’ve seen so far have been surprisingly linear. We have not really advanced beyond the old Choose Your Own Adventure books. Yet. I sort of look forward to what @Imadethisupwithnoforethought predicts. That would be interesting, as long as it doesn’t just look like poorly written fanfic.

And, might I add, it is very good to see both of you here.

@dappled_leaves thanks.

And if you look, I think you will find a guy named Virgil wrote a book called the Aeneid, which is a collection of poorly written fanfic of what happened to the characters after Homer’s Iliad.

I think we have gotten so used to linear narratives that it might be some time before they become more malleable. However, since media are becoming more and more selfie-focused it makes sense that improv will become the fashion.

And I agree with @dappled_leaves that it is good to see you both here.

Good question. I’d love to see a way to really live stories – a good video game system, along with some mind-altering substances? Should be do-able.

Already, fan fiction is used to help consumers become authors. Writing one’s own stories is, in some ways, a lot more fulfilling. While I admire many authors, the stories I wrote myself are best-suited to me, in terms of pace, humour, style… I can’t stop editing them, but that I do with others’ writing, too.

What a polite, friendly thread this is. An enjoyable day to all!

Stories don’t come from the page they come from our imagination. As long as there are people there will be stories with or without pages. Stories need rules and I don’t think they prosper in an anarchic environment like the internet. What is changing is that we are deluged with visual imagery and the need for stories has become hidden amid the distractions.
PS Nice to see you back. Has your beard grown?

This is a fascinating question. It actually reminded me about Yulin Kuang’s project between YouTube and Tumblr called Kissing in the Rain. She released filmed videos on YouTube, an accompanying written drabble, and then encouraged viewers/readers to continue the project by furthering the story. It went beyond fan fiction in that the author accepted all iterations produced by cooperating fans as canonical to the universe of the series. It was really interesting to me.

I think Italo Calvino would be utterly fascinated by what the Internet can do for creative potential given the sentiments conveyed in his essay “Cybernetics and Ghosts.”

And as others have mentioned, it is fantastic to see you back here :) What a great question for your return!

I guess the best I can think of is “choose your own adventure” books, or the more complicated ones that included some minor RPG elements to them. But I guess that’s more like determining the narrative itself, with whatever the book has for options, rather than determining the course of the narrative itself. But you know. You can cheat by skipping ahead or going back if you don’t like your choice, and skip all the battles you come across for example. Even most video games don’t let you do that.

Also, I’m glad to see you. I like your wizard hat. :)

Thank you for the thoughtful answers and greetings. I missed you too :)