| [BACK]
Writing for interactive media takes a different mindset than writing linear video scripts or screenplays. In a linear script, the material unfolds as a chronological sequence of events on screen. There's a beginning, middle and end. In screenwriting, this corresponds to the three-act structure. We tell a story that involves the viewer. But the writer controls the sequence of events, the pacing, the arc of the story.
Interactive media writing, by contrast, allows the user to become an active participant. Random access to content gives the user options and choices to make.
Just as a screenwriter's initial task is to determine the structure of the story you are telling, the interactive media writer must also deal with structure early in the process. The writer's challenge is to chunk content into discrete topics and then devise the most functional, user-friendly way to access content through a user interface.
Index cards are often a useful way to begin the chunking process. Each card contains a topic. Experimenting with different ways of organizing content helps to arrive at the most functional structure. Examine content through the user's eyes.
Once you begin to settle on an overall structure, the next step is to create a flowchart. The flowchart becomes the master blueprint for the production. The writer scripts to the flowchart. Graphic artists and programmers use the flowchart to create screens and provide the links that result in the finished program. Almost any current book on interactive media writing contains examples of how to create a flowchart. Just as screenwriters need to adopt the standard screenplay format, you'll need to use industry standards for flowcharting.
Next, think about how you'll approach the user interface. Your goal is to create a navigational design that offers users a cogent sense of what options are available. The interface helps users answer three key questions:
· Where am I?
· Where have I been?
· Where am I going?
This is where such tools as pull-down menus and navigational bars at the top or along the side of each page helps users determine where they want to go next while maintaining a sense of where they are and where they have been. (On the Hollywoodlitsales Web site, for instance, the list of topics down the left side of the screen makes all choices available to the user no matter where they are in the site.)
If you're creating a CD-Rom training program, the same principles apply, although you'll probably want users to have less random access. But it's still vital to let users know where they're at, where they're going and where they've been.
It's a lot to think about-but it's what makes interactive media writing a unique challenge.
|
