A multimodal online narrative is a story told through a variety of mediums online. This can include, but is not limited to text, audio and visuals. This form of narrative presents a very different picture to print narratives of the past and present (in both the medium and methods through which the story is told). Additionally, the linearity of the storyline makes these two forms of narratives very different from one another.
Upon thinking about multimodal online narratives versus their printed ancestors, I got thinking about stories from my childhood that may bridge this gap: choose your own adventure books!!!
http://www.gamebooks.org/gallery/gyg_009.jpg
I will start by saying that was a HUGE fan of the Goosebumps series (can anyone relate?!) and when I got my hands on one of these “choose your own adventure books”, it was always a treat! The interactivity enabled through the simple act of the writer providing the option to “turn to page 45 if you wish for the horseman to live” or “turn to page 65 to see his downfall” was utterly exhilarating for a 10 year old children’s literary horror genre enthusiast. This type of simple, yet clever, option put the reader in the driver’s seat and, in many ways, mimics the complex online narratives that exist in today’s world of digital storytelling.
What I wouldn’t give to go back and reread some of these epic tales. Heck, #9 The Knight in Screaming Armour, is still in print. Maybe I’ll add it to my cart!
p.s. On another note, I just found this picture of Goosebump’s author R.L.Stine that I thought I’d share. This is the man behind my literary (or not so literary) childhood!
http://www.amazon.com/R.-L.-Stine/e/B000AQ2UR0/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
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