Tag: serial novel

Crashland – Chapter 4, now appearing at Story Time!

The votes are finally all in! After much ado, Crashland, chapter 4 is now appearing over at Story Time.me! Thus far, the infopocalypse has occurred, the great city of BosWash has fallen into darkness and despair, and the protagonist – William Holden – found himself alone in the streets. At least, until a group of thugs approached him and tried to take him for all he had left.

After trying to shoot his way out, Holden was overwhelmed and blacked out. He awoke sometime later to find that he had been seriously injured. The thugs had fled, except for one whom Holden had mortally wounded. Seeing as how there was no one left around and no EMT’s on hand, Holden was now responsible for the man’s life. A terrible choice was before him: try and help the man, leave him behind, end his suffering (i.e. kill him?), or stay with him until he died.

Well, the voters have decided! Come on by to Story Time to see what happens next! Whichever way it goes, it’s sure to be interesting… And remember, you decide what happens next 😉

Crashland – chapter 4, coming soon!

First off, let me thank all those readers who have been coming by Story Time.me to read my cyberpunk story Crashland and vote on it. For those who don’t know, all stories at Story Time are works of serial fiction, meaning audiences get to vote on what they want to see happen. So far, I’ve received plent of votes from dedicated readers who let me know exactly which outcomes they wanted for the first three chapters. But, as they say, there’s been a snag.

In chapter three, the main character of Holden awoke from a terrible vision to find that he had been stabbed and that one of his assailants had also been mortally wounded. Determining that he could still crawl to his destination, he was nevertheless deterred when he realized that the man he’d shot in self-defense would die without help. A terrible choice had to be made by Holden, and by the readers. Faced with a dying man, his own wounds, and the ongoing need to get to somewhere safe, would he:

  1. Help the man?
  2. Leave him behind?
  3. End his suffering (i.e. kill him)? 
  4. Stay with him until the end?

Well, thus far the votes have been pretty mixed. All outcomes got their share of votes, but unfortunately two (I won’t say which) are neck in neck. So please, come on by and make some more votes so we can break this deadlock and move the story forward. Doesn’t matter if you’ve voted already, as long as we get some tie-breakers! The story must go on. Thank you all!

Crashland – Chapter 2, now appearing at Story Time!

A few days ago, I went looking for pictures which I felt perfectly encapsulated the story I was going for. I wanted something that spoke of desperation, of shock, awe and terror, yet also captured the drive and determination of people who had to continue no matter what. This print is what I found…

Beautiful isn’t it? Not to mention inspiring. It is for this reason that I chose to post it as the chapter header for Crashland – chapter 2, which is appearing now at Story Time.me. For those who don’t know, this is serial website where audiences get to vote on how they want the story to unfold. The first chapter is a set-up for the rest of the story which develops through audience participation.

In the case of Crashlands, the audience was given an apocalyptic scenario where the world of the near future was brought to its knees through infopocalypse. In the opening chapter, the story’s main character, William Holden, found himself along in the streets of the darkened city hoping to find help. It ended with him being confronted by a series of dark shadows, men he suspected meant to do him harm. Audiences were asked what Holden should try to do… Run away, attack the men, or try to reason with them.

After days of letting the votes come in, it seems the audience has spoken. Option C is how things will unfold! Come on by and check out Chapter 2 and see what comes of Holden’s attempts to talk his way out of this mess!

Crashland – Chapter 2

Time’s running out to get your votes in. Crashland, my cyberpunk contribution to the serial novel site of Story Time.com has been up for a week and the votes have been trickling in. In Chapter 1, the great crash occured, and the story’s protagonist found himself wandering in the dark towards the only lights still on in the city. It ended with him being confronted by a group of men in the street, and they seemed intent on stopping him…

From that chapter, I asked voters what they wanted to see next. Would Holden try to reason with them, would he attack them, or would he run away? All of this is pursuant to his making his way to the middle of the town where there appears to be some kind of rescue effort in effect. What he does here could either end his chances of reuniting with his family or simply be a diversion along a long and difficult path.

Out of ten votes so far, seven said they wanted to see Holden try to reason with the men. One said to attack, two said to run away. But there’s still time to determine his fate. You have the power readers, after all, this is a serial novel. What you say, goes!

Crashland-chapter 1

Now Appearing at Story Time

“An author should always seek to engage their audience making them care about the characters and invest in the worlds those characters inhabit, be they current or future versions of our world or other worlds entirely. A good story relies on forming a connection with the reader that will make the conflicts expressed in the narrative mean something.

Story Time will try to take that engagement further, where readers decide how the story will unfold.”

That is how Story Time’s founder, Goran Zidar, describes this new serial novel site. Here, audiences are encouraged to read the opening chapter of a story, then become active participants in how it will unfold. Simply go to the site, select a story, then choose from a list of options. The votes are then tabulated, and the next chapter is created released!

This site, I should note, began as part of Writer’s Worth/Grim5next. Those who are participating are member, and as one such person, I myself decided to join. This I did partly for fun, but mainly so I could head up its Cyberpunk division 😉 The first installment in that division, and the third story to open on the site, is titled “Crashland”. This is a future-tale I just started, set in an apocalyptic near-future where a killer virus has struck and is crippling the world’s information networks, bringing civilization as we know it to an end.

I invite all people to come on by and be part of the creative process! I’m excited myself since this is the first time I’ve ever taken part in a serial novel. Follow the link below to find the story in progress!:

http://story-time.me/2012/04/19/crashland-chapter-1/