This presentation looks at how new media forms are adapting to the demands of audiences who are willing, and in some cases expecting, to contribute meaningfully to the narratives created.

1. WRITING WITH
AUDIENCES
Secret Story Network
http://www.secretstorynetwork.com
Red Branch Heroes
http://www.redbranchheroes.com/phd/practice/

2. NEGOTIATED NARRATIVES
RED BRANCH HEROES – prototype for web series THE ELEVEN
Practice based project
An interactive, transmedia narrative that was created by
author, producers and audiences.
Based on Ulster Cycle of Myths – Emain Macha, Cuchulain
A reality TV programme to elect a Hero for NI
Recognises the creativity of audiences
‘Involves an imaginative leap from a world of ‘as it is’ to a
glimpse of the world ‘as it could be’ Wadsworth, Y. (1998)
What is participatory action research? Action Research
International, Paper 2. pp6
http://www.redbranchheroes.com/anna-red-branch/

3. RED BRANCH HEROES
Testing the candidates – creating the feedback
loop

4. RED BRANCH HEROES
Narrowing the choice – intense character
development
Interviewing each candidate being provided
with video answers to questions.
Live Skype interviews

5. RED BRANCH HEROES
Promoting the candidates for public vote –
involving broader audience participation

6. NEGOTIATED NARRATIVES
SECRET STORY NETWORK
Interactive RPG game/story
An interactive, (could be transmedia) narrative that is
created by author, producers and audiences
Recognises the creativity of audiences
Various story play outs have been created
http://www.secretstorynetwork.com/sec/wp-
content/uploads/2018/07/SSN_info.pdf
‘Thinking and feeling are contained within the
process of making.’ Sennett, R. (2009) The
Craftsman. London: Penguin pp7

7. Secret Story Network
Opportunities for audiences to perform online

8. Secret Story Network
Creating flexible narrative structure that can adapt to
player demand

9. Secret Story Network
Audience volunteer for roles and the experience is
orchestrated by story conductor

10. Secret Story Network
A trace and a memory is created through story assets

11. Secret Story Network
Keep it simple - simple rules
■ Make the story excellent
■ Enjoy yourself
■ Be tolerant
Simple Set up

12. NEGOTIATED NARRATIVES
Influences
Collaboration
‘Increasingly screenwriting (and theatre) are becoming more
genuinely collaborative as people write for specific contexts and
production parameters.’ Millard, K. (2014) Screenwriting in a
Digital Era, Hampshire: Palgrave pp180
Participation
‘Transmedia storytelling refers to a new aesthetic that has
emerged in response to media convergence – one that places
new demands on consumers and depends on the active
participation of knowledge communities.’ Jenkins, H. (2009),
‘The Aesthetics of Transmedia (Part One, Part Two and Part 30.
Three): In Response to David Bordwell’,
http://henryjenkins.org/transme- 31. dia_entertainment/

13. NEGOTIATED NARRATIVES
Influences
Interactivity
‘Not all objects that offer choices are themselves interactive. For
instance, a sign at a crossroad that points in several directions offers
many destinations to the traveler; or a printed menu in a restaurant offer
many options to the customer. But I would not call the road sign and the
menu interactive objects, because they lack the ability to modify
themselves in response to the user’s decisions.’ Ryan, Marie-Laure.
(2012) “Peeling the Onion: Layers of Interactivity in Digital Narrative
Texts.” Marie-Laure Ryan, http://users.frii.com/mlryan/onion.htm
Immersion
‘Storytelling is key, but as with any key it only gets you in the door.
What people really want is to merge their identity with something
larger. They want to enter the world the story lives in.’ Rose, F. (2015)
The power of Immersive Media. Strategy and Business issue 78.
https://www.strategy-business.com/article/00308?gko=92656

14. NEGOTIATED NARRATIVES
Negotiated Narratives
■ a narrative that is created by all of those involved
in its execution
■ a synthesis of ‘stories’ (stories proposed by
audiences, co-workers, actors, my own stories,
myths and re-workings of other writers)
■ this synthesis results in the creation of a new
narrative; a narrative that is constantly changing
due to on going negotiations
■ a negotiation process similar to process theatre

15. NEGOTIATED NARRATIVES
Influences
Process Drama
‘Like theatre, it is possible for process drama at its best to provide
a sustained, intensive, and profoundly satisfying encounter with
the dramatic medium and for participants to apprehend the world
in a different way because of this encounter.’ O’Neill, C (1995)
Drama Worlds, Portsmouth NH: Heinemann pp13
This approach is also relevant to computer - mediated multi-user
environments. ‘[It] can evolve out of a shared discourse related
to a context, rather than one overarching story or character’.
Patrickson, B. (2016) Playing the MOOC, Storymaking blog
https://storymakingblog.wordpress.com/abstracts/

16. NEGOTIATED NARRATIVES
Process Drama
■ Often used in drama education
■ Drama that unfolds spontaneously in response to
structured prompts – pre-texts
■ Requires a minimal sense of performance
■ Is personal but features multi-perspective views
■ Requires reflexivity and discussion
■ Utilises liminality – playing with the familiar and
disarranging

17. NEGOTIATED NARRATIVES
But that is not enough
added to this should be other remediated forms
Film, TV, Games, Visual arts, Poetry, Prose, etc.
”Too short! I was just getting into it”
“Cool, it was like being in a film”
“I liked the humour, the two rooms, the killer problem,
being pushed to be involved, the musical interludes”
“Good vibe, great games mastering, extreme
creativity, general fun and laughs”

18. NEGOTIATED NARRATIVES
Discoveries
■ The establishment of a strong ’community’ online through
gamification, simple rules and performative stories
■ Use of myths and familiar stories builds engagement
■ Offering real choice and agency
■ Importance of multimodal, intermedial participation
■ Less is more
■ Create an experience
■ Keep to one location
■ Keep it simple
■ The Story Conductor is a conduit for the players. Don't overlook
the group’s creativity, don't over involve yourself
■ Stories belong to us all – learn to negotiate and work together

19. NEGOTIATED NARRATIVES
Bellyfeel
http://www.bellyfeel.co.uk
Anna Zaluczkowska
Anna.zaluczkowska@leedsbeckett.ac.uk
Twitter - @Transmedianna
Secret Story Network
http://www.secretstorynetwork.com