The expert advice emphasised the pivotal role of emotions and player self-expression in crafting interactive narrative, along with the importance of designing believable characters and meaningful choices. A comprehensive heuristics framework to craft ISL was developed based on the insights from this phase. Through iterative prototyping and reflection, the heuristics framework was evaluated and refined, and subsequently applied to the recrafting of a virtual patient for compassion training

While no statistically significant differences for narrative transportation were found, the results from the playthrough data and open-ended questions demonstrated that incorporating emotional depth into virtual patient design significantly impacted learner engagement and empathy. Participants exhibited more compassionate care when interacting with the recrafted virtual patient, showing highly improved decision-making to promote patient outcomes.

Excellent choice design will increase the engagement of your learners in the story, intrigue them about consequences and entice them to replay to check out other paths.

Choices in branching scenarios consist of three closely interconnected parts:Framing: the information the learner uses to make the choiceOptions: the possible choicesOutcomes: what happens due to choosing one of the options.

Choices can offer diverse acceptable ways to achieve the same goal, giving learners opportunity to personalise the experience.

An extra path can also replace boring “try again” situations: the consequence shows your choice was not ideal, but you simply continue and get another chance further in the story to make a better informed, similar choice.

Clear and confined parameters help to make the choice feel integral to the context, while still leaving room for personal expression and emotional connection.

One of my favourite narrative designers, Jon Ingold from Inkle Studios, introduced the accept – reject – deflect model. For example, in a conversational choice where someone asks you a question, this could mean the following:Accept: continue the current conversation, e.g. simply answer the questionReject: react negatively or refuse to answer. Deflect: change the topic, e.g. ignore, bounce a question back or refocus attention

Exploring different perspectives in personal storytelling enriches the narrative by fostering a deeper understanding and empathy toward the characters and situations involved

How, when, and why a reader is exposed to information in a narrative matters because it determines how the plot unfolds and impacts the audience's understanding and engagement with the story.<span class="white-space-pre"> </span>

Always lead with emotions when showing instead of telling.

This study turns for guidance to the expertise of narrative designers for games, where storytelling for interactive narrative has a long history of testing, iterating and perfecting. A collection of proven techniques described by game narrative practitioners will inform creative writing efforts to craft prototypes to test the transferability of those techniques to interactive narratives in a healthcare education context.

The most important aspect of branching scenarios and interactive stories are the choices presented to the player/learner. Choices are what make interactive stories different from other creative writing outputs such as novels, plays and movies.

Choices can feel totally different to a player depending on how they are written, even if they seem to have the same outcome.

And one of the best ways to cut out that boring fluff is to enter the conversation as late as possible.

When writing dialogue, it’s also good to bounce quickly back and forth between speakers, like a tennis match.

<p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Before writing a conversation, take the time to ask yourself what key purpose(s) the conversation will serve. Most often, conversations work to resolve or create tension, establish context, or reveal new information that moves the story forward.</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">With an established purpose in mind, you can begin writing dialogue with the confidence that you're adding value to your story rather than setting readers up for boredom.&nbsp;</p>

One easy way to identify dialogue missteps, however, is to read your story's conversations aloud.&nbsp;If the dialogue doesn't flow when spoken, you'll know exactly where to revise your work.

Writing is the process of discovery, so, you don’t have to have all your ideas fully formed before you write (an outline is good but you may not know exactly what you want to write). As you write, it will clarify your ideas. Don’t wait for the perfect word or phrase, just write and it will morph into something that you like. Don’t wait for something that you like before you write it down, just write.