What is Narrative?

A narrative is a story that is progressing through a path of decisions on the part of the author. However, when the story is interactive and more decisions are left to the readers, it is no longer a narrative...it is more of a community piece, at that point. Some of the multimedia stories that we have looked at could be considered narratives as there are very few choices, as in a written text. If you can only click on one thing, the author really isn't giving you any choices, although it may seem that way. So when you are following the progression of the story through clicks of the mouse, you are really walking down the path of the author. Thus this can be considered a narrative. However, when the author leaves allows for more choices then it is not so much a narrative. You are not going from one beginning to a middle to one end....you now have options and it is no longer that writer's story, but one that is more individualized. I think one thing that is amazing about most true narratives is the concept that you can get lost in it, and at times forget that you are actually reading a book. However, with some of the stories we have looked at from ELC, it is very interactive. Some of the creators only gave one choice, or maybe a couple....but some, such as "Blue" by Michael Joyce, you can't help but realize that you are no longer on the path of the creator, but on your own path, where you can get lost and very mixed up. While these stories are very interesting, I don't think it works as well as, lets say, a book. You are constantly jumping around and many times you have to try to piece the story together the best you can, even when it doesn't seem to fit!