The Paths You Choose in a Choose Your Own Adventure

Posted on by Jay
dog tag with "choose your own adventure" inscribed on it

You find yourself at a crossroads; a fork in the road, with a sign that points to two paths in opposite directions. One sign reads of a town name—painted recently, radiating a sort of pride to its name. The sign is big, and it provides you with a sense of knowing where you want to go. The other sign is smaller, and more run-down—left without maintenance, and shadowing the town sign; however, the sign provides an image rather than a word. It’s mysterious, but it compels you to want to explore the path and find out what awaits on the other side. 

There is always the option to go a different direction—find a path that no one has before and discover something that has been left unknown for who knows how long. Figure out whether to go further left or further right, or try the un-ventured path that remains in the middle of the two. Or you could always turn back and plan for something else—there’s nothing wrong with regrouping with yourself and finding a different route to venture towards. 

What do you do? Where do you think the story will go? How will you decide where and when the story ends? 

In a Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) story, there is always a choice that leads towards a path with even more choices, and that choice is counted towards a path that eventually leads to a special event. Whether that event is the end, or that path causes another option to open, depends on the choices that have been made beforehand. This genre of storytelling has been incorporated into the world of video games, as well as Tabletop Roleplaying Games (TTRPG) as another fun way to tell a story that is more engaging and more interactive than activities before it. 

Each CYOA story has a quest that the protagonist (you, or the character that represents you) must go on, as represented by one of the seven quest-types that all adventurers go on according to Dan Roam: 

  • The quest towards home after the long battle, or after getting lost in oneself.
  • Striving to win the prize, whether that be wealth for your gain, or a prize to an object that could save the world. 
  • Hunting for revenge to avenge a fallen loved one, or to strike down those who have done you wrong. 
  • Harking on a battle to fight the evil dragon taking over the world, or enemy that goes against the better of the world and its people. 
  • Going on a journey of self-discovery to find yourself once more, or to be reborn. 
  • Risking the climb to reach the top and make to where no one has before. 
  • Searching for true love, whether that’s the love that comes from someone else, or you find the will to love yourself. 

Each of these quests are what make a story relatable and captivating, placing you into a situation where you can get lost in, as well as relate the experiences to yourself. They create an agency to discover more about the in-world story, as well as find where you fit in and see what kind of changes you can make in it. This gives people the chance to discover a story that they can connect with, as well as explore different paths and decide for themselves what may be the more interesting option, or connect with a choice from experiences from their personal life.

These are stories that I have grown fond of over the years, and I tend to play games where I can create a character, or create someone to play, and play a game where I can determine the story—as best as I can, anyhow. I’m forced to play a main role in the games that I play, which makes up for my absence as a leader in the real world; but, I can say that storytelling games and media where I am forced to take the role as leader for myself inspires me to try and be more confident in my actions, as well as inspire myself to help others more in anyway possible.

“Choose your own adventure” by scanlime is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 .

Drawing is Essential for Success (No Skill Required)

Posted on by Jay

Many people claim that they can’t draw. When people think of being an artist, they think of the predominant historical artists that defined history back when people were first beginning to learn about the concept of art; they don’t think of the historical and present-day figures that make history with stick figures and boxes and spheres. There have been many accounts, as illustrated and shown in Dan Roam’s Draw to Win, where people have found success in creating visuals—or art—to showcase an idea of theirs to help explain exactly what they are going for. Their professions are and were not centered around art.

Art can be utilized as a tool just as easily as art is used as a nice decorative piece, or used to make money when times get tough. One of the main examples of art being used as a tool comes from Dan Roam himself, where he talked about how him and his friend, Tony, illustrated a presentation showcasing how Obamacare worked and how it became the way it was, all while using stick figures and simple diagrams with single sentences attached to each drawing. That presentation has since been on the news, as well as been showcased at the White House. And it was all done with simple line work. No fancy details or brushes. No aesthetically pleasing color (unless you love red). It almost looks as though the presentation was made with a cocktail napkin for a last-minute idea to get a patent for a future invention, or even doodles on a whiteboard. Maybe calling it a doodle is disrespectful considering its success, but if you think about it this way, if a doodle can bring success to that kind of caliber, then maybe anything you call just a “doodle” can later bring you that same success—or any other type of success depending on what your goals are.

In the same way that doodles can land you a presentation at the White House, art, and your skill (or lack thereof), can be applied to the concepts of Digital Storytelling and the usage of infographics. Digital Storytelling is a storytelling media that utilizes things that make it easier to express an idea or concept, as well as aid in the visualization of the story that you are trying to tell; things such as digital art, or an open world that allows you to create things in a sandbox (such as Second Life). Anything that involves using the digital space to create art. I’ve been involved in Digital Storytelling throughout my college course, with Spring 2024 being my first time stepping into the world of Digital Storytelling.

Infographics follow the same idea of delivering and expressing a concept or idea, except it focuses more on data and information rather than creative storytelling. Infographics present data in a way that delivers information that is easy to digest, and gets the point across efficiently without using lengthy texts for people to read. I have not had much experience with creating infographics myself, though they look very intresting to create.

“scientist in the middle” by driek is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 .