Xenolan
Really Experienced
I've come across an odd problem which seems to be inherent to the CHYOA format. I'm not sure what, if anything, could be done about it. The problem is one which I have come to think of as "micro-spoilers".
There are essentially two kinds of plot drivers: those which happen TO the protagonist (big volcano erupts, sudden windfall of money, stripper offers a free BJ); and those which happen BECAUSE of the protagonist (run for the helicopter, buy a sports car, ejaculate in her mouth). In the CHYOA format, the former can happen anytime and for any reason; but the latter, especially if it's a major turning point in the plot, should be presented as a choice to the reader.
That having been said, here's a hypothetical story situation:
_____
You've just had some really spectacular zero-gravity sex with a purple-skinned alien woman who otherwise looks like Kelly Hu, when suddenly the Zorgon fleet emerges from Hyperspace and advances menacingly upon the Earth.
"That is my father's flagship!" the alien woman gasps. "He must have discovered that you took me from my tower room in the Star Palace; he has come to reclaim me, and then he will surely destroy your entire planet!"
WHAT DO YOU DO?
() Launch positron torpedoes
() Open a channel to the Emperor and beg for mercy
() Put your secret plan into action!
_____
So, here's the problem... if the "secret plan" has already been described in advance, then it kind of spoils the resolution of this crisis; there won't really be any surprise there. But if it hasn't, then that deprives the reader of information which he really should know about, as the protagonist. As a writer, I don't want to give away clever twists too early; however, as a reader who's making choices to move the plot along, I would feel cheated if I didn't have the information up front about what my own secret plan actually is!
The best I've been able to come up with is to describe how "you" and your comrades have come up with a dangerous plan which may not succeed, but it has the advantage of being unexpected! And, leave it at that. When the time comes that the plan may be put into action, just have one of the choices be pretty much what it says in the example above: "Put your secret plan into action." The main problem there is that it might as well be the only choice. Once the reader knows that there IS a Secret Plan, of course he's going to choose that option, if only to find out what it is!
Anyone else ever have this difficulty?
There are essentially two kinds of plot drivers: those which happen TO the protagonist (big volcano erupts, sudden windfall of money, stripper offers a free BJ); and those which happen BECAUSE of the protagonist (run for the helicopter, buy a sports car, ejaculate in her mouth). In the CHYOA format, the former can happen anytime and for any reason; but the latter, especially if it's a major turning point in the plot, should be presented as a choice to the reader.
That having been said, here's a hypothetical story situation:
_____
You've just had some really spectacular zero-gravity sex with a purple-skinned alien woman who otherwise looks like Kelly Hu, when suddenly the Zorgon fleet emerges from Hyperspace and advances menacingly upon the Earth.
"That is my father's flagship!" the alien woman gasps. "He must have discovered that you took me from my tower room in the Star Palace; he has come to reclaim me, and then he will surely destroy your entire planet!"
WHAT DO YOU DO?
() Launch positron torpedoes
() Open a channel to the Emperor and beg for mercy
() Put your secret plan into action!
_____
So, here's the problem... if the "secret plan" has already been described in advance, then it kind of spoils the resolution of this crisis; there won't really be any surprise there. But if it hasn't, then that deprives the reader of information which he really should know about, as the protagonist. As a writer, I don't want to give away clever twists too early; however, as a reader who's making choices to move the plot along, I would feel cheated if I didn't have the information up front about what my own secret plan actually is!
The best I've been able to come up with is to describe how "you" and your comrades have come up with a dangerous plan which may not succeed, but it has the advantage of being unexpected! And, leave it at that. When the time comes that the plan may be put into action, just have one of the choices be pretty much what it says in the example above: "Put your secret plan into action." The main problem there is that it might as well be the only choice. Once the reader knows that there IS a Secret Plan, of course he's going to choose that option, if only to find out what it is!
Anyone else ever have this difficulty?
