Writing a Choose Your Own Adventure Style Story

     For my Goosebumps birthday party, I developed a Give Yourself Goosebumps style story for my interactive Choose Your Own Adventure game.  It had 16 different endings and ended up being about 8,900 words.  While my guests got to explore only one ending during the party, I sent them home with copies of my story so that they could read all the endings.
     Writing a story with multiple endings can be a bit more complicated than writing a story that follows one path.  Here are some things that I have found helpful when writing choose your own adventure style stories.

*Come up with a labeling system to identify your paths.  You're going to need some way to keep track of which choice connects to which story arc.  Numbering your choices 1, 2, 3, etc. may seem like a good idea at first, but it's easy to forget which number you left off on and adds complications if you decide to go back and add another branch.  What I've found useful is the following: Suppose my first choice has three options.  The top option in the list I'll call 0, the next I'll call 1, and the last I'll call 2.  If I start writing the 0 branch and come to a choice, these choices will have a two digit identifier: 00, 01, etc.  The zero at the front tells me that I came from path 0 to get here and the second digit is a way of identifying the choices.  If I start working on the 01 branch and come to a choice, these choices I'll number 010, 011, 012, etc.  Again, the 01 identifies which branch I came from and the final digit is what distinguishes this choice from the others.  This strategy has it's downsides, the main one being that if you have a lot of choices, it's easy to mistype a 0 or 1 somewhere and mess up your coding scheme, but it's what has worked well for me.

*When using my labeling system, I put one label at the end of the choice and the same label at the top of the page on which that branch begins.  For example, this is what a choice might look like:

If you eat the ice cream, turn to page 010100.

This is what the beginning of that branch might look like:

010100

     You eat the ice cream.  Your body starts to tingle . . .

These labels will all be removed in the end and replaced with page numbers, but it helps to keep track of your paths while you're writing the story.

*Keep a story map.  It's easy to get lost in a story with multiple paths, so this gives you a way to keep track of what you've done and where you're going.  You'll want to write out each choice with a brief description (1-2 sentences) of what happens in that choice.  For example,

You wake up in a cool, damp enclosure.

If you turn on your flashlight, turn to page 0.
If you decide it's safer to leave your flashlight off, turn to page 1.

0

You turn on your flashlight and see you're in a cave.  You hear a scraping sound.

If you go toward the sound, turn to page 00.
If you move away from the sound, turn to page 01.

00

You go toward the sound and see a slimy creature.

If you go toward it, turn to page 000.
If you run away from it, turn to page 001 . . .

And so on.  You can use this map to keep track of which paths you've written or to plan out where you want to go.  I tend to use them for both purposes.

*Write branches one at a time.  This way it's more like you're writing a traditional story.  I tend to start by writing all the 0th choice lines, e.g., 0, 00, 000, etc. until I reach the end of that line.  Then I go back to the last choice I made and finish that line.

For example, if 00000 comes to an end, after I finish writing it I would then go back to 00001 and write this branch and all of its choices.  Then I would go back to 0001.  Each time I finish a path, I move back to the last choice I made until I finish the story.

*Limit your choices.  This is one of the hardest things for me when it comes to writing a choose your own adventure style story.  I want to give people lots of options, but the more options I give, the harder it is to finish the story.  Also, the longer your branches are, the more options you'll end up having.  This is one place where your story map could come in handy.  If you start mapping out the options you want to have, you can see whether your plan is too ambitious.  For the most part, you'll want to limit yourself to two options per choice and maybe four or five choices per main story branch.  If there's a particular branch you're really interested in, you can always have a few more choices or options for that one and truncate some of your other branches.

That's all the advice I have for now.  If you do end up writing your own choose your own adventure style story, let me know how it goes.

The Grand prize for my cover design contest was a copy of my story with this holographic cover.

Everyone else got a copy of the story with a non-shiny cover.

DIY Pikachu Fan Ears

     I know last week I said I would give you a post about writing your own Choose Your Own Adventure story, but then Pokemon GO introduced the Pikachu Fan trainer costume and I couldn't resist making my own Pikachu ears.  With GO Fest Chicago right around the corner, I figured some people might be interested in making these to wear to the event.  The Choose Your Own Adventure story writing tips are still in the works and I will likely post them next week, so stay tuned for that.
     Pokemon GO just released a Pikachu Fan costume in honor of the game's two year anniversary.  The costume is adorable.  I still don't have the gold Pikachu Fan medal, so I couldn't get the whole costume, but here's my avatar wearing the ears, shoes, and shorts:

     I thought the ears were super cute and decided to make a set of my own.  I may try to make a variant on the whole Pikachu Fan trainer costume, but I have a busy summer ahead, so we'll see.  For now, here's how you can make some Pikachu ears of your own, whether you want them to wear out and about or for a Pikachu Halloween costume or cosplay.

Materials:

*Yellow felt
*Black felt
*Black thread
*Needle
*Brown or black headband
*All purpose adhesive
*Metallic marker
*Stuffing

Directions:

*Print out a copy of the Pikachu ear template below:

*Cut out the ear shape and trace four copies of it onto the yellow felt, two traced with the template right side up and two with it facing down.

*Cut the ear shape in two along the diagonal line and trace two copies of the resulting semi-triangular shape onto the black felt, one right side up and the other facing down.

*Sew the black ear pieces to the yellow ear pieces like this:

*Take two of the ear pieces and place them together, right side in.  Sew their edges together, leaving about an inch at the bottom unseen.

*Turn the ear right side in and stuff.

*Glue the ear to the headband.

*Repeat with the other ear.

Bringing a Choose Your Own Adventure Story to Life

Brian the Dark, at your service.

     Growing up, my favorite books were the Give Yourself Goosebumps books, in which my choices determined the outcome of the story.  Well, I was too afraid of getting bad endings, so if I was reading with someone else, I would make them choose.  The neat thing about these books and other Choose Your Own Adventure style books is that you can actively take part in the story.  When I was planning my birthday party, I thought it would be fun to bring one of these stories to life.  It was I think the most enjoyable party activity I've ever tried and I hope to have a chance to do something similar again.  If you'd like to try hosting your own interactive Choose Your Own Adventure game, here are some tips to help you get started.  While in many ways it would be easier to choose a book that has already been written for your party, if you're interested in writing your own story, like I did, I'll have some tips for that in next week's post.

Help, my guests are turning into plants!

*Choose a book to enact that takes place in one location.  That way you won't have to worry about changing scenery partway through the story.

*Pick a few key decorations to use to set the scene.  Your guests will probably get the idea and it will help them feel like they're part of the story, but it won't be as exhausting as going all out.

*Choose your props wisely.  Props can really add to the story, but Choose Your Own Adventure stories generally have many endings.  Since you probably don't have the time or energy to make props for every path, stick to the paths your players are most likely to encounter.  For example, at the beginning of my story, the players drink a mysterious punch and start turning into plants.  I had a punch bowl available for them and artificial vines they could drape around their shoulders to signify that they were turning into plants.  In one of the choices in my story, the players turn into cats.  I wanted to make some cat eared headbands for that storyline, but there was a small chance that they would actually pick that ending, so I decided not to.  Indeed, they did not pick that ending, so I'm glad I didn't go to all that extra effort.

*Get into character.  While this might not be applicable to all stories, some involve a central character or villain the player is constantly coming into contact with.  If you dress up as and act like this character, it can enhance the game experience for your players.  If there are multiple villains your players are likely to encounter, you may want to enlist some help.  Brian ended up playing a key role the game I hosted.

*Decide in advance who will make the choices.  If you have multiple players, the odds are that they won't all want to make the same choice at every juncture.  At my party, we used majority rule to decide.  However, if you're hosting the party for someone, you may want to task them with making the choice (or choosing who will make the choice).

*Use copies of the book as party favors.  You won't be able to get through all possible endings in one party, so giving players a copy of the book could help sate their curiosity.  This option may help alleviate any potential complaints from players who did not get to pick the ending, as it gives them the option to experience their ending at a later time.

Planning on trying your own Choose Your Own Adventure game?  Let me know how it goes for you.  You can tell me in the comments, or send me an email at hathaway.amber@gmail.com.

DIY Goosebumps Cups

Materials:
*Paper cups in green or purple
*Cardstock in green or purple (whichever color you didn't choose for your cups)
*Silhouette CAMEO (or scissors and a pencil)
*All purpose adhesive

Directions:

*Resize the template given below to your desired size, either in Silhouette Studio if you're using the CAMEO or in a word document if you're tracing by hand.

*Cut out as many slime logo shapes as you need using your desired method of either tracing and cutting out with scissors or using the CAMEO.

*Glue one half of the logo to a paper cups.

*Align the other half along the cup and glue down.

*Let cups dry completely before handling.

Oozing Steps

Materials:

*Green cardstock
*Pencil
*Glue or double sided tape
*Packing tape
*Scissors

Warning: If you have painted steps, tape may feel off the paint.  Adhere at your own risk.

Directions:

*Sketch slime drip shapes onto pieces of cardstock, making sure that the end of one sheet overlaps with the beginning of the next.  The number of sheets needed will vary based on the width of your steps.

*Cut out the slime shapes and connect them using glue or double sided tape.

*Adhere the slime to your steps using packing tape.  Make sure your steps are relatively clean first, or else the tape won't stick.  If you have concrete steps like I do, you may want to place some tape over the area you are planning to stick your slime to and peel it off to remove any excess dirt.  If you have painted steps, you may want to try using some sort of adhesive that won't damage paint instead of packing tape to hold up the slime.

Goosebumps Purple Peanut Butter

     Purple peanut butter appears in the Give Yourself Goosebumps book Beware of the Purple Peanut Butter.  I thought it would be fun to recreate this snack for my Goosebumps party and it worked out better than I expected.  In the book, the purple peanut butter tastes like peanut butter and jelly, so you could try adding some grape jelly to your purple peanut butter if you want a snack that's more true to the book.  I'm not a jelly fan and neither we're a few of my guests, so I didn't add jelly, but if you try making it with jelly, I'd be interested to know how it comes out.

Ingredients:

*Peanut butter of your choice
*Purple gel food coloring
*Pink gel food coloring

Directions:

*Place the desired amount of peanut butter in a mixing bowl.

*Alternate adding purple and pink food coloring until you reach your desired shade of purple.  The pink is really important to this process.  If you try using just purple, you'll end up with a black-brown color.

*Serve on crackers, in sandwiches, or however you wish.

Mock Goosebumps Cover Design Contest

     Looking for a fun, easy activity for your Goosebumps themed party?  Host a cover design contest.  Print out copies of the template given below and hand them out to your guests along with some colored pencils and then sit back and watch the creativity flow.

Template

     Note that if you print this template at the size of an actual Goosebumps cover, it will come out a little pixelated.  Scholastic used to offer a free, printable template on their website, but when I went there while I was planning my party, I couldn't find it anymore.  I threw this together and even though it's a little fuzzy, that pixelation didn't seem to detract from the activity any.

Sample Covers

     These are the cover designs my guests came up with.  When it came time for us to vote, many of us had trouble ranking them because they were all so good.  Katie's Cat Got Your Tongue (pictured at the top of the post) scored a very narrow victory.