WikiStory/Series 5

Enlightenment

 * Fifth of the WikiStory:Styles

This style is experimental (more so than the others). It involves taking a central storyline, and a plethora of other storylines, and constructing a maze out of the various stories. So, the central storyline might be a man questing for the holy grail, and on the way, other paths are opened to his quest, and other stories are opened up as the main story progresses. Some of these stories will lead to other stories which might dead end, and the goal is to find the storyline which will lead to the end, and hence, provide full knowledge and explanation.

So, for example, in his quest for the holy grail, our hero, Roland, is wandering through a dark forest, and in the forest he espies a young maiden slipping through the trees, and he also sees a dark cave. Chasing after the maiden might bring him closer to his goal, or going through the dark cave. In this way, this way of telling the story is much like a Fighting Fantasy gamebook or a Choose-Your-Own Adventure.

But as a writer, you don't need to follow such strong guidelines. You can be more creative, and instead of telling of the quest of Roland in his search for the grail, he might espy this young maiden, and instead of telling of his quest for her, you tell the story of this young maiden and why she is in the forest. Then, the labryinth becomes more philosophical, and the quest for the ending of the story is the completion of some idea rather than something practical.

This form is a lot more loose than the others, and has a lot more freedom. The goal is different of the other forms though --- because the goal of this is to complete a quest, to complete an idea, and through the experience of the reader, they can complete many smaller ideas, and keep on reading through other stories to finally complete the big idea.