Engaging Readers and Writers with Interactive Fiction

Four week online class facilitated for the Association of Library Service to Children (a division of ALA), Summer and Fall 2016, Winter 2017

This course introduces interactive fiction (IF) while showing how to create narrative text-based games for a variety of audiences and platforms. IF is a powerful tool to engage both readers and writers while teaching basic programming skills. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

  • Understand how IF influenced and continues to influence not only video game design, but also literature
  • Demonstrate how readers can interact with texts in new and non-traditional ways through IF
  • Leverage IF in children’s and teen programming, both inside the library and out, to encourage reading, writing, and computer programming skills across disciplines
  • Write their own stories using Twine, Inform7, and others cross-platform programs