Protagonize.com - Interactive Storytelling Online

Does the adage “two heads are better than one” apply to fiction writing? Protagonize seems to think so. The site is an online forum for collaborative fiction, where members can add new paragraphs to a linear story or create alternative endings or branches to an existing story. Even better, the stories can be tied to an RSS feed, so you’ll always be up-to-date on the newest fictional twist and turns. Protagonize popularizes a type of literature they refer to as “addventure,” an update on the “Choose your own Adventure” stories from the 1970s in which authors can choose (and create) alternative scenarios to build a personalized, unique story.

“Protagonize is a creative writing community dedicated to writing various forms of collaborative, interactive fiction. One author writes a story, and others post branches or chapters to it in different directions. The result is an organic, evolving story where everyone can participate.”

Protagonize is a great way to work out your brain. It is a non-judgmental community in which the authors actually seem to enjoy what they are doing. The site also features excerpts from stellar stories that reward particularly creative authors.

The site’s creators recently added the function of linear storytelling to garner more popularity. Is this form of writing main-stream or popular enough to reach a larger audience?