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Rated: 13+ · Quiz · Writing · #1255848
Are you a Writing.com sinner?
This quiz is about interactive story writing.

This quiz will help you to spot things in your story which could be improved or may annoy readers. In fact some of these things make me want to punch the monitor screen in, and taken over all they actually cause people to abandon this site out of frustration.

It will also give anonymous feedback on your stories which can be useful.
1. From which point of view is your interactive story written?:
  Almost every interactive story is written in the second person (see below). This may be traditional but it is also getting really tired. It doesn't suit every story and variety is a good thing. Seriously consider writing "He went outside" or "She found something" if only for a change.
       Second person e.g. "You go outside, you find something"        
       Other        
2. Do you suddenly change perspective?:
 When adding to your own or somebody else's story do you switch from third to second person? e.g. "He walked outside" in one chapter then "I found something" in the next one. This is just shoddy writing and can actually ruin a story for many readers. Keep track of the story's format!
       The perspective does suddenly change        
       The narrative is consistant        
3. Do you tell me how I feel?:
 When writing in the second person, (e.g. "you go outside") do you tell the reader how he or she feels? e.g. "You feel turned on"? There's good chance that the reader has their own opinion on how they feel about what you've just written. Telling them they are wrong is annoying!
       I do tell you how you feel...        
       Feel how you like!        
4. Is your story random and unfocussed?:
 Are the first few chapters of your story just a series of questions along the lines of "Who shrinks?" and "Where do you shrink?" ? It's annoying being belief to have to wade through more menus than an 80s PC game to get to the actual story, only to then find a dead end. These stories always end up as a series of generic stories most of which never go anywhere. It's better by far to think of an actual single plot and stick to it. You can't please all of the people all of the time.
       I have lots of options at the start!        
       I have a decent opening to a story with a plot.        
5. Is it or does it contain a fanfic?:
 Fanfics can be okay, but there are way too many on Writing.com and they are fraught with problems. Anyone who dooesn't like the original story (and there will be lots) will either hate it or just skip it. Why not write your own story in a similar vein? Just finding a character from a popular TV show sexy is not a good basis for a story! If you must write a fanfic, at least do one which is different to all the others.
       It has fanfic in it.        
       It's totally original.        
6. If it's a fanfic is it based on anime or video games?:
 Sorry if you like these, but there are FAR too many of these! Rather than start yet another new anime or game story you should consider adding to one of the six hundred or so existing ones. It would make it easier for the rest of us to skip through them all!
       It's anime!        
       It's video games!        
       It's both!        
       neither        
7. Continuity:
 Do your contributions or stories feature sudden breaks in continuity? For instance characters suddenly changing locations without explanation or names and hair colour changing. If you are contributing to a story it is your responsibility to read the story before you add and remain true to it. If you are the owner you should edit inconsistancies or your story could be ruined!
       Everything makes sense and is consistant.        
       There are continuity errors.        
8. Do your characters act through motivation?:
 Characters should be consistent. If a seemingly normal character suddenly agrees to be eaten or killed, for example there has to be a reason for it! Likewise if a woman suddenly becomes 500 feet tall that doesn't mean she would automatically start eating people and having sex with buildings. Always explain why a character does what they do if it isn't obvious!
       My characters act randomly        
       My characters have believable motivation        
9. Does one chapter lead to the next?:
 It may seem obvious, but when writing a chapter it should follow on logically (to some extent) from the previous one. Under no conditions should you derail the intent of the previous chapter by typing something like "then Jenny died and a team of giant cheerleaders arrived!". If you don't like the direction of a chapter write elsewhere; don't try to derail it.
       Random things happen out of nowhere.        
       The story remains true to itself        
10. Effort?:
 If you make the odd spelling or grammatical mistake it's not so bad, but you should at least make the effort. The site has a built in spell check now, so it's worth taking the time to get it at least mostly right.
       My spelling is fine, thankyou for asking.        
       W0t teH R U B33f m@N?        
11. Really short chapters.:
 To the point is fine, but do you write chapters which in their entirety read "Now what?" or something similar, followed by a new choice? There really should be at least some new text on each page as a kind of reward for the reader. Each chapter should be at least a little entertaining in it's own right.
       I have tiny chapters with no story.        
       I have at least some writing in every chapter.        
12. The immortality rule:
 Did you specify in the rules that the central character is not allowed to die? In an interactive adventure story this is a bad thing as it takes away any dramatic tension for the reader. If the character dies in one path he will still be alive in another path, so does it matter? That's the nature of the genre.
       My character is immortal        
       My character can die        
13. I am the law.:
 As a contributer do you stick to the rules outlined at the start of the story? If not then you are being extremely inconsiderate. As the story owner do you enforce your own rules? If not why bother having rules?
       I don't care.        
       The rules are followed.        
14. Is it Mikey?:
 I have no idea why but it seems that a huge number of interactive stories have a character called Mike! (Yes this is a silly question, but I'm honestly confused.)
       Er... yes, there's a Mike in my story.        
       There are no people called Mike here.        
How'd you do? Click below for your results:
          
Printed from https://writing.com/main/quiz/item_id/1255848-The-Cardinal-Sins-of-Writingcom-Quiz