A story with no challenges is boring and won’t engage your learners. When we use stories for learning, the challenges should mimic the kinds of issues learners will face in their real workplace. You don’t need an evil villain in your story, but you do need obstacles to overcome.
Scenarios for learning should include several critical elements: a protagonist or main character, that character’s goal, and the challenges that character faces. The main character’s goal is what drives the scenario. All of the action and decisions in the scenario move you closer or further from that goal.
In stories for learning, the protagonist should be someone your learners identify with, a person with similar goals and challenges.
Use random name generators to quickly create character names for scenarios in learning. Different tools have different purposes and benefits.
We often talk about conversational writing for elearning. A conversational tone flows better in voice
Writing a branching scenario can be intimidating or overwhelming. I have found that it’s easiest to write the ideal path from start to finish first. I note decision points and sometimes draft bad choices along the way, but I don’t fully write anything else until I finish the ideal path.
Patti Shank’s latest book, Write and Organize for Deeper Learning, is a great read for
Once you have decided on a branching scenario approach, how do you get started? This is my process for working with SMEs to prepare.
Great science fiction stories have a compelling villain that allows the heroes to be heroic. Does the same apply to storytelling for learning? Should we personify the conflict by using a villain?
Resources on writing principles for elearning and estimating the time to develop training