Where is Agnes?

   Agnes, the 18-year-old WVU student has been tentatively mapped out thus far. She has a rough in to MAPI and definitely a strong reason for wanting to be part of the organization. However, I am still unsure of a few character traits of hers. This kind of keeps me weary to do any lengthy blog posts in her  POV.
   I am debating switching the dorm that she lives in from Dadisman to Boreman, simply because Boreman seems to have more potential for a haunting scenario.
   I also plan on having her mother make an appearance at some point, simply because Liz is a large part of Agnes's interest in the paranormal and having Liz be an actual character would be an asset.
   I'm also concerned with whether to make her a people person or not. The name Agnes scream socially awkward to me, but I imagine her with dirty blond hair and dull blue eyes which typically convey a more personable character. I suppose the middle ground would be to have her make a small group of misfit friends.
 

CGTS Top Ten

The following are the top ten ideas that I pulled from CGTS: 

1.      Organization – Organization is key in a transmedia narrative because there are so many different elements to it (fake e-mail, blog, twitter account). Organization is essential helping the group run smoothly.

2.      Story Bibles – A story bible is a way to put all of the elements and ideas of the narrative in one easy-to-access place. This will be useful within groups to keep everything running as smoothly an canon as possible.  

3.      Keeping a Strong Core Team – Keeping a strong core team is extremely important with transmedia because this is essentially several small projects rolled into the bigger picture. It’s important to keep everyone involved on the same page.

4.      Communication – Communication is partly a spin-off of keeping a strong core team, as communication is a big part of keeping things running smoothly. However, communication between group members is something that should be stressed.

5.      Web Design – The point of transmedia is to make things as real as possible. While the story itself needs to be a canon and smooth as possible, the web design itself is just as important. If someone were to stroll onto the group page and it wasn't well-designed and overall just a shoddy job, it wouldn't keep the person’s interest.

6.      Conveying Dialogue Online – Reading this piece was useful because at first I was confused on how to get the character to interact online. This section will prove to be beyond useful.

7.      Engage Audience – Engaging the audience is important and will be taken under consideration within the group.

8.      Worldbuilding – Set dressing is also important. If it’s a story taking place at a beach, one would expect to see elements of the woods or the desert. Also take under consideration the types of cars you would find at a beach.

9.      Characterization – In an effort to further flesh out the characters, one must consider the less obvious questions about aforementioned character. However, obvious questions (what type of clothing does s/he wear?) should be thought of too.

10.  Use Physical Artifacts… with caution – Using physical artifacts is a great way to keep your audience involved. However, keep in mind that certain artifacts, such as a telephone may have a limited use. For example, a telephone may only have one line and with several users calling, they may get a busy signal. 

CGTS Chapters 11-16

Transmedia storytelling is a relatively new concept to me. Of course I'm aware of several examples (Star Wars and Star Trek) but I'm new on the authoring bit. While I'm both nervous and excited about this project, I do admit that reading CGTS will help to essentially create the interweaving stories.
While reading through the assigned chapters I marked a few suggestions for later use.
"Cross-link heavily. This should be a no-brainer, but it's very easy to overlook." (CGTS p. 106). I found the suggestion to provide links to various medias relating to the project in one place helpful for not only the audience but also for the author's use.
"The purpose of a story bible is to make sure that teams of creators who may not get to communicate with each other directly are nonetheless on the same page." The idea of a story bible is almost essential for any sort of writing. It includes anything pertaining to the story: characters, plot, place descriptions, and anything else pertinent to making the world as realistic as possible. This is also important because its something to refer back to when you forget pieces of the story and also prevents any differing details.
There were several other suggestions throughout, however, these are the ones I feel that we should be utilizing the most.