I’ve been thinking about immersion the past few days. Not just in games (which I’ve written about before) but in storyworlds in general. Specifically, I’ve been kicking around some ideas about how to keep the audience immersed even after they’re done reading the book / playing the game / watching the movie / eating the cereal (which is part of this nutritious breakfast!).
Okay, this could get some into some heavy transmedia stuff here real quick, but for the sake of brevity, I’m going to focus on the single book, game, or… um… box of cereal. I’m thinking about what we can do with THAT content that will keep audiences actively thinking about it when they’re not actively consuming it.*
Open Questions: If you want to keep people thinking after they close the book or turn off the screen, not everything in your story should be neatly wrapped up in the end. Oh, don’t leave it on a cliffhanger–unless you’ve got the next installment already done–but feel free to leave some intriguing side questions open:
- What ever happened to that minor character?
- What else is the chest?
- Who sent the note?
Questions like these can keep your audience speculating for some time.
Windows of Inspiration: I previously wrote about windows in storyworld: elements in a story that hint at aspects of a much larger world. These are things mentioned, but never detailed. For example, your fantasy story might bring up the “griffon rebellion of the Black Mountains” as a tragedy on the edge of the kingdom, but never focus on it since it’s just a background detail. But the immersed audience wants to know more. And without official canon from you, the audience may be inspired to make it up. Such windows are hooks from which the audience can hang their own creations.
Affiliations: Every few months, it seems, my Facebook feed fills up with people declaring what Hogwarts house they belong to. Some folks claim their house so strongly, they buy the t-shirt, the scarf, and the… phone case? The point is, long after they’ve closed the last Harry Potter book, they still identify with a part of the world. They’re still immersed.
Finally, what might be the most important piece of this puzzle is a community. It’s a lot easier (and more fun!) to discuss open questions, share fan-works, and proclaim one’s affiliation when surrounded by like-minded people. Building a community is tricky. Doing it on purpose is extra-tricky. But depending on your storyworld (and your budget) it might be worth doing.
* I hate that when I use terms like “audience,” “content,” and “consuming” I sound like a dude with a thin tie and slicked-back hair talking to a room of marketing executives. But those words work for this conversation. They may sound cold and corporate, but I assure you they’re warm, cuddly, and full of love when I use them.
