A character focused iterative simulation approach to computational storytelling

Abstract

My project aims at conceptualizing and implementing a computational storytelling system that derives creativity from an iterative cycle of simulation-based engagement and constraint-modifying reflection. It approaches this problem by first developing a computational model of stories that is grounded in narratological research, more specifically in mimetic, post-structuralist approaches centered around fictional characters. In the second stage, this narratological grounding will allow to measure and reason about the quality of a modeled story based on a formal notion called tellability. In the last stage, the parameter space that is set up by this representation can be explored in search for tellable stories, which are hypothesized to be of higher quality. Currently, the project is in the second stage.