Meaningful participation via negotiated narratives

Abstract

This article analyses the project "Red Branch Heroes", an interactive, transmedia prototype that was set in Northern Ireland. This piece of practice based research investigates the writing techniques that can be used to promote useful participation. The article suggests a form of participation that acknowledges the power balances that exist between author and audiences in digital narratives. It advocates a range of techniques that promote a greater sharing of that power so that those power positions are challenged. But it also advocates for the role of author as one of conductor or orchestrator, a role that is defined by a process of negotiation. Such a process results in a "negotiated narrative".