storywhere

storywhere is a web-based platform designed for collaborative storytelling and interactive fiction. It provides tools for authors to create serialized stories, invite contributors, manage revisions, and publish works under various licenses. The platform emphasizes reader participation through comments, voting on plot directions, and branching narrative options, allowing multiple endings and alternate chapters within a single story.

storywhere emerged from a desire among writers and developers to lower barriers to collaborative writing and experimentation with interactive forms. It features a modular story architecture, permissions controls, attribution, version history, and a simple markup language for formatting text and links.

Key features include multi-author collaboration with invitation-based access, branching and forkable story structures, reader feedback integration, editioning and publishing tools, tagging and discovery, and an API for external tools. Licensing options often include Creative Commons or author-chosen rights, aiming to balance openness with author control.

storywhere has built a niche community within independent publishing and education. Advocates highlight its suitability for writing workshops, classrooms, and writer groups, while critics discuss moderation challenges and quality control in collaborative projects. The platform has influenced newer services that emphasize collaborative narrative, remix culture, and reader-driven storytelling.

See also: Interactive fiction, Collaborative writing, Wikis, Open licensing.