An interactive story is an audiobook that lets you decide how it goes on. It begins like any other listen, then at some point it stops and puts a choice in front of you. From there the story follows the path you took, and two people listening to the same story can reach different endings. On Voctale they are marked as interactive in the catalogue, next to the linear titles and the podcasts.
What changes compared with a linear audiobook
In a linear audiobook the scenes follow a fixed order, from start to finish, the same for everyone. In an interactive story the structure is built on branches: some scenes, instead of simply moving to the next, offer you two or three options. Each choice opens a different piece of the story, and some branches lead to scenes that anyone who took another route will never hear. There is no right version and wrong one: there is yours, the one that grows out of the decisions you make while listening.
It changes the way you listen too. In a linear audiobook you can let it run; in an interactive story it helps to stay present at the moments of choice, because that is where you decide the direction. It is the trait that sets Voctale apart, and it holds for short stories of a few minutes as much as for the longer ones. Some are free and others premium: the detail is in the guide on free or premium.
How the choices work while you listen
When you reach a branch, the story stops and shows you the options. You choose and the audio picks up from the point you set. Your place is always saved: if you close the app and come back the next day, you resume at the scene you were on, with the choices you had already made. The same holds when you switch device, because your library follows your account and not your phone.
Some choices change only a detail of the next scene; others move the story onto a completely different path. You do not know in advance which is which, and that is part of the game. If a story asks you to decide quickly, it is because time is part of the telling.
Reaching an ending and finding the others
When you reach an ending, the story does not disappear. Many interactive stories have more than one ending, and once you have reached the first you can start again and take the path you left behind, to see where it led. The simplest way to find them all is to replay the route changing one choice at a time: that way you learn which branch really moved the story.
If it is your first time, follow your instinct and do not backtrack. The first version of an interactive story is the one most like you, and the alternative branches stay there for when you feel like listening again. When a story really appeals to you, you can add it to a reading list and find it alongside others of the same kind.
The rest comes on its own as you listen. To start, open the catalogue and look for a title marked as interactive; and if you feel like making one, it is all in the guide on publishing your first story.
