Choices

A choice is what the reader clicks at the bottom of a scene. It has two parts: the words on the button, and the scene it leads to.

Write them as actions#

Readers see a choice as a button, and it should read like something the character does or decides. A full phrase almost always beats a label.

How many#

Two choices is the baseline. Three works well at a big moment. Four is the most before readers start to feel buried.

A single choice is not a decision. It is a way to keep going, and it is useful when you split a long scene in two. Label it plainly, such as "Keep reading" or a short action. The editor's advice about choice counts will mention it, and that is fine.

Readers see their choices lettered A, B, C and D, in the order they appear in the editor.

Where a choice leads#

Each choice has a destination dropdown next to it. It lists every scene, ending and fork in your story.

If the scene you want does not exist yet, pick + New scene… from the dropdown. The editor creates a blank scene, points the choice at it, and opens it so you can start writing.

Two choices can lead to the same scene. That is how paths rejoin, and it is normal. Write the shared scene so it makes sense whichever way the reader arrived. See The story graph.

Adding and removing choices#

Use Add choice under the list to add one, and the bin icon beside a choice to remove it. A scene with no choices is a dead end, and the editor will flag it, because a reader who lands there has nowhere to go.

Choices that change#

Once your story remembers things, choices can do more than lead somewhere. A choice can change what the story remembers, and it can be hidden until something is true. Both are covered in Memory: variables.

Next#

A story needs somewhere to end. Read Endings.