This project is currently on hold. Please visit our homepage to participate in storytwigs!
Teachers, what classroom mysteries have you solved?
We’re making a massive interactive story about the many mysteries teachers encounter!
Much has been said about how wonderful and important teachers are (and rightfully so). Little has been said about how most good teachers also happen to be phenomenal detectives. The best teachers I know would surely put Sherlock to shame.
To celebrate these school sleuths, I’m creating a massive interactive story. You might remember Choose-Your-Own-Adventure books—it will be similar to those, only online, more interactive, and made up of hundreds (or thousands) of real stories submitted by real teachers.
If you’re a teacher, please consider sharing your classroom mysteries. The submissions don’t need to be polished; even bullet points are okay. The mysteries can be as small or as large as you’d like. From “who threw the marker out the window?” to “how did $40,000 go missing from the PTA fund?” we want them all.
Coming from a family of educators, I am thrilled to be working on a project that celebrates teachers by sharing their stories. I can’t wait to hear about all of your mysteries, and I can’t wait to share them with the world!
Warmly,
Devon from Storytwigs
Frequently Asked Questions
How many stories will be selected?
We expect to use between 500 and 1500 stories, depending on how many submissions we receive and if we receive any funding or sponsors.
Can I help fund/sponsor the project?
While we are not a charity or non-profit, this is an ambitious self-funded project. We would absolutely love your financial support, and the more support we get, the more teacher stories we get to feature. You can contribute here. You can also reach out to Devon at storytwigs[@]gmail[dot]com about in-depth sponsorship or funding.
How can I share my story?
You can fill out this form and upload either a video, audio, or text file, or you can write your story in a text box on that form.
I don’t have a story, but I want to enjoy the story when it launches!
Sign up here to stay tuned for updates on this project and other exciting Storytwigs developments.
I don’t know how good my story is—can I still share it?
Absolutely! There is no mystery too small for our project. Even a few bullet points outlining what happened would be just fine. We will edit and revise any stories that are selected.
I’m a professor/tutor/principal/etc, can I share my story?
Of course! All educators are welcome. If you aren’t sure, submit anyway.
Can I share more than one story?
Yes please! Share a million, if you have ‘em.
Does the story have to be true?
Yes, we ask that all submissions are true to your knowledge, and that they happened to you personally (not just something you heard about).
How will you protect identities/sensitive information?
All submissions will be edited to remove any personally identifiable information about individuals involved.
How will I be credited?
The contributors of each selected story will be credited in a list using their first name and last initial. Eg, Devon Guinn would be listed as Devon G. If this method of credit is a sticking point for you, let us know in your story submission how you’d like to be credited (or not credited).
How long do I have to submit? And when will this launch?
We plan to close submissions on March 1st, and are aiming for to release the finished product in August of 2021. These dates may change.
Who is making this?
I’m Devon Guinn, the founder of Storytwigs. I've been doing narrative design/interactive fiction professionally since graduating from Harvard in 2017 with a degree in film/animation. I currently work on interactive/non-linear audio and video projects with eko.com and shesatalker.com, and I write my own interactive stories about things like first kisses and, of course, teacher detectives. I will also hire several artists, writers, developers, and producers to help complete this project as needed.
What is Storytwigs?
Storytwigs is a website and community that encourages storytelling among all people—not just professional writers, comics, or… storytellers. We believe that everyone has interesting, worthwhile stories, and we provide outlets for you to share your stories with us, no matter who you are. This is our first of many interactive projects, and we also have a monthly micro-writing contest for writers of all levels.