Interactive Narratives are around us everywhere, especially in electronic forms such as video games, movies, etc. Those are examples that are made quite clear in the book Pause & Effect. There is, however, an interactive narrative that just about all of us are taking part in right now, and is affecting our real life, not just our imaginations.

The electoral process and the upcoming Election Day is an interactive narrative that we are all taking place in (provided you registered to vote.) For months, the presidential candidates have been touring the country giving speeches and meeting their fellow citizens. They have been in the headlines every week for something and just recently the presidential debates have started. Television channels such as CNN and C-Span follow every move that the candidates make and present it to us.

The media brings us just about everything we could need or want to know about the candidates. Each candidate also has their own website to help gain supporters. We, the people of the United States, bring forth our concerns to these candidates to see how they will fix any problems. Citizens have demonstrations and protests to help make our candidates and other citizens aware of our concerns, such as anti-war demonstrations and pro-life or pro-choice protests. Some of these affect our candidates and citizens, some however, do not.

Ultimately, in this live interactive narrative, the citizens of the U.S.A. are readers. We are able to explore the candidate’s motives, modify our choices, and take attempts at changing the focus of the candidates. The TV stations, newspapers, magazines, and the internet are the narrators, presenting us with the ever changing story line until the final outcome of who wins the election. Of course, for all we know, there could already be a game out there that simulates a presidential election process.