Welcome to Gluze! This guide will help you understand how to create engaging interactive stories that captivate readers with branching narratives and meaningful choices. Whether you're a seasoned author or just starting out, Gluze provides the tools you need to bring your stories to life.
To start writing on Gluze, you'll need to create an account. Click the "Register" button in the navigation bar and fill in your details. Once registered, you can access your dashboard where you'll manage all your stories.
From your dashboard, click "Create Story" to begin. You'll be guided through setting up your story's basic information before diving into the writing process. Don't worry about getting everything perfect right away - you can always edit your story settings later.
Choose a compelling title that captures the essence of your story. Your description should give readers a taste of what to expect without revealing too much. Think of it as the back cover of a book - enticing enough to make someone want to dive in.
Select themes that accurately represent your story's content. Themes help readers discover your story in the marketplace. Common themes include Fantasy, Romance, Mystery, Science Fiction, Horror, Adventure, and more. You can select multiple themes if your story spans different genres.
Choose your story's narrative perspective carefully, as it affects how readers experience your story:
First Person: "I walked through the forest..." Creates intimate connection with the protagonist.
Second Person: "You walk through the forest..." Popular for interactive fiction as it makes readers feel they ARE the character.
Third Person: "She walked through the forest..." Offers flexibility in showing multiple viewpoints.
Stories in Gluze are organized into chapters, and each chapter contains parts. Parts are the individual segments that readers navigate through, making choices that lead them down different narrative paths.
Chapters: Major story divisions (like chapters in a traditional book)
Parts: Individual scenes or decision points within a chapter
Choices: Branching points where readers decide what happens next
Before writing, consider creating an outline for each chapter. This helps you plan branching paths and ensures narrative coherence. Think about key events, character development moments, and where choices will have the most impact.
Write every word yourself using the built-in editor. This gives you complete creative control over your narrative. The editor supports rich text formatting to make your prose shine.
Gluze offers AI-powered writing assistance to help you generate content. You can use AI to:
Generate initial drafts for parts
Create choice options based on your story context
Expand scenes you've outlined
Overcome writer's block with suggestions
Remember that AI-generated content is a starting point. Review and edit the output to match your voice and vision for the story.
Choices are the heart of interactive storytelling. When creating a choice, consider:
Meaningful Impact: Choices should affect the story in noticeable ways
Clear Options: Readers should understand what they're choosing
Balanced Paths: Each choice should lead to interesting content
Branching narratives can quickly become complex. Use the story tree view to visualize your narrative structure and keep track of all paths. Tips for managing complexity:
Convergent Paths: Have some branches merge back together to reduce total content needed
Bottleneck Points: Create key story moments where multiple paths converge
Track Variables: Keep notes on what's different in each branch
Gluze offers various AI models for content generation. Different models have different strengths - some are faster, others produce more creative or detailed output. Experiment to find what works best for your writing style.
The AI uses context from your story to generate relevant content. You can customize:
Story Context: Background information about your world and characters
Generation Prompts: Specific instructions for what you want generated
Style Guidance: Tone, pacing, and writing style preferences
The auto-generation feature allows the AI to automatically expand your story by generating new parts and choices. This is useful for rapidly building out branching paths or exploring narrative possibilities you might not have considered.
Configure how auto-generation behaves:
Depth-First: Follows one path deeply before branching
Breadth-First: Expands all branches evenly
Complete-Tree: Automatically fills in all missing branches to create a complete narrative tree
Always review auto-generated content to ensure quality and narrative coherence.
First impressions matter! Gluze can generate cover images for your story using AI. Describe the visual style and key elements you want, and the AI will create a unique cover. You can regenerate until you find the perfect image.
Tips for great cover prompts:
Describe the mood and atmosphere
Include key visual elements from your story
Specify art style (realistic, illustrated, painted, etc.)
Mention colors and lighting
Control who can access your story:
Private: Only you can view and edit the story
Public: Anyone can discover and read your story
Configure how much content guest (non-registered) users can access. This can encourage readers to create accounts while still giving them a taste of your story.
Gluze offers monetization options for your stories. You can set stories to require coins to unlock, allowing you to earn from your creative work. Consider offering free introductory chapters before paywalled content.
When your story is ready, make it public to share with readers. You can publish individual chapters as you complete them or release the entire story at once.
Public stories appear in the Gluze marketplace where readers can discover them. Optimize your story's visibility by:
Writing a compelling description
Selecting accurate themes
Creating an eye-catching cover
Encouraging readers to rate and review
Use author notes to keep track of important story details. This is especially helpful for complex narratives with many branches. Document:
Character traits and backstories
World-building details
Plot points that must remain consistent across branches
Timeline of events
Author notes are private and only visible to you, not your readers. They also help the AI maintain consistency when generating content.
Start Strong: Hook readers from the first paragraph
Make Choices Matter: Readers should feel their decisions have real consequences
Balance Freedom and Guidance: Give players agency while maintaining narrative focus
Create Emotional Stakes: Connect choices to characters readers care about
Consistent Updates: Regular new content keeps readers coming back
Engage in Forums: Participate in the Gluze community
Cross-Promote: Share your stories on social media
Respond to Feedback: Listen to reader suggestions and reviews
Proofread Carefully: Errors break immersion
Test All Paths: Play through your story as a reader would
Edit AI Content: Always review and polish generated text
Get Beta Readers: Fresh eyes catch what you miss
Use the Tree View: Visualize your narrative structure regularly
Save Often: Your work is saved automatically, but be mindful during long sessions
Organize Chapters Logically: Clear structure helps both you and readers
Label Branches Clearly: Know what each path represents
Ready to start writing? Head to your dashboard and create your first interactive story today!