Story Generators: Models and Approaches for the Generation of Literary Artefacts

T his session is concerned with the automated creation of fiction or "literary artefacts" that might take the form of prose, poetry or drama. Special focus is placed upon those approaches that include the generation of narrative structures and therefore use some kind of story model. First attempts in automated story generation date back to the 1970s, with the implementation of Meehan's TALE-SPIN (1977) based on the achievement of character plans and Klein's automatic novel writer (1973/1979) that simulates the effects of generated events in the narrative universe. Currently, story generators enjoy a phase of revival, both as stand-alone systems or embedded components. Most of them make reference to an explicit model of narrative, but the approaches used are diverse: they range from story grammars in the generative vein to the conceptually inspired engagement-reflection cycle. Real-life applications include the generation of a set of plot plans for screen writers in a commercial entertainment environment, who could use the automatically created story pool as a source of inspiration, and the generation of new kinds of interactive dramas (video games).