How to write a choose-your-own-adventure story

The biggest fault I have found when reading a choose your own adventure story is that it can sometimes become apparent that there is a right' or correct' path to choose. It sometimes seems that the author has written their favourite storyline or outcome as the main' one, with other alternatives on the side. So my advice would be to have equal paths that you like, with equal outcomes that you would be happy to end with.

Start by making a list of all the possible outcomes you can think of. Really go crazy, brainstorm and write down everything you can think of, even if it's not appropriate to your audience. It's also a good idea to get someone else's help at this stage other people may have ideas that you would never have thought of.

Then decide how many outcomes you want your story to feature (keep the number small if you're a beginner writer or don't want the book to be too long or complicated). Choose your outcomes from the list, but only go with the ones YOU really like. Not what other people like, or what you think would be a good' ending, but the ones you would be happy to choose if you were the reader. That of course doesn't mean that all of the outcomes need to be positive, but just choose the ones that stand out to you.

That way, you'll be just as happy to write the paths to any of your outcomes, and won't (even inadvertently) favour one particular path.

Just remember: people read Choose Your Own Adventure books because they want to do just that - create their own story. They don't want to feel like they're being led down one particular path of the author's choosing.