There is provided a method for use by an interactive story development system. The method includes receiving a story state including an attribute state of each of a plurality of items present in a storyline, wherein the plurality of items include a plurality of objects of the storyline and a plurality of characters of the storyline. The method also includes creating a story web, wherein the story web includes a node for every possible interaction between the plurality of objects and the plurality of characters in the storyline, and calculating a narrative value for each of the nodes of the story web, receiving a first input from a user selecting user criteria including at least one of a story telling option of the storyline and a sentiment selection, and determining based on the narrative value and the user criteria, a plurality of candidate nodes of the story web.