The practical approach is not concerned with the development of new forms of narrative but, rather, on the importance of stories in people's lives. It focuses on the role of the computer as a disseminator of personal stories. The digital forms of story-telling pose no problem in this view as they are simply a more efficient method of transferring data between two sources. Special interests of this approach include the role of digital narratives in education, preserving cultural memories, and the archiving of oral history through the internet. 2006

The metaphorical approach seeks inspiration from narrative concepts for the specific design of computer applications whose purpose is not necessarily telling stories. The story-telling metaphor provides a cure for the indifferent, rigid, and unbending logic of computers. In the design of software, narrative is not an end in itself but a means towards a goal. This goal is to facilitate the operation of the program. 2006

The expansionist approach regards narrative as a mutable concept that differs from culture to culture and evolves through history. The expansionist method is most commonly adopted with authors of digital narrative because of its acceptance for change. New digital environments will produce new variations in plot structure, character development, and settings. 2006

The traditionalist approach conceives narrative as an invariant core of meaning. This core distinguishes narrative from other types of discourse and gives it a transcultural, transhistorical, and trandmedial identity. 2006    

The four approaches to narrative outline two views of digital literature. Those who embrace the traditionalist and practical approaches are associated with classical litterateur's. Often involved in the scholarly community, they form the area of the humanities that rely on traditional styles of teaching and learning such as, history and classical literature. They see only the unbending nature of narrative which has no place within the digital realm. The expansionist and metaphorical approaches embrace the evolution of narrative. They are widely adopted by authors and publishers of digital media for the ability to shape narrative in new and exciting ways.