Turning a story into a VN...?

[Kairin]

Do you think it's possible to take a fully written (linear) story, reformat it into a visual novel and create additional routes for it?

I'm considering doing this and have been thinking about this for a while now (about a month), but I have little experience with visual novels, and by little I mean none. I've never made one before. This would probably end up being a personal project, but I just want to hear other opinions on this idea.

Can a story be turned into a good visual novel? Are there any foreseeable problems that could happen from starting to write a VN this way? Suggestions would be appreciated, too.

[Mirana]

I'm also absolutely newbie at VN making and I was thinking about doing the same thing... But why it would be bad, though? As long as the additional routes are thoroughly connected with story and everything makes perfect sense.

[gekiganwing]

Do you think it's possible to take a fully written (linear) story, reformat it into a visual novel and create additional routes for it?

Just a day or two ago, I mentioned the TVTropes article So You Want to Make a Visual Novel elsewhere on this forum. In my opinion, it's worth reading. Take notes and think about it. That said, here are a few things to consider...

* How much of your prose writing do you want to keep in your VN?
* Will your story benefit from graphics? Any style or aesthetic is viable. They can be as detailed or as abstract as you want. Just consider whether visual art would complement your story.
* Will it be enhanced by music and/or sound effects?

Think about whether your story will benefit from multiple endings. If you believe that it should only have one ending, then consider adapting your writing into a kinetic novel. In other words, a story with *no* choices or interactive elements that can be read on a computer. Kinetic novels do not need to include graphics or sound.

You said, "I have little experience with visual novels..." It can be useful to look at a variety of VNs, interactive fiction, and experimental games. Here are a few examples which might be worth looking at...

* Narcissu. A short story about two people and their relationship. The graphics are relatively minimalist -- the reader does not often see either person.
* Digital: A Love Story. A story told through BBS conversations.
* Zero Escape: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors. A horror-suspense story. It was originally created as a Nintendo DS game with puzzles. A later Apple iOS remake was called "999: The Novel," and eliminated all of the puzzles.
* Facade. You can call it interactive fiction if you want. It's an arthouse game that emphasizes its story, and that has varied endings.
* Girlish Grimoire Littlewitch Romanesque, which is not safe for work. I mention it because it's the one example I know which has the "Floating Frame Director" system -- an interactive comics style presentation of dialogue and visuals -- and an official English translation.

[Parataxis]

The visual novel I am working on was originally a plan for a TV series so I have a bit of experience here. It's totally doable! However in order to take full advantage of the Visual Novel format, I would really recommend stepping through your story playing the what-if game. You want to give your player choices in how they handle situations, which means you have to think about what would happen if your character did things differently than in your linear story. It can actually work out to give you something more dynamic than you had before!

The TV show I was adapting was about a girl, Nina, investigating her friend's murder in a world of magic and mystery. At one point she has to a Run in with a particularly violent recurring character named Gerty. In the show, they get into a fight and Gerty wins handily (This provides the climax for the episode and also establishes Gerty's skills) but then Nina sneaks past her to go about her investigation. She meets with her lead and learns another tiny clue to the puzzle, end episode.

However, when I was going through and playing the what if game with my team, we encountered this scene and some one said "Why doesn't Nina to talk her way out of this one?" Because, of course, Gerty was angry, but Nina actually had a good reason for being there that wasn't what Gerty thought it was. So in the outline we added an option where you explain what you're doing to Gerty and she lets you Pass as long as you let her assistant escort you around. This turned out to have some major consequences and eventually you arrive where you are going only to find that your informant has been murdered and his house set on fire! In many ways that's a MUCH more dramatic way to end the story! (And, in the grand scheme gives you a similar type of clue as to who killed your friend.)

Now obviously not everything can end in a fire and murder most foul--especially if you were like adapting a romance. But playing the what if game is a good way to make choices in an otherwise linear plot that give your audience some agency on how things proceed. And, if you're clever, you don't have to make them huge branching plots to still get the same feeling of agency.

[Katy133]

My first visual novel was originally a short story that I'd planned on adapting into a comic. I ended up adapting it into a linear VN, without changing much of the original text. What made the story work as a VN (and not so much as a comic) was because the story was mainly made up of dialogue between characters, with little action scenes.

[truefaiterman]

If you study the VN as a media well enough, and analyze how to adapt your own story, everything can be adapted. My first VN was also a "normal, book-like" story I adapted. It can be done! My advice is to read different VNs and study how they work.

[Taleweaver]

Not only is it possible, I already did it. "The Thirteenth Year", my VN about how man and religion shape one another, was originally a novella.

All I had to figure out is what would happen if my characters made different choices.