Planning a Story Question?

[Lockvia]

I usually do a whole storyboard, to know what I'm doing for each route and then write the dialogue parts for it later. The coding tends to come last for me.

So you kind of writer it like a book, then go to the dialogue, then do the coding?

You can say that. I use to write stories in a novel format before, so that's probably why I'm use to it.

[fsc]

Usually I plan the ending, or whatever it is I want my reader to understand. Then I concept the universe of the story, and finally start weaving plot.

[Lockvia]

Usually I plan the ending, or whatever it is I want my reader to understand. Then I concept the universe of the story, and finally start weaving plot.

I do that too! Working backwards sometimes make the storyline more realistic because you already know what's the effect and so you just need to find a good cause that sounds real to make the situation sound real.

[fsc]

Usually I plan the ending, or whatever it is I want my reader to understand. Then I concept the universe of the story, and finally start weaving plot.

I do that too! Working backwards sometimes make the storyline more realistic because you already know what's the effect and so you just need to find a good cause that sounds real to make the situation sound real.

Working this way is best for me because you will have your destination. It will prevent you from derailing your story, and you will know what you need to make it sound better.

[shwippie]

If you have writer's block, you also might try not planning a plot. I'm thinking of Stephen King's On Writing, where he mentions that writing is like uncovering a fossil. You begin with a bit and slowly work at it until you start to see something?

I'm not really qualified to comment, but personally I see or read something that makes me think of something else, which inspires a story. So it's difficult for me to just sit down and write something original if I haven't had a "what if" idea hit me. But once I have the idea, I choose the character personalities that either best suit it or are wrong enough that it might go unusual directions. Then I write sentences here and there all jumbled up, and I put it together in whatever way they can possibly be logical. I always don't know the ending until I get to it (which isn't so great if you need to plan ahead or foreshadow something). I love derailing, though, because I think I end up with something less cliche?

[Fenrir34]

Yeah, I admit I don't really count that as 'planning'. It obviously needs to happen, but in my posts I was more referring to the planning you do _after_ you've got the whole VN sitting in your head =P

I just write down all my ideas as they come to me so I don't forget them, and reread them occasionally, allowing my subconscience to do most of the actual work for me.

Ideas can be hard to come by though when writers block come in your head. That's my problem at the moment, so I decided to stop with making my own games and collaborate with other people. That way they can give me ideas for there games and maybe get my creativity back so I can go back to doing my own later.

[Fenrir34]

I'll try this and see if it helps me. Thank, it looks like it could work really well especially for someone who might have writers block

Tawwny mentions daydreaming as the very first step in her method of creating a story. That's something I forgot to add to mine, but aside from the actual writing, daydreaming is probably the most important thing you can do. Before you try writing down your story in any serious way (and I don't mean writing those little one-off scenes you'll sometimes write just because you want to see how a character will react in a certain situation, or you just like the character. I mean writing directly for your game) you definitely need to have a solid grasp of the story in your head. Trying to force yourself to come up with a setting for a story or a whole character backstory right now is only going to leave you with weak results. So before you start planning out your story on paper, take all the time you need to just play out the story and build up the characters in your head.

Once that starts feeling solid, then go ahead and start writing that stuff down.

I admit that I do this. I will daydream, but it's usually about the scenes. I do daydream about the plot to, but when I do dream about the scenes I right them down right away. It's not a good thing to do all the time, especially if the story is weak. Gotta change that when I write again whether it be games or novels

[Fenrir34]

I usually do a whole storyboard, to know what I'm doing for each route and then write the dialogue parts for it later. The coding tends to come last for me.

So you kind of writer it like a book, then go to the dialogue, then do the coding?

You can say that. I use to write stories in a novel format before, so that's probably why I'm use to it.

When I asked my sister about this she said I should do it that way, or maybe write the story from the main characters like a journal. I might do that, or actually write a story like a novel but leave out the dialogue. It would be planning, but in a story like way

[Fenrir34]

Usually I plan the ending, or whatever it is I want my reader to understand. Then I concept the universe of the story, and finally start weaving plot.

I do that too! Working backwards sometimes make the storyline more realistic because you already know what's the effect and so you just need to find a good cause that sounds real to make the situation sound real.

Working this way is best for me because you will have your destination. It will prevent you from derailing your story, and you will know what you need to make it sound better.

I've heart from a lot of people that this is a good way, however my problem is that when I do this I suppose write a scene that makes the ending confusing. That's my only problem when trying this method, but I do admit that when it works, it really works

[Fenrir34]

If you have writer's block, you also might try not planning a plot. I'm thinking of Stephen King's On Writing, where he mentions that writing is like uncovering a fossil. You begin with a bit and slowly work at it until you start to see something?

I'm not really qualified to comment, but personally I see or read something that makes me think of something else, which inspires a story. So it's difficult for me to just sit down and write something original if I haven't had a "what if" idea hit me. But once I have the idea, I choose the character personalities that either best suit it or are wrong enough that it might go unusual directions. Then I write sentences here and there all jumbled up, and I put it together in whatever way they can possibly be logical. I always don't know the ending until I get to it (which isn't so great if you need to plan ahead or foreshadow something). I love derailing, though, because I think I end up with something less cliche?

I think I get that. You're saying that you can't force a plot when you have something like writer's block. That is true. I've tried that and a story has either ended up being bad or being to cliche. That's why it's sometimes good to work with others so you have other minds that could help you make a game.

[Akai85]

I kinda work backwards... sort of due to lazyness as well.

First I have an idea. At this point I develop the characters and I try to think of the core themes or narrative in their route. For example: In A's route you help to reunite a feuding family or w/e.

At this point I start writing, being eager and impatient since the idea is fresh. I don't write that much, like 5k give or take. This helps me narrow down the prose style and character inconsistencies as well, making outlining easier.

Then basic outline route by route. Fill in outline. Dialog paths - write the stupid thing.

Rinse, repeat and edit. (And then you die because you've written enough to fill a small book)