Memoir (and other personal writing) in Visual Novels

[Rozume]

I have this idea for a Kinetic Novel, STATiC, which is based off my experiences with being in a psychiatric hospital. I choose the Visual/Kinetic format because I mainly want to make a visual novel but I also think having a some sort of memoir (a semi-memoir?) in that format would be interesting. Visual Novels definitely open up a range of story-telling possibilities.

So, how would one write a memoir in this format? Like any other type of type of writing? Furthermore, how do you feel about personal writing in Visual Novels in general?

[kaleidofish]

You're right. A memoir told in visual novel format would be interesting, because it would allow the writer to vent & play out what-if scenarios. Like, what if I had said "such and such" at this point rather than just walking away? It can become a therapeutic exercise. I suppose that'd turn it into a "semi-memoir," though, since it would be filled with events that didn't necessarily happen, yet could have happened based on the writer's assumptions.

I'd tackle it like almost any other VN. There'd just be a certain path that reflected real life events.

I've included things based on real life events in my VNs before (one of my WIP VNs touches on my experiences as a mixed race person, for example, and includes a painful memory of mine). I sneak certain things in, but I haven't made anything that's a straight-up memoir. I mostly just take bits from my own life and spin them a bit for my characters/stories.

I like personal writing in VNs, both from the perspective of a venting writer and reader looking for something to relate to.