Epicness...

[HikkiPanda]

ooh .. so it's totally different than boke and tsukkomi XD. Thanks for the info

Regarding the epicness .. I'm trying to achieve those too, but as a beginner it's not my main priority. Hopefully, as I gain experience, I think my story's epicness will grow too (or at least I hope so ).

My plan right now is to complete my story first, then doing anything unrelated with the story (programming, drawing, etc) to clear and refresh my mind. After a while, I'll re-read the story again, hopefully I can spot the flaws in my previous writings and fix it.

I'm a total newbie in writings though .. so I'm not sure if that will work XD (it works in drawing though)

btw, what do you mean by: how does the reader knows you are not writing "passion" ?

[Kei]

Ah, I was referring to that:

write something that u have passions on it. then the readers will feel ur passions

After a while, I think it's about writing in a more.. excitable manner, although I'm not quite sure what really is. Maybe more action? I'm trying to find that answer.

Well, at least, you could draw. Best work I had was stick figures, unfortunately. ^^" And that's not quite acceptable in a VN/KN setting.. *sweatdrops*

How does one create "identifiable" characters? Are they like, super human and yet human?

Sorry for the sidetrack, but I wonder what is this "proofreader" thing.. is it like a co-author or a chief editor?

I guess, the only solution is to read more, although I have no idea how many books I have to read to achieve what I want *sigh*.

[Musashi]

A while ago, asking these same questions, I decided to analyze one of my favorite VNs, Katawa Shoujo. I thought maybe someone would be interested in my notes from then, because I think of them as decent story tips:

• Start with excitement! But don't resolve it yet.
  OK to calm down after that.
  Vary the text presentation and visuals; NVL mode is usually used for long streams of thought, but not always.
  Animated visuals are a plus! Even partial animations in a static scene.
  Slow transitions between major sections ok
  Cartoonified photos ok (caution: some people are purists and hate cartoonified photos, but you can't always please everyone, right?)
  Have the hero make mistakes
  Hero doesn't have to be that interesting. Attracting attention to the hero makes the player more aware that he is outside the game world looking in.
  Don't force the player to talk too long with boring people.
  When moving, try to show the path taken if the building is important (esp. when introducing the building)
  Other characters shouldn't be perfect, either
  Have arguments
  Characters do not need to be caricatures…
  …but there is usually a single defining word about them. still, have surprises!
  Putting contrasting scenes next to each other is good.
  Mystery is good. Keep some things secret. (Incidentally, I think this is part of why Rei Ayanami from the Evangelion franchise was (is) so popular. People wanted to know more about her, but she was so quiet, and the story didn't reveal much about her or what she felt about things; she was a mystery.)
  Don't give everything that you would expect in the story. Leave something for later. (I am thinking of adopting this principle in my writing as the "almost, but not quite" doctrine.)
  Have a crazy character or two.
  Craziness – a reversing of what is normal and abnormal. plus, it's funny.
  Maintain tension. identify something that will keep the reader inside the story, at all times.
  Conflicts don't have to involve the protagonist.
  The protagonist should not initiate everything. that's not real. some things are forced.
  Conversation is not always necessary to tell the story.

[CassieHolloway]

A while ago, asking these same questions, I decided to analyze one of my favorite VNs, Katawa Shoujo. I thought maybe someone would be interested in my notes from then, because I think of them as decent story tips:

• Start with excitement! But don't resolve it yet.
  OK to calm down after that.
  Vary the text presentation and visuals; NVL mode is usually used for long streams of thought, but not always.
  Animated visuals are a plus! Even partial animations in a static scene.
  Slow transitions between major sections ok
  Cartoonified photos ok (caution: some people are purists and hate cartoonified photos, but you can't always please everyone, right?)
  Have the hero make mistakes
  Hero doesn't have to be that interesting. Attracting attention to the hero makes the player more aware that he is outside the game world looking in.
  Don't force the player to talk too long with boring people.
  When moving, try to show the path taken if the building is important (esp. when introducing the building)
  Other characters shouldn't be perfect, either
  Have arguments
  Characters do not need to be caricatures…
  …but there is usually a single defining word about them. still, have surprises!
  Putting contrasting scenes next to each other is good.
  Mystery is good. Keep some things secret. (Incidentally, I think this is part of why Rei Ayanami from the Evangelion franchise was (is) so popular. People wanted to know more about her, but she was so quiet, and the story didn't reveal much about her or what she felt about things; she was a mystery.)
  Don't give everything that you would expect in the story. Leave something for later. (I am thinking of adopting this principle in my writing as the "almost, but not quite" doctrine.)
  Have a crazy character or two.
  Craziness – a reversing of what is normal and abnormal. plus, it's funny.
  Maintain tension. identify something that will keep the reader inside the story, at all times.
  Conflicts don't have to involve the protagonist.
  The protagonist should not initiate everything. that's not real. some things are forced.
  Conversation is not always necessary to tell the story.

Actually this helped me quite a bit. I'm just learning what it takes to grab the player by their throat and keep their attention until the end. If I implement some of the basic ideas (overall) from this I should be able to make something interesting.