How do you guys format your planning?

[kaptainsark]

I'm just starting out with working on visual novels, and I'm somewhat baffled by how to format my story planning. I've been using a mind mapping program, but I'm curious what more experienced people use.

[KuroOneHalf]

I've only got a game under my belt so I'm still a babby writer but I find that I quite like to build ideas in unorganized indented lists. Something like:

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- Idea A
    - Something expanding on idea A
    - Something else expanding on idea A
         - Something expanding on this expansion of idea A
- Idea B
    - Detail about idea B
- Idea C

And so on, and so forth. This works nicely for making characters, settings, scenes, et cetera. Then to transition this into an actual script I pick titles for the scenes, sort them, then expand on them as I feel like it. For example:

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# Arrival at the bus stop
[ script here ]
# sunscreen scene
[ script here ]
# perfume scene
[ script here ]
# transition to beach
[ script here ]

Makes it really easy to re-order, add or remove scenes, and just keeps things nicely divided and logical.

[Rozume]

There are multiple ways to organize and plan and you really have to experiment with different methods to find out which one works for you. As for me, I'm just getting into the habit of planning things out so I might not be the best example out there, but my process involves categorizing EVERYTHING: I have folders and subfolders dedicated to plot, characters, setting, theme, etc. There's even an "ideas" folder where I dump everything that comes to mind for my project.

I make a lot of notes and documents so its easier to just categorize them under folders. Plus I can arrange them and rearrange them however I want.

[wayward]

I'm admittedly a novice story teller, but there are a few things that I've found helps me create a story.

--One to write stuff down. I don't know what it is about writing stuff down on paper, computer, whatever... but seeing your thoughts in front of me just helps a lot.

--I write down what I want to have happen in the story. You know how when you think about your story you see flashes of images in your head. Write those down and ask yourself, how can you get from this point to that point.

--I also ask myself what I want to happen. What do I want the reader to feel? Was this scene inspired by another form of media? What exactly did they do to make you feel the way you did?

Hope this helps.

[Juno]

I have been very pleased with RealtimeBoard over the mind mapping software I've tried.

I use a mixture of Google Drive documents and RealtimeBoards. The VN I'm working on now is very time-oriented (eight months), so I use my RealtimeBoard as a huge calendar and then map out which scenes occur on which day along with TONS of sticky-notes and even coloured thumbtacks that represent which path each scene belongs on. I even have a cork board beside the calendar with ideas written on notes stuck to it.

The Google Drive documents elaborate those scenes, of course, and add specific dialogue and scene information, but the RealtimeBoard really maps out the whole picture for me and my partner so that we can add notes and reply to the stickies or add ideas in, well, real time.