How do you have the commitment?

[tamacitas]

I currently have two projects (1 BxB and 1 B/GxB), both are predicted to finish in more than 2 months and perhaps not longer than a year with self-dedication and motivation. Since I'm a newbie, I think I may make another game but smaller than the other two, both in gameplay and development time.

To be honest, I'm more scared about my project's not getting done rather than posting it and letting people know it.

So one question: How do you have the commitment to work on your visual novel even in your busiest moments?

[TheJerminator15]

Honest answer? I don't. I don't have many days off due to playing basketball and college, and I'm typically incredibly tired from finishing my necessary work to actually want to do it, despiting caring about the project.

But I force myself to do it anyway, because getting a set routine on working on my project is the best thing I can do and it helps so much for me (because typically I'm very lazy) to continuously work on the project. If I miss a day then I miss a week, then a month etc etc.

Even if it's only say 20 minutes, consistently putting some time into your project daily helps immensely.

[Mammon]

But I force myself to do it anyway, because getting a set routine on working on my project is the best thing I can do and it helps so much for me (because typically I'm very lazy) to continuously work on the project. If I miss a day then I miss a week, then a month etc etc.
Even if it's only say 20 minutes, consistently putting some time into your project daily helps immensely.

This is a good hint that I gladly second. The longer you haven't done anything about it, the greater the chance that you won't do it today either. Try to spend that 20minutes a day on your project somehow and keep yourself invested. Not only will this keep you invested, it will also help you step by step with large chores that drag on but don't need much of an upstart such as adding show statements to your script.

A second hint that I would like to add on how to make three projects is: Don't try to make three projects at once. Have one main project and one smaller project at best, otherwise you might end up not finishing any of your projects.

Example: You'll be writing the script for your story and then finish it. (Lets assume writing is your favorite task in development.) Alright, now you'll have to put it in Editra code (which we'll assume for this example is something you don't like to do). You're sitting with some spare time on your hands, and have to choose between doing the coding for your further advanced project or writing for your other one. If you have +2 projects this may result in you never finishing any project period. You'll always pick the writing in the beginning because the hurdle of learning how to code holds you back or you don't like coding, then over time your motivation for the finished project will wither and you won't start coding it at all.
Eventually you'll finish the other project. So now you'll have to get to coding, right? Nope, quite likely you've got a new project in mind by now that will take the place of the writing-project and the other project will take the place of the now forgotten project. If you have a strict 1-2 limit to how many projects you do at once, this can be avoided, but once there's three of them or more it's a slippery slope.

This may seem grim, but unless you've got a lot of self-discipline (And never assume you do.) this may very well happen. If you're solo-dev'ing the project you will eventually hit a chore that you don't want to or can't do and this scenario might happen. An eternal string of projects that are dropped half-way to be replaced with new projects you're enthusiastic about only to later meet the same faith. And you will always hit such a task that feels like a chore. But can't you just find someone else to do the other task? Nope. I used writing and coding in this example for clarity, but within every task there will be bothersome parts like hitting a writer's block or dragging on part of the story when writing.

What if you want to make multiple projects at once? Sure you can, on one condition: Have at least one finished project. Like I said, never assume you have great discipline. Have your experience show it instead. But before you finish that one project (and I mean one you're really enthusiastic about, no mock project to try out Ren'py.) don't start juggling multiple projects. Put a barrier at making the outline, regardless of how enthusiastic you feel about the new idea you have. Outline: The general story plot, idea, characters and whatever you want to add to the story but nothing actually written out or done to it beyond that. So it's more to make sure you don't forget the idea by the time you finish your current project.

This also comes with three additional advantages:
-There will be growth in between projects. Especially if you're a beginner, you'll have a steep learning curve ahead of you. Your next project is almost always better than the last by default! If you start many projects at the same time, you'll have a lot of assets made at the beginning of that curve and have to either keep remaking them or be stuck with your early style in all of the projects.
Let's take art for example. You start projects A, B and C at the same time, so the sprites will be of the same quality. But then you'll get to making the CGs and hit that chore you don't like doing. Project A stays in still waters for a while and you move on to project B because it's still in the fun part. Later you resolve yourself to continue with project A but you have since improved your art skills and have to redo the sprites in your eyes, thus not getting to the CGs after all. Maybe your motivation of A will once again lessen once you redid the sprites and you'll go to B again, thus not continuing A after all. If you do one project at a time, you'll still be on the same art quality for both the sprites and CGs of project A and can draw the B sprites in a better form right away.

-Your idea might be bad. This is not my opinion, but yours. When you are in hype about your new idea, you might not see it's a bad idea. I've been enthusiastic about story plots I came up with, only to realise two weeks later that they're kinda lame. I didn't start them and only wrote down an outline, so no project scrapped. That's a huge moral difference to your discipline. And the stories you're still hyped about after a month will probably persist to keep you motivated until they're released.

-Choice. If you come up with a lot of ideas, you'll have a ton of new projects to pick from once you finish your project and can thus pick the best one. The other ideas you can keep in reserve or maybe merge together/experiment with until they too are on the top of your list.

[thebackup]

Even if it's only say 20 minutes, consistently putting some time into your project daily helps immensely.

I third this. As long as at least little something gets done then it's good. To be quite honest if I don't at least get something done in a day then I start feeling bad about it. Though a little break in-between days won't hurt, as to not to wear yourself out, especially if it's a larger project.

But it would probably help to remind yourself as to why you're working on so-and-so project, and what makes it so exciting to work on it and so on. I'm sure there are times where a project hits a roadblock, but "where there is a will, there is a way," they say.

[Anyubel]

The way I like to think of things is that I'll have time later and plan accordingly. Five courses in university on its own is a lot, plus I have some other commitments. As such, I try to think that I will have time later on, and once I'm done for this year (which is a month from now), then I'll have plenty of time to work on it alongside other things. Last year, I got done quite a lot from summer alone (4 months), so I hope this year will be similar.

It might be a good idea to keep a list of details you write in your script, though.

[Shinoki]

Do a little bit everyday. Daydreaming about the cool things that happen in your visual novel or doodling some sketches or even making funny headcanons of AUs of your characters can help keep you interested in your project. If you're interested in your project, you're more likely to work on it and not drop it.

[D.ray]

Unless you are very fortunate, most people don’t have the luxury of immense amounts of time to do what they want to accomplish. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes having too much free time will cause you to procrastinate, or lose focus. Hence the upside off being on a time crunch.. It’ll force you to learn how to work under pressure, work fast yet retain quality and improve your craft.

The main point in all of this is there will never be enough time, so you have to make time..This leads to the first of my rules for getting sh*t done.

Rule #1: Make time.
Work on your goal whenever you can and wherever you can. Even if it’s only for a couple of minutes a day, or on your commute. Preferably you want to get in session of at least a good couple of continuous hours once a week in combination with smaller chunks of time throughout the rest of the week.

Rule #2: Get good at managing your time.
-Cut out things that aren’t important, like watching tv, movies, being on social media, gaming etc. It might not be easy at first, but if you are really serious you’ll do it and end up learning good self discipline.

- If there is still not enough time, you may need to cut out other things such as other projects, hobbies or goals. It may hurt, but be realistic and realize you can’t do or be a master of all things, especially all at the same time. At the very least you should be able to put certain things on hold for a future date.

-Set an overall realistic deadline, and then several smaller ones in which to accomplish certain aspects of your goal. Make a list of those objectives on paper, and cross each one out as you accomplish them. This will not only help keep you organized, but also provide motivation as you accomplish more and more.

Rule #3: Be consistent
Work on your objective as often as possible. The longer the gaps between each work session, the less you will accomplish, the less you will get good at it, and the greater the chance you will abandon it.

Rule #4: Invest in yourself
If possible, invest in tools or learning other skills or knowledge that will help you with your main goal I.e for making VN’s, touch typing, if you're a writer or coder, or buying the correct software, properly learning the software, or reading a book or taking a course on the subject.

Rule #5: Ask for help when needed
Don’t be afraid to ask for help, or out source certain tasks you may not be good at or have time for.

Rule #6: Stay healthy
You need to stay healthy, this means sleeping well, eating right, and avoiding getting sick or engaging in habits that are detrimental to your health. Nothing kills productivity like being sick, being hung over from sleep deprivation, being hungry, or suffering from a health issue.

Follow these rules, and I don’t care what you want to accomplish, you will get it done. Be it making a VN, learning an instrument, learning any new skill, getting good grades, or being the best at your job.

[hikarinakano]

Let's be real: most people either have lots of schoolwork, or a job, or both.
That leaves you with typically 2-4 hours outside of that (assuming you sleep for a reasonable amount of time), which will be generally spent just keeping yourself alive, e.g. eating, bathing, etc.

The trick is to use the time inside of your "occupied" time rather than outside of it. This will usually just be something short like a lunch break, but even that much is fine if it gets you working a little bit. I find that if I don't use my assigned breaks as work periods, I lose all of my motivation, and I have to work myself back up to a working pace. So, I use these half-hour breaks over the course of my week, and then I get to the weekend, at which point I'll have many hours to produce and edit content.

Even on the weekends over which I have projects (the working equivalent would be "on-call" if I'm not mistaken), I'll still write for an hour or so, still getting my project done because of prioritizing.

[haitori]

My team and I are four friends who all work full-time jobs, and during a random beach outing thought it would be fun to make an otome game! It's been around a few months since then, and we use a daily chat to hash out ideas (ie character route, possible story twist, that occasional "do we want voice actors" discussion). I think what helps battle the commitment issue would be:

1. Find someone to be accountable to. As the character artist, all I want to do is draw what I want to - but now that there's a writer, designer, and developer who's looking to me to actually crank out sprites - I'm motivated to finish them so we can put together a demo! They also serve as great soundboards when I have questions on a character's design...and we all feed back on what screens look like and how a character's route should go!

2. Block out work sessions We all work day jobs, so we schedule meetups every other Saturday - blocking off nearly 8 hours just to work on our parts. It's really helpful and also a lot of fun!

[kistnerelizabeth]

I just do it as a hobby. I have no plans on making money. I just want to give people a fun game to play and see my characters and story come to life. The thing is, if you're worried about projects never getting done, then give yourself a time limit or a scheduled amount of time at certain points to work on your game.

[Katy133]

A trick for me is to work inch by inch.

What I mean by that is that I work on my visual novel every day, even if it's just for half an hour after a day of work. It adds up.

I'll work on a small art-related goal (finish 1 sprite, etc) per weekday, and on weekends, I'll spend an evening on writing.

Your mind is motivated on seeing results, so always remind yourself what you've so far accomplished, and try not to go on hiatus in the middle of a project (if you must go on hiatus, aim for when your VN is close to completion or you've finished what you believe is the hardest part of your project). If I do do that, it's always challenging to go back to work on it and remember what my original goals for the visual novel was. It's hard to get back into my original mindset (and that takes up even more time).

Sometimes I still get writer's/artist's block. For that, I take a step back and read some inspiring books on overcoming writer's block/procrastination. (I borrow those books from the library).

Hope this helps!

[hyesunxoxo]

For me, first of all, don't start on any project you don't have the slightest interest of or one that makes you uncomfortable while writing (unless you want to challenge your limits but then again, we are talking about commitment). Writing is supposed to be fun and well, when it's not anymore, you can't guarantee top quality.

Next, when you feel lost, don't get frustrated (or if you are the type, use it to fuel your motivation) and don't be afraid to take a break. 5 hours, maybe one day of two, just to get your head off of those things. Watch movies, television series, play games. Sometimes, you'll be surprised how these breaks can get you more ideas than pondering with a frown on your face ever will.

Lastly, make a schedule and don't feel very terrible when you get off track sometimes. It helps you get a hold of your progress, and the things you have to do. If you're not doing it yet, make an outline for your whole story before you start writing so you know where you're heading. If it's a massive project, then you can do that bit by bit.

I've been there and ditched a lot of my own stories in the past (not made for VNs). All it takes is a little push

[Lesleigh63]

Push yourself to go to your computer, turn it on and bring your project up.

[hoihoisoi]

Push yourself to go to your computer, turn it on and bring your project up.

^ This is indeed very very true.

I'm not sure about other people, but when my project screen comes on and I start tapping away at the keyboard, the ball starts to roll for me and I get engrossed into my writing. The real problem I find is before you actually bring your project screen up. On some days, I do feel kinda unmotivated to open it and work on it, but after turning it on, the feeling goes away.

But personally, I think another important aspect to give yourself the motivation to push on is to set a certain stretch of time each day to work on your project. (Give yourself a time span of an hour to two a day) Create a routine or a rhythm that you'll follow each day and follow it strictly. I know it sounds kind of rigid, but believe me, after a week or so of following the schedule, you'll feel as if it's become part of your daily ritual and it will feel out of place when you're not typing away at that allocated time you've given yourself. It's a really odd feeling, like your body is telling you it's project time, and you suddenly have the urge to get back in front of the computer to type away (Or else you'll feel kinda unsatisfied inside). You can do it on weekdays and rest on weekends, but what's important is that you give yourself a daily rhythm to follow.

I guess that's my take on the issue.