Advice needed for beginning writer

[Savo]

Hello all, I am a new member of this forum who joined because of an interest in creating a visual novel someday. When that day will be is anyone's guess, but I have some beginner questions about writing I'd highly appreciate it if anyone could answer. I've dabbled in writing before, but only recently decided to make it in to an actual hobby, due to circumstances that would take far too long to explain.

Although I have admittedly not played a tremendous amount of visual novels (a fact I plan to remedy in the immediate future), the one's I have experienced have been incredible (True Remembrance for example) and the storytelling potentials of the medium fascinate me. Right now, I'd much rather write a visual novel rather than a novel or short story, for whatever bizarre reason. Are visual novels a good starting point for a newbie writer, or would I be better off starting with more traditional literary formats such as the short story?

Additionally, one of the most common things I am told is "writers have to read" to be competent. I love imagining stories, writing, and editing, but put a book in front of me and I'm asleep within five minutes, regardless of how well written it is. I can't really explain it, but I literally have zero emotional attachment with something that I can't see images of. It's not an issue of imagination, as I love sitting daydreaming up various fictional scenarios and playing them out in my mind, but I just can't enjoy the written word. I'd much rather enjoy good film (I LOVE movies), television, anime, video-games, or occasionally comic books or manga. So, if I am to be a writer, should I force myself to read, or could I perhaps manage without reading, or even substitute enjoying quality screen-writing for it (long shot, I know)?

Thanks.

[Taleweaver]

Force yourself to read VNs, especially VNs that focus on good writing. I could recommend you any of my games, but I'd much rather point you towards the guy who made me begin writing VNs, mikey. Ori, Ochi, Onoe is a good first impression of his work, but really, most of his earlier projects show you how much good writing can accomplish.

Aside from that, if the books you read make you doze off, you're reading the wrong books

[OokamiKasumi]

Force yourself to read VNs, especially VNs that focus on good writing. I could recommend you any of my games, but I'd much rather point you towards the guy who made me begin writing VNs, mikey. Ori, Ochi, Onoe is a good first impression of his work, but really, most of his earlier projects show you how much good writing can accomplish.

Aside from that, if the books you read make you doze off, you're reading the wrong books

I can attest to Mikey's "Black Pencil", and "Secretary of Death" being damned good stories.

If you want to write a good VN with a halfway decent story, you are going to have to read. You CAN'T get around this. If you want to know how to build a story, you need to read stories to see how they are put together. If you don't have the patience to read a whole book then read something smaller, like children's books and fairy tales. Seriously, go to the library, sit in the kid's section and read picture books if you have to, but READ.

In fact, reading Picture Books is probably one of the best places to start if you want to create VNs because truthfully, that's what a VN is: A Picture Book with music.

[MarineScripter]

For a beginning writer, it's no problem to start with visual novels, just make sure you aren't writing them like an actual short story or novel.
The best way to get good at visual novels is by reading a lot of visual novels. You could browse around finished games here or on online sites, or play popular commercial visual novels such as the 999 or Ace Attorney series. Writers...don't necessarily have to read, but then you'd need some proofers to help whether your writing style is flowing well enough.
Still, you should force-read some visual novels at least, but you don't really need to read regular novels for reference if you don't like them. After all, you will always have to read. Always. So, while you won't have to immerse yourself with words, you can still have some pictures. If you can't get through a standard VN, perhaps you're in the wrong business.

[HumbertTheHorse]

Start with audio books. Audible is an excellent source of outstanding performances. Listen to them all the time, not just when in a car. If you lose track of what is going on, just keep going. Work up to the classics, and not popular books. Then slowly start reading books as well. At first it will be 100% audio books. Later it will be 80% audio and 20% you reading. Still later a 50/50 split. You don't even need to practice writing at this point but you will anyway. And these writing of yours will be unintentionally a copy of the style of the author you are hearing or reading that moment. Don't sweat it. Keep reading. This develops an ear for the well written word.

When learning I think it is important to challenge your mind with continually more difficult readings. This is not fun. It is hard painful work. And it will make for the greatest literary experiences of your life. One masterpiece read with confidence is better then reading a hundred VNs you think you want to emulate.

This is the path.

[OokamiKasumi]

... just make sure you aren't writing them like an actual short story or novel.

Eh...? Why ever not?
-- Even if it has pictures, a VN is still a Story, is it not?

[tigerkidde]

Hi Savo,

[*]I think if you don't do the reading-side, you could rely more on dialogue. With the visual novel (or comic), the visual aspect is taken care of. The reader can see the details of a character or the surrounding. Incorporate audio and you can set mood with fewer words.

[*]Unless the character focuses on a detail, you may not need to go into heavy description mode.

[*]Like you, I have difficulty staying awake while reading. I find that I do better when I know more about an author and when I read after waking up (and before eating).

[*]I believe your writing will become more flexible as you continue to read. You'll have references on how to describe in the absence of imagery. This may help some artists or composers in their creations (and likewise, thwir art and music can impact your writing).

[MarineScripter]

... just make sure you aren't writing them like an actual short story or novel.

Eh...? Why ever not?
-- Even if it has pictures, a VN is still a Story, is it not?

What I meant was, writing VNs the same as novels is normally disastrous. Ex: "Yamada was a quirky fellow with blue hair and dark skin." As this is a visual novels, the player can see that for themselves. Some also pile too much description and make it thick to play. While these may work for certain genres, normally putting them into visual novels just isn't a good idea.

[Greeny]

... just make sure you aren't writing them like an actual short story or novel.

Eh...? Why ever not?
-- Even if it has pictures, a VN is still a Story, is it not?

What I meant was, writing VNs the same as novels is normally disastrous. Ex: "Yamada was a quirky fellow with blue hair and dark skin." As this is a visual novels, the player can see that for themselves. Some also pile too much description and make it thick to play. While these may work for certain genres, normally putting them into visual novels just isn't a good idea.

True, but I'd like to point out that even novels don't always do this. In a well-written novel you can be twenty pages along before someone even mentions anything about a characters appearance; this is because even in novels, just describing things is tacky.

[OokamiKasumi]

What I meant was, writing VNs the same as novels is normally disastrous. Ex: "Yamada was a quirky fellow with blue hair and dark skin." As this is a visual novels, the player can see that for themselves. Some also pile too much description and make it thick to play. While these may work for certain genres, normally putting them into visual novels just isn't a good idea.

Ah... You're talking about Info-Dumping on the description. You should have just said that. (For a minute there I thought I was making my games all wrong.) LOL!

Over-describing, is actually more of an amateur writer problem; I see it all the time in fan-fiction. An experienced writer knows where to stop. Unfortunately for beginners, the only way to work around it, is to work through it. Start with over-description then cut out what isn't needed.

However in VNs, even with a CG image you still need some description. No matter how pretty the image, a kissing scene needs more than "They kissed," and some sound effects.

This a particularly virulent issue in Adult VNs where Lack of description, or worse; poorly-handled description can really hurt the player's...err, enjoyment of a game. Even adult animes SKIP certain parts; such as how they got into that position to begin with. A static CG skips even more and that is where Description is needed.

[MarineScripter]

... just make sure you aren't writing them like an actual short story or novel.

What I meant was, writing VNs the same as novels is normally disastrous. Ex: "Yamada was a quirky fellow with blue hair and dark skin." As this is a visual novels, the player can see that for themselves. Some also pile too much description and make it thick to play. While these may work for certain genres, normally putting them into visual novels just isn't a good idea.

True, but I'd like to point out that even novels don't always do this. In a well-written novel you can be twenty pages along before someone even mentions anything about a characters appearance; this is because even in novels, just describing things is tacky.

Yes, and that's true. However, a lot of beginners over-describe and I wanted to prevent that as this is visual. I've read a lot of novels like that, and they have been just as good. That's more a stylistic approach and it's fine, my purpose was merely to prevent stating the obvious.

What I meant was, writing VNs the same as novels is normally disastrous. Ex: "Yamada was a quirky fellow with blue hair and dark skin." As this is a visual novels, the player can see that for themselves. Some also pile too much description and make it thick to play. While these may work for certain genres, normally putting them into visual novels just isn't a good idea.

Ah... You're talking about Info-Dumping on the description. You should have just said that. (For a minute there I thought I was making my games all wrong.) LOL!

Over-describing, is actually more of an amateur writer problem; I see it all the time in fan-fiction. An experienced writer knows where to stop. Unfortunately for beginners, the only way to work around it, is to work through it. Start with over-description then cut out what isn't needed.

However in VNs, even with a CG image you still need some description. No matter how pretty the image, a kissing scene needs more than "They kissed," and some sound effects.

This a particularly virulent issue in Adult VNs where Lack of description, or worse; poorly-handled description can really hurt the player's...err, enjoyment of a game. Even adult animes SKIP certain parts; such as how they got into that position to begin with. A static CG skips even more and that is where Description is needed.

Haha sorry. I see this a lot in first-time VNs so I try to prevent des. dumping as often as I can. Yeah, some is still needed. I know that well from experience, it's just too much is absolutely awful. Your example was...probably true...and I can agree.

[lepapillonrouge]

Find books in the same genre of other media that you read/watch. For example, I like shoujo manga and friendship stories and tragedies. A book I read recently was Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which is more of the latter two than anything else, but I couldn't put that book down. If you know what genres you like, you should just try to find books you like. Or ask friends what they're reading. You'll probably like it too. If none of you friends read...find better friends /shot.

After you find a book you like to read, list the things you liked about it. Try to put it into your visual novel. You can do this with the other things you like to read/watch. Then try to put some of those ideas into your own work.

The other people usually tell young writers besides always read...is always write. Try to write a little bit every day. Even if it's just descriptions of characters, plot lists...just something will do. ...this is advice I need to follow too ahaha. Try to complete one of those 30 day challenges where you have a theme each day and just let your imagination free. You can revise later...

[dramspringfeald]

Some other advice. play and read the worst VNs and books you can find, nothing will keep you from screwing up like them other than knowing what to look for.

Read a LOT of fan fics to boot. just be ready for your ears and eyes to bleed.

===
also read everything even if it isn't in your field. it's the same as cross training for sports. it keeps your mind open to new ideas, and story arcs.

[ImmaDeker]

Being varied helps.

If you absolutely REFUSE to read a book to learn writing, that's a shame but it might be salvageable. If you want to write for a visual medium, read the scripts of visual mediums. Is there a movie you really like? Find its screenplay. Is there a TV show you adore? Find its scripts (which isn't that difficult, as the Angel scriptbook I have is a testament to that). Figure out what works you enjoy the most and then figure out how THEY were written as a way to give you an idea about things. Don't ape any particular writer's style, but don't be afraid to draw influence either.

Most importantly? Learn structure. There's a beginning, middle, and end to stories. How does one of these acts flow into another? Writing, especially for visual media, is a bit more technical than most would ever say or realize. When a story is properly structured, you usually won't notice it is. Find something you really like and look at how the story escalates. Look at how it paces certain things over others. If you're writing for visual media, you're writing a blueprint for a larger production. The structure of the story, the spine of the entire production, is essentially on you.

Be discerning about what you read or watch. Be critical. Don't just watch something. STUDY IT. Figure out WHY you like something.

Also, be sure to actually write things.

[dramspringfeald]

Ah I didn't read it all... hmm seems we are in the same boat OP, try using Balabolka a FREE text to speech program. It's pretty basic and only comes with 1 voice but it works well for those of us who find it hard to read things for a long time. I use it mostly for Fanfix and "Other" reading materials. also converts most all formats into mp3.

if you can find a better one cool but I've been using this one for a few years.