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Hello Everyone,

I'm just wondering, your average visual novel, how many days does it take up?

I've been writing my story just based on events. So some events could be like 5 scenes for 1 day while others can be like 2 scenes per day.

What's your opinions on this?

How long should a story take overall in terms of days, to have that beginning, climax, end sequence?

(not sure if this is the right place to post)

- - - - -
*note* follow up question
I guess what I mean is, is it weird if you have 7 events in one day, and then 2 in another?
I'm writing a visual novel that isn't very consistent with events in a timeframe so :/

Thanks!

Honestly, I don't think the number of days matter at all. The only thing that matters is consistency (like changing the season when time goes by, making characters older if years go by, etc.)

Different stories take different amounts of time to complete, at different paces. (Slice of Life might be more easygoing, stat raisers have more "filler" time, action oriented games should keep tension high and go faster, etc.)

Really, this is a question of pacing the story, which again varies widely depending on what you're trying to do.

^To me, Romeo and Juliette was a comedy.

Sakura Hughes wrote:Hello Everyone,

I'm just wondering, your average visual novel, how many days does it take up?

I've been writing my story just based on events. So some events could be like 5 scenes for 1 day while others can be like 2 scenes per day.

What's your opinions on this?

How long should a story take overall in terms of days, to have that beginning, climax, end sequence?

(not sure if this is the right place to post)

Thanks!

Perhaps this is a cliche answer but... that depends on the plot. It could be one day or less to several tens of years. For My NaNoRenO, the plot takes 7 days because of story reason and to divide the gameplay into more manageable and reasonable segments. While for other games that I collaborate with, the plot only takes one day (if you don't count the prologue).

You can make several tens of events all happened in one day (if it's plausible). And then at the ending, the protagonist would say "You won't believe what happened to me since this morning, what a hectic day". You can make the title like "One Day Heroes".

It's mainly limited by how many places or things your protagonist can do/go to in a single day. So that sort of thing varies widely and can be hashed out in an outline.

*note* follow up question
I guess what I mean is, is it weird if you have 7 events in one day, and then 2 in another?
I'm writing a visual novel that isn't very consistent with events in a timeframe so :/


Thanks for all the responses so far!

I don't think so. Just like some days in life are hectic or and generally more exciting than others, having an in-balance in events from day to day wouldn't be to weird. I think what would be more werid would be if one day you went to fight a dragon after a series of epic quest... and then did nothing but work on cooking stats and laze around in a park.

Everyday doesn't have to be extraordinary but, on the very same hand depending on what genre your writing for, each days events shouldn't vary in substance to widely least you give the reader mood whiplash.

Hmm, its not really weird to have inconsistency, so long as it doesn't feel too choppy. Games like Persona 3 and 4 definitely flowed faster on certain parts of the year and slower when the plot starts to get pretty thick. (Say, when the full moon gets closer and the tension builds, or when someone new is introduced into the story.)

I personally like break the stories into episodic story arcs. Like in an anime, where some episodes could be paced over several days, and other episodes could spend three episodes on the same day. I like to outline the "episode" before starting it. By analyzing the present situation at the end of a former arc, I ponder what events need to happen to reach the sub plot's conclusion. Once I know what happens, its easier to see the logical pace. "Well, these three days could probably pass quickly so I'll create some lighthearted quick paced filler events for them and create a contrasting gap between the last story and this one. But starting the fourth day, I'm going to want to drop some subtle hints and foreshadowing. Might be smart to have these three events happen here, and that will trigger this one tomorrow, which sets the stage for this to happen, ect."

In short, know what you want to happen, think of how you want it to happen, and think of how much time between each event you need before shifting the mood in a different direction. It could very easily be that comical event could fill an entire day with about 8 scenes where the characters are looking for a lost pet. Then after some fun character developement, the next day may feel like nothing really happens because you don't want to distract from an encroaching, more tense part of the story.

daikiraikimi wrote:^To me, Romeo and Juliette was a comedy.

Oh, I 100% agree.

I'm kinda sensitive to detail, so I'll admit this. :v one of my games is like only 3 days long in-game. Though one of my games have at least 30 days... though each day may not be dialogue-intensive since it's a dating sim... each day in my dating sim has like 10+ events though they're mostly optional, and are for raising stats.

p.s.
plan each day out, especially if you have more than one playable character.