Difficulties with titles and Characters...

[dreamy]

I personally suck at making titles and always struggle with making an intriguing one. It can be so frustrating

I totally agree with you hehe Making titles for your VN can be quite difficult. What helps me create titles is what kind of a feeling I want to give to others.

I consider the following things before making a title:
-What feeling do you want to give to others?
This is mostly based on the genre of the game. For example, if it's a mystery game, maybe you can make the title sound mysterious (maybe make the title a one-word title which does not reveal much about the game or use words which make the game sound dark) However if it's a school-drama otome game, you can make the title sound cheerful (maybe try a lighter word choice for this)
-What is an important keyword in the game?
What I mean here is that you can make the title based on an important event/character/concept/quote of the game but isn't revealed to early in the game, maybe there's a character who has an impact on the game and can use their name as a title, or an event which changes the entire story, name that event as the title.
-Can you give an overview of the game with the title?
Since most people look at the title of the game first, they should be able to have a rough impression of what it will be about before checking out more about it. This is also mainly linked with the first point.

However, these are just like guiding questions. It's entirely up to you how you create your title.

Also, though I love making characters, I've been having difficulty making them unique. We all know the cliche Visual Novel characters and, that though they can still be fun, it can get annoying sometimes to see them especially in Otome games. I'm always trying to make my character, like my titles, having something new to them. But this is hard to do.

Now I find this the hardest part interesting characters is what keeps someone to continue the game so it is very important but I do agree making characters are fun
We all do know the common archetypes and a lot of us use it without knowing and they still do end up quite well (you meet a character in the game and you go "Ah, you're THAT kind of guy" but in the end we find they are actually different). My opinion on this that maybe finding the impression you want that character to give others playing the game and then come up with a list of their likes, dislikes, motives etc. and also give them a "twist" trait (For example, a nice girl may not help a person who is dying for some reason) or try to mix two archetypes together (maybe a mean guy is actually a nerd)

According to me, there are different ways to make a character interesting in different aspects which I may not know of. I'm pretty sure I came across some threads discussing making memorable characters and giving articles for character development but I don't remember them that well.
I know many people have difficulties with this and everyone have their different methods, these are just some ways I tackle this problem and it may help you too. Hope this helps

[ameliori]

For titles, it always helps to get feedback. Sometimes when we make stories, we tend to come up with titles that are too deep and meaningful to the later plots but doesnt really make sense to the audience just arriving in that world. So have a list of good titles and ask people which one makes better sense to them.

For characters, one way to make interesting characters is contrast. Real people are multi-faceted and are full of contradictions. I have a friend who is very shy and quiet, but she's also a lead singer in a band. When you see her perform, you will NEVER guess that she's the reserved girl in the office. Or take my brother who is very extroverted and popular. He gives off a very cool, friendly aura, but what some people don't know is that he's also a paranoid wreck and only hangs out exclusively with a small band of friends because of trust issues.

So maybe if you want a unique character, take a cliche character and add a contradiction. The sweet moe type character is actually into skydiving and extreme sports. Or the tomboyish girl is actually very much into traditional culture and likes kimonos. That kind of stuff is very interesting

[Greeny]

I think you're all overthinking it a little. Your story needs to be good, ultimately. The title itself needs to serve only three purposes:

- Make people want to find out more about it
- Be easy to remember and memorable
- Allow readers to associate that title with the contents of the work

It really doesn't have to make sense, or represent the entire work with just one or two words. I could have called my first project any number of things more clever than "The Loop" but people still downloaded the it and remember that little game when they think of "The Loop". Nobody has told me the work is worth less because the title is stupid. And it is. It's pretty stupid.

Somehow, I think a lot of people here care more about what's between the [] brackets for deciding to check out a thread.
If you're still having troubles, drop me line. I will title your project, free of charge. There will be puns.

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As for characters, personally I'm against the whole "define everything about them and write up their whole backstory before you start writing" think. I actually think it's a GOOD idea to, to quote from this very thread,

slapdash a bunch of adjectives together and call it a "character";

Now as to why; To make a natural, believable character you have to make them a person. I don't think that can happen 'logistically', you can't just chart a living, breathing character's emotions by thinking about it for long enough (or worse, by conjuring up a tragic backstory that explains away all their feelings).

Take your adjectives, and imagine them as the first impression. These are the superficial traits that people notice when first meeting your character. And then you start writing. By actually writing, you'll get to know that character. You'll 'interact' with them and discover what lies beneath their surface. They'll actually surprise you. If a character can't surprise their writer, why do you think they'll surprise the readers?

Yes, you'll sometimes have to go back and make edits to avoid complete inconsistency and to add 'character depth arc foreshadowing' but ultimately I do strongly believe you can't establish a character that's truly 'alive' before writing their scenes.

By getting to know the character along with the protagonist you'll get a more real sense of them as a person.

Also, personality 'twists' have become horribly predictable. They come across as a 'cool' person so obviously they secretly have a soft or nerdy side. They come across as a jerk so obviously they're going to have a heart of gold. In real life, people are more deep than their basic impression, yes, but they often do stick to their archetype. And jerks tend to really be jerks.

That said, people do have contradicting traits, as Potangko described. But they're not 'twists'. They're not 'plot revelations'.

[Katy133]

Titles should help tell the reader what the story is about, and what tone it has.

For example, pick a keyword/theme that has to do with the genre/plot of the story (eg. If the story is a Western, try a keyword like "Cowboy")

Then, take that keyword, and add to it in a way that explains the story's tone...
Example a) If the story is a comedy, make the keyword into a pun.
or,
Example b) If the story is more serious, make the title a well-know quote/phrase that has the keyword in it. (eg. if the keyword is "time", the title could be "Time Marches On")

For character's try starting off with choosing a character's main flaw. This resource is very useful: 123 Ideas for Character Flaws

This video is also very interesting (on minority representation): How is Ms. Marvel Changing Media for the Better? by PBS Idea Channel.

For character names, I keep a baby names book for this (which lists the meaning/origin of each name), or an online baby name dictionary can work.

Also, think about subverting readers' expectations of you characters (eg. If your protagonists are a male/female couple who have a child, you could try having the male be the stay-at-home father taking care of the child, while the mother is the parent who has a business job). As Hayao Miyazaki put it, "In order to grow your audience, you must betray their expectations."

[chocoberrie]

To make a natural, believable character you have to make them a person. I don't think that can happen 'logistically', you can't just chart a living, breathing character's emotions by thinking about it for long enough (or worse, by conjuring up a tragic backstory that explains away all their feelings).

Take your adjectives, and imagine them as the first impression. These are the superficial traits that people notice when first meeting your character. And then you start writing. By actually writing, you'll get to know that character. You'll 'interact' with them and discover what lies beneath their surface. They'll actually surprise you. If a character can't surprise their writer, why do you think they'll surprise the readers?

Yes, you'll sometimes have to go back and make edits to avoid complete inconsistency and to add 'character depth arc foreshadowing' but ultimately I do strongly believe you can't establish a character that's truly 'alive' before writing their scenes.

By getting to know the character along with the protagonist you'll get a more real sense of them as a person.

^ This.

Wonderful advice! Thank you

[SelLi]

I think that those visual novel/anime character types can be a trap. I'd advise you to not try to fit your character into the pre-made molds, but also don't try to avoid those types. Just try to forget they even exist, and write your character without any influence from them. That way, I think you'd be creating more fleshed out characters. At the end of the day when you're done creating a character, if they fit into a certain character type, that's fine, right? But I think it's wrong to limit your character (and your creativity) by saying from the start "This is going to be a tsundere. This is going to be a shy girl/boy.". It's okay if they end up tsundere or shy, but that shouldn't be what defines them them.
These kind of molds are created BY writers just making their own characters. Kind of like how there's a war hero, and then everyone loved the war hero and they made a statue of them. The statue didn't come first, the person (character) did.
If you make a character who's tsundere and then, after you're done, you look at the character and in your head you take AWAY the tsundere, are they still a character? Or have they been so defined by their superficial tsundere mold that there's nothing left? I think that'd be a sign of a badly developed character.

As for titles, titles are important since they're what everyone sees first before anything else. Even before your art style, sometimes. It's hard to pick one. I think you should be writing your story first and then try to capture something significant about the story in your title- such as an over arching theme, or a significant object/character/whatever that ties into things or is otherwise significant in a way. (Like how the title "Steins;Gate" is a term made up by the main character that sort of relates to time travel, and the VN is largely about time travel. Or like how the title "Moonlight Walks" is significant because the VN's main characters meet each other and walk together under the moonlight. Unlike the title "Bleach" which only relates to the protagonist's unimportant hair color that's like never brought up ever, or "Bubblegum crisis" which relates to all of... nothing?)

I hope I helped a little bit.