How to Flesh Out Plot for Storyline?

[VintageCivet]

Apologies if this topic has been covered already.

I have a premise for my VN, as well as four endings planned. The problem is that I am unsure on how to flesh out the premise to have a proper plot the player can follow, other than a vague notion of what the plot is going to cover. In other words, I am unsure of how to construct scenes and events stringing together the plot. The VN has everything else, such as characters with backstories and a planned points system for the choices.

For context, the main plot is about two women in a small town who end up in a secret and troubled romantic relationship. The subplot that carries the structure of the story is that a family who runs a church is looking to expand their social reach at any costs necessary. The antagonist wants to achieve this by having the love interest to marry the son of any of the town’s economic head figures for bigger social reach. Meanwhile, the love interest wants to keep her role in her the church, instead being forced to quit her job and become a housewife. For the main plot, both the protagonist and the love interest want to have a relationship that works out, but they have some unresolved issues with key figures in their separate pasts that keep this from happening in a healthy manner.

How would I go about forming key scenes that form this plot?

[YossarianIII]

A good first step is to create a rough outline outside Ren'Py. If you have branching plots, you might want to use something like Twine or draw it on a sheet of paper or something.

Then, when you work in Ren'Py, it can be helpful to create a new .rpy file for each major chunk. Even if you have variables or choices that affect the whole story, it can be helpful to think in independent chunks. Also, at the top of the script or in a new .rpy file, be sure to set the default for any new variables you use that are important in multiple scenes. You might want to keep the variables open in a separate window the whole time, just to keep track of all the different possibilities.

(All of the above is just for organization and not mandatory. You just write it all in one big script file and try to keep track of things in your head, but that gets complicated for larger stories. Basically, you just want to break things down into parts that ARE small enough for you to hold all the options in your head.)

[Meera]

Seconding creating an outline! It can really help in giving the tools to overcoming 'writer's block', having a general direction to fall back on. I'd also recommend creating an overarching theme for the story as a whole or for the characters themselves to represent themes, which can provide motives and natural conflict. For the actual scenes themselves, I'd start with asking "what kind of scenario can get the theme or conflict across?" That way it can be written showing these elements naturally, avoiding exposition. Scenes can generally be broken down into two categories: building up a character with things like backstory, motivations, personality, and so on. And the second, advancing the plot - the story that's actively taking place.

Good luck!

[Bloom]

Look into different plot structures and see what makes the most sense to you. For us newbies, it might be a good idea to start with the traditional three act structure: Introduction - Conflict - Resolution.

Begin by doing the introduction: Where do you want your story to start? Maybe you can begin with a prologue with a flashback to the protagonists' pasts and use it to set the mood of the game. Or maybe you want to show us first who are they now as people, going about their usual lives, so we start to get interested in them. This could probably be a feel-good scene where they are starting to experience the beginning of their relationship. Make sure to lay their motivations clear and allow them to move your story forward. They want a happy and healthy relationship, so start by making sure the reader gets that message.

Then, introduce the conflict. If the people who run the church are the main antagonists, make sure to prove to the reader that they are not there to mess around. Show people being concerned of their neighbours telling the cardinal about a person who did something they do not aprove of. Show a church service where the pastor is spreading a homophobic discourse or pressuring the townspeople to donate to them. Once again, make their motivations and affiliations clear, so they become a villain that is worth despising.

I say you could make these two very important scenes first and, in the middle, introduce the personal conflict of the characters, and how they help eachother overcome it, in separate, shorter chapters. Make sure to add "filler" episodes that let the reader breathe a little and just enjoy the character dynamics, but don't overdo it or it might end up being too long to read (and a pain to code.)

I suggest creating a list of chapters with very short descriptions of purpose. In Spanish they're called "Escaletas". For example:
Chapter 1: Getting to know the characters.
Chapter 2: The Church is introduced.
Chapter 3: The main characters go on a date that ends poorly because of personal conflict.
Chapter 4: Flashbacks showing personal conflict.
Chapter 5: Church does really bad thing and protagonists ask eachother for time to sort things out.
Chapter 6: Support characters help protagonist(s) find strength.
Chapter 7: Church's really bad thing brings the strengthtened protagonists to a breaking point where they must take the decision to overcome their personal problems to get what they want (being in a happy, healthy relationship) despite the circumstances.
Chapter 8: Protagonists finally have peace and joy.

Of course, you might need more than one escaleta to allow for different routes/endings. I personally like to do one of these for the linear parts of the story that will happen regardless of player's choices, and then create a flowchart for the different outcomes.