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Hey there guys.

Although I'm fairly tenured as far as writing goes, I've never dabbled in CYOA before. I've always loved storygames, but it didn't ever really occur to me that I could create my own until I stumbled upon this lovely website full of insanely talented people. I figured, if all of you could do it, I'm sure I could come up with my own storygame.

I was wrong.

I started out with vigor and promise, and now a few weeks later find myself staring at broken links for hours on end. I've noticed that the one thing that seems to be holding me back is I'm incredibly disorganized. After all, I;ve never had to consider anything other than purely chronological writing before.

Thus, I pose to you my question: how do you go about organizing your storygame? Do you write everything chronologically, even if it means juggling multiple threads at a time? Do you write what you consider to be the "true story/ending" and then base all your other threads around it? Or do you do something entirely different that I can't even comprehend right now because I'm a confused, grumpy n00b? Find out on the next episode of Dragon Ball Z!

But really. Help me please. I really want to finish this game.

Thanks you all, and all the best,

kurokun.

I map all the branches and write each one like a seperate story. Don't take advice from me, though.

Heres a handy article and all that.

Actually, I'll just paste it as well >_< This is taken from the article i linked above.

 

Ways of writing storygames
There are 3 basic ways of wrting a gamebook. There isn't a golden way of making a game, it just depends on you and which style suits you.
1. Just Write It Method: In this method, nothing is pre-planned. You just write a paragraph and let the story shape itself while writing. Then you give choices and then ultimately more choices. When it all starts making sense then you tie everything in a plot. After the story is finished, you flesh out the paragraphs and add few more pages.
This method has an advantage that you will write everything on the fly (hence creating some of the best) and you won't be bored of the tedious planning. Although, there are many disadvantages like- you'll give up in mid, your story will sprawl so heavily that you'll be not bothered to continue or you might end up creating an absolute garbage.
Examples of stories written with this method: Bloodlines by me, Outlaw by me.
Planning: In this method, you create a flowchart which shows all the pages and all the choices linked to each other in your story in a branching tree like fashion. It works as an outline and gives you a record of your progress. You write according to the flowchart, perhaps changing some of the pages and choices but mostly sticking to it. This is the most widely used way of wrting gamebooks.
Advantages- You have a record of your progression rate and you will never get lost. You will be able to create complex games with epic storylines. Disadvantages- The biggest disadvantage is that that you'll easily get bored. I won't deny. I have created over 50 flowcharts but never actually started working on them. They seem like a work. Possible solution- Maybe you could divide the whole story into bits. Like creating a 20 page flowchart of chapter 1 and writing it. Then creating another 20 page flowchart of chapter 2 and wrting it before moving to chapter 3. It seems to have worked but I haven't tried it.
Games made with this method- Vampirium by me, All major gamebook series.
3. And One Method: In this method, you basicaly mix the above two methods and keep jumping back and forth between them. You plan a storyline, divide it into chapters, then write them using the Just Write It Method but limiting yourself among the boundaries of the story. Or you make flowcharts in mind and expand them as you progress. This method is great, and I prefer it over the other two. As far as I know, most of the stories on this site are writting with this method.
Advantages- You won't get bored. You'll have a limited record of your progression. You will be free. Disadvantages- Of the above two methods but in a minor way.
Stories written with this method: Order of the Midnight Sun by 3J, Homo Perfectus Series by SindriV, DMW by BZ, Star Wars Series by Skills, Vengeance by Badger, all of Endmaster's stories.
You will have probably realized that most of the better stories on this site are created with the third method. But that doesn't mean that it will work for you too! LOL.

And writing a storygame is just plain different. There's really no way around that. When you write a story (non-CYOA), then you control everything. You know what is going to happen and can weave the story around those options. When you add the reader into the story, you add an unknown. You simply don't know what the user will pick, so you can try and adapt to it. You can try and write a rich story, but in reality you will end up trying to write a number of rich stories -- one for each pathway through the story. That is very difficult. I suspect that's why so many stories are lighter and just plain fun -- because that's a whole lot easier to try and write!

Try writing different storylines on paper  befor making the links.