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Pages and Choices

6 years ago

So, I'm working on my contest story, which will also, incidentally, but the first story I publish here (assuming I finish it at all).  Anyhow, I've noticed so far that I don't have any 'single choice' pages; every 'completed' page so far is either an ending or has more than one link to click at the bottom.  However, most of the stories I've read string together multiple pages with only one option to click.  Am I adding too many choices?  Or is this simply a stylistic choice?

Pages and Choices

6 years ago
This kind of thing may be a better fit for the writing workshop just fyi.

The single choices are purely a stylistic thing, or rather what happens when the set up or scene has a lot going on and the author needs to break up the text wall.

Pages and Choices

6 years ago

I wasn't sure because it seemed more like a formatting thing than a writing thing.  At least, not a writing content thing. :)

Pages and Choices

6 years ago

As a general rule I try not to do the "one choice" per page too many times in a row since it starts feeling like a regular story at that point. I really only do it when my passages are getting really long and I have to break them up.

Still, there's nothing stopping you from doing it. Some people just might not like it.

Pages and Choices

6 years ago

How long is /too/ long for a single page, just as an estimate?  I mean, to me, it doesn't make sense to split it up beyond paragraph breaks because it doesn't change the total amount of text between choices, just the number of pages between choices.  But I guess that's just me.

Pages and Choices

6 years ago
This has come up before and I think the general consensus is that nobody likes to have to scroll past more than 1000 words per page.

Meanwhile, three single choices in a row is considered about the limit before that gets annoying.

Pages and Choices

6 years ago

Okay, I can work with this.  I'm a bit worried I might be spreading myself a bit thin, or that my story is getting too splintered.

Pages and Choices

6 years ago

It's going to be up to you what is too long.

For me? I originally tried to not make a passage more than 4 pages long on Word.

Nowadays most of my passages go up to 6 pages long on Word and they've been known to go to little over that at times (I really try to avoid that though)