I feel that we’re making these points every time a new person comes along, it’s getting quite repetitive. I’m going to try to compile some of these into a sort of faq section.
Hi, new person! Welcome to the site.
A: Where can I find XXX genre or XXX specific topic?
When you look at the left column, we have a ‘storygames’ section. Opening it up, you’ll see we’ve sorted our hundreds of storygames into genres. Not specific enough? Try looking in the left column again. Under the storygames section, you’ll also see a ‘search’ tool. From there you can browse the entire list, searching for keywords and sorting the results.
B: What tips/suggestions do you have for my storygame?
This is the one I see a lot.
Most of the time, writing a storygame is a long process, taking weeks to months to finish, edit and polish, don’t rush the process.
Starting out, if you haven’t already, check out the “Top Rated'' section for examples of community-accepted writing. Take your time to read through those that interest you and take note how it’s effective at storytelling, and the overall quality of writing.
To get a contrast, go to the newly created section and check out some of the
lower rated ones. Skim through some of them, and compare them to the top rated storygames. Make sure to read the reviews, too, they give valuable insight on storygame quality.
Now that you have a solid grasp on what the community expects of a good storygame, you can start to brainstorm on your own(see:C).
One suggestion is to start off simple and short. Write a normal ~500-1000 short story, and really polish it. Post it into the forums, and ask for feedback. Afterward, try to start branching with a short storygame, perhaps a few thousand words in length. Once again, post a sneak peek link(turn sneak peek on in storygame settings), and take note of what we say. Afterward, you can start writing a piece you’re really going to be satisfied with.
Hey, you’ve finished? Don’t rush to publish it yet. Take a day or 2 off, and read over the entire thing after you’ve properly distanced yourself from it. From there make stylistic, grammatical, or storyline edits. Polish it to the last detail, and after you’re really sure you’ve got it down, hit publish.
I’ve only hit on the surface of most of these strategies and points, the
articles(click ‘help and info’) dive much deeper and more thoroughly.
Of course, if you’re confident with your writing skills, go ahead and start writing whenever you feel like it. Many of our best writers also started this way.
C: I’m kind of out of ideas for my storygame, any help?
If there’s nothing that really pokes at you, then perhaps forcing out a plotline to write isn’t the best way to go about it. The best stories come from an idea that the author is personally excited to write about, and has a certain degree of attachment to. If you’re writing for the sake of having to write something, it’s, to be frank, not something that anybody would want to read.
If you’re really looking for inspiration, don’t just ask something along the lines of “idea pls, I’m bored.” To have people give really directed information, try giving us some context. What kind of writing style are you interested in, and what genres is it tied to?
D: Scripting/Items help
…should probably be asked in the advanced editor forum section. Unless you’re really proficient with scripting and writing along with it, a game would be difficult to create. Check out some highly rated puzzle games for examples of effective scripting and items.
Note: Puzzly/Scripty games still need a rich story background/writing, so don’t skimp out on any of those. A plain puzzle’s no fun if there’s nothing to grab the reader with.
E: How can I contribute to the site?
Rate and Review. Go to the newly created storygames, random storygames, or any section, and read + give some reviews. That does a lot of things: points and recognition, community involvement, encouraging authors and demonstrating to newbies how healthy and active the site is, etc. It’s really the single most important site activity and the easiest way to get involved and do something meaningful and appreciated.
Bit of last advice: it’s best to have thick skin here. It’s quite common that below-average storygames receive some really scathing, harsh reviews. One thing to note is that here, we don’t hesitate to give criticism. Sometimes it’s difficult to embrace and learn from it(there’s an article on that, as well). A lot of crude humor is thrown around in the forums, try not to get offended, that usually doesn’t lead to such good endings...
