Forums » Newbie Central » Read Thread

Hey I’m new and am starting a fantasy, superhero game. Does anyone have any advice on how I should proceed?

Plot out your main story beats and decision points.  

Determine whether your writing style lends itself to writing out one full plotline before moving to branches, or if you prefer to write the web (writing out each decision point as you need them)

Worry about finishing the story before worrying about adding flair, images, or other mechanically interesting things, unless those elements are essential for the story overall (like a built in combat system). Even then, it may still be easier to focus on the story and then meld the systems around the story you have put together.

But mostly get words on the pages.  It's always easier to tweak what's there than to fill blank space.

Thank you for the advice. Because I'm busy alot, I'm making it into smaller parts with the hopes of making 10 parts. Would you be willing to read it before release?

Sure I can give it a once over.  DM me when you want me to take a look.

Thanks alot!

10 parts is way too many. I know mizal said this already, but stick to making one focused storygame. My personal tip is to avoid using the chapters built into the editor, because it splits up your story and makes it so you can't connect to those pages without scripting.

I will add that if you make a banger of a superhero story, then people would probably not be against a sequel, but there is a big difference between a fleshed out story with sequel potential and a hastily thrown together "part x/10"

Ah thx for the tips. I'm really nervous abt making my first one so yeah. I obviously will take anyou other advice you have.

Addendum with in-built chapters; Wizzy's advice is generally good, BUT if you have a particularly very long story (think of 50k plus) with lots of variable work and multiple chapters, then I found it easier to sort pages in these in-built chapters (pages are easier to find and it's easier for you to navigate and fix bugs). 

There are sadly not many other ways to organize pages otherwise. 

MORE TIPS

-1)make your own reference sheets for names of characters, important places, local currencies and every small detail you might need in your story. The size of the sheet really doesn't have to be big or a big time sink. Everytime you think it's a detail that it's important and you'll surely forget later, write it down somewhere. It will save you lots of time when you forget the last name of a character and have to go back and search through all of your previously written work to find that stupid detail. 

-2)Keep the scope of your first story small, mainly for the sake of your own sanity. The story will balloon out of control otherwise. It doesn't have to chronicle an entire 5 year war, it can also be one battle. In regular fiction, I would say that it's entirely possible to write an entire story without an outline, but it would be a hard nope on interactive fiction.

-2.5)That outline will be your life savior. It can help you limit the scope of your story, iron out plot holes, determine climaxes and build ups or spot other inconsistencies and best of all; major story changes can be easily fixed at this stage. Want to make a new route, but you need something in the beginning to be changed? Easy peasy with little pain. Fail faster! (I've written multiple outlines of potential stories that I ended up not liking haha)

-3) keep in mind that you're writing an interactive fiction. Most readers won't see even half of the stuff you've written when they finish one of your paths while you're writing thrice the amount of a regular story. Make sure that every path feels as satisfying to read as any other. Play around with structures, delayed choices etc, take advantage of the fact that it's interactive. (Same goal achieved in different ways, supervillain route, other ways to develop your character etc)

-4)keep yourself motivated by splitting your goal in multiple small easily attainable chunks. Instead of: "fuck, I'm not even half way done with my story", you'll be thinking: "wow, I almost finished my third chapter, hurrah". It makes everything a lot more enjoyable.

5) Read other stories, preferably the ones on the top 100 to see what's the overall standard of the site. Also read some bad ones with a very low score. Compare them, see what works and what doesn't. I would recommend the Homo Perfectus series on this site. It's also a superhero story with multiple parts. It's a rather interesting case study, because you could see the author slowly improving with each consecutive part. 

Thx for the advice mate! Hope you'll read it!

This was boring. Try spicing it up a little. I did like how you kept the homosexuality implied instead of overt though

I believe I've written the same advice stuff over and over again, but these were things I would have liked to hear when I began.

Thanks for all the advice given!

1) Don't do a "part 1". Those have become associated with rushed eternally unfinished projects that usually had no reason not to just be combined into one complete story instead. Exceptions may be if the "parts" are significant in size and work as standalone stories, but even then there's probably still a better way to title them.

2) Don't worry about gender or other purely aesthetic "choices". Unless you have some idea for it to lead to different paths, nobody cares about that here. And it would mean either you artificially tripled the length with copy and pasted filler, or did a bunch of tedious scripting, all time that could be used making a more developed and interesting main character or expanding some branches.

3) Read Gower's article on dialogue punctuation: https://chooseyourstory.com/help/articles/article.aspx?ArticleId=4309

Ideally his others too which should've all been in the site's welcome message you received. Remember that unless you enter a contest you're never working under a deadline, take all the time you need to make sure your first story is proofread, polished, formatted for readability, and ready to make a good first impression.


Anyway, it's good sign you're asking for advice to begin with. Good luck with your storygame and enjoy the site!

Mizal has great points here, and her final note on taking your time is worth re-emphasizing.  It is compelling to want to get something out there to get comments and such on it, but it is always worth making sure you take the time to review the work at least a couple times. Your story only gets one chance to make a first impression.

You can look at my own story "A Night in Dark Chicago" as an example of the consequences of rushing something to publish.  Once I finish the current contest I intend to go back and correct the issues that have been raised in subsequent comments, but if I had taken more time before publishing it, those comments would likely be much better. 

Thanks you guys are very helpful

Welcome to the site, I do hope you enjoy your time here

im new too!

No "hi" this time? I'm disappointed in you. Do better. 

Are you?