How to Write Visual Novels

00:29:06
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iLjsSzyOc4

الملخص

TLDREste vídeo detalha um método eficaz para escrever romances visuais e narrativas com múltiplos caminhos. O orador começa enfatizando a importância de ter uma ideia básica e evoluir essa ideia através da exploração de personagens, tramas e ambientes. Ele descreve como criar um esboço, desenvolver o rascunho e, eventualmente, editar e polir a história enquanto se prepara para introduzir elementos de ramificação e integração de jogabilidade. A criação de perfis de personagens é destacada como essencial para assegurar que as motivações e falhas dos personagens sejam bem entendidas, influenciando o rumo da história de forma orgânica. No estágio de ramificação, a história principal serve de guia para expandir as narrativas, garantindo consistência e peso emocional semelhante entre diferentes caminhos. Além disso, o vídeo aborda a integração de mini-jogos e mecânicas, sugerindo seu planejamento mais tarde no processo para evitar retrabalho desnecessário. Finaliza discutindo a importância das "story twigs", pequenas narrativas opcionais que enriquecem a experiência sem serem mandatórias.

الوجبات الجاهزة

  • 💡 Comece com uma ideia simples que pode evoluir.
  • 📜 Crie um esboço e um rascunho principal.
  • ✂️ Edite para remover o excesso e apertar a narrativa.
  • 🔄 Ramifique a história a partir de temas centrais.
  • 👥 Perfis de personagens detalhados ajudam na consistência.
  • 🎮 Planeje a jogabilidade para complementar a história.
  • 📚 "Story twigs" enriquecem a narrativa de forma opcional.
  • 👨‍👩‍👦 Coordene múltiplos escritores de forma colaborativa.
  • 🗺️ Construa a narrativa mantendo a consistência temática.
  • 🎥 Considere a diversão para streamers com pequenas variações.

الجدول الزمني

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    Para começar a escrever uma visual novel, precisa-se de uma ideia inicial, que não precisa ser totalmente desenvolvida. A ideia pode evoluir ao longo do tempo, devendo-se estar aberto a mudanças e adaptações. Além disso, é importante considerar o público-alvo para que a novel seja rentável. Após escolher a ideia, é crucial decidir se vale a pena investir nela ou descartá-la no início para evitar perdas maiores de tempo mais tarde.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    Na fase de estruturação, deve-se montar um esboço do enredo principal, focando nos momentos chaves sem se preocupar com as ramificações. Este esboço deve guiar a narrativa principal e alinhar os momentos da história ao desenvolvimento do jogo ou respeitar as convenções do gênero escolhido para a obra. Criar perfis de personagens principais também é crucial, definindo motivações, defeitos e detalhes peculiares.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:15:00

    Na elaboração do rascunho, escreve-se a história do início ao fim, dividida em cenas, e atualiza-se o esboço com quaisquer mudanças significativas. Esse processo ajuda a refinar os personagens, revelando motivações e conflitos internos que impulsionam a trama, e ajusta a narrativa para que o enredo se desenvolva de forma coerente e alinhada às motivações dos personagens.

  • 00:15:00 - 00:20:00

    Durante a edição, é essencial cortar conteúdos desnecessários para ter uma história concisa e envolvente. Reduzir diálogos, remover tangentes e até eliminar personagens e cenários redundantes pode ajudar a focar na narrativa principal. Essa fase garante que o enredo principal esteja bem polido antes de introduzir ramificações.

  • 00:20:00 - 00:29:06

    Na fase de ramificação, parte-se do esboço principal para desenvolver ramificações narrativas que enriquecem o enredo. Isso envolve identificar temas centrais e criar vias alternativas que mantêm a coesão com os temas. Cada nova ramificação deve se integrar ao caminho central da história, permitindo variações que incentivem rejogabilidade, especialmente considerando influenciadores e suas experiências únicas durante o jogo.

اعرض المزيد

الخريطة الذهنية

فيديو أسئلة وأجوبة

  • Qual é o primeiro passo para criar um romance visual?

    O primeiro passo é ter uma ideia, que pode ser simples e evoluir ao longo do tempo.

  • Quando deve-se começar a ramificar a história?

    A ramificação deve começar após criar uma história principal bem definida e identificando os temas centrais.

  • Como manter as ideias organizadas durante o processo?

    Usando documentos vivos como Google Docs para atualizar ideias e esboços constantemente.

  • Qual a importância de perfis detalhados dos personagens?

    Perfis detalhados ajudam a manter a consistência dos personagens e a entender suas motivações ao longo da trama.

  • O que são 'story twigs'?

    'Story twigs' são pequenas bifurcações opcionais na história que enriquecem a narrativa sem serem essenciais para o enredo principal.

  • Por que é importante ter cenas opcionais em um romance visual?

    Elas adicionam riqueza à narrativa e recompensam os leitores que exploram mais a fundo, mas não penalizam aqueles que não o fazem.

  • Como integrar jogabilidade em um romance visual?

    A jogabilidade deve ser integrada de maneira que complemente a história, e planejada no estágio de ramificação para garantir consistência.

  • Como lidar com múltiplos escritores em um projeto?

    Dividindo o trabalho de forma colaborativa e mantendo coerência através de brainstorming conjunto e revisões colaborativas.

عرض المزيد من ملخصات الفيديو

احصل على وصول فوري إلى ملخصات فيديو YouTube المجانية المدعومة بالذكاء الاصطناعي!
الترجمات
en
التمرير التلقائي:
  • 00:00:00
    a lot of videos i've seen on writing
  • 00:00:02
    visual novels and branching story
  • 00:00:04
    narratives they really seem to focus on
  • 00:00:06
    that last
  • 00:00:07
    little chart of all the different ways
  • 00:00:10
    that a story can branch from like one
  • 00:00:11
    point to another which looks really
  • 00:00:14
    impressive and really helps sell the
  • 00:00:15
    video but they don't go over the
  • 00:00:16
    step-by-step process of how do you get
  • 00:00:19
    to something that's that complicated
  • 00:00:20
    looking now honestly there's a lot of
  • 00:00:22
    ways to do it but here's the method
  • 00:00:24
    that's worked best for me
  • 00:00:30
    i know this is gonna sound a little
  • 00:00:31
    overly simple but really step one is to
  • 00:00:35
    have an idea and it doesn't have to be
  • 00:00:38
    like a fully fleshed out story it
  • 00:00:40
    literally just needs to be an idea so
  • 00:00:43
    the idea could be you know a fun
  • 00:00:45
    character you want to do some sort of
  • 00:00:47
    doodle where you're thinking like oh i
  • 00:00:49
    should have a story based around that a
  • 00:00:51
    plot a setting or even just like a
  • 00:00:53
    phrase just some sort of message that
  • 00:00:56
    you want to tell your audience now that
  • 00:00:58
    root idea that you started with that
  • 00:00:59
    doesn't necessarily need to be the same
  • 00:01:01
    thing over time i've had projects where
  • 00:01:03
    it started off with a very kind of loose
  • 00:01:05
    ethereal idea and over time i kind of
  • 00:01:08
    realized like oh this idea is really
  • 00:01:10
    more about this like there's something
  • 00:01:12
    deeper there so don't be afraid to kind
  • 00:01:14
    of keep evolving this idea of what that
  • 00:01:17
    seed of an idea is over time and don't
  • 00:01:20
    be afraid to just change details of that
  • 00:01:22
    as you kind of figure stuff out and
  • 00:01:24
    honestly if you want your projects to be
  • 00:01:27
    profitable start with an idea of this
  • 00:01:29
    visual novel is for an x type of person
  • 00:01:31
    or this visual novel appears to fans of
  • 00:01:34
    property y using your idea seed as a
  • 00:01:36
    start just start coming up with other
  • 00:01:38
    ideas that kind of branch off of that if
  • 00:01:41
    you started with a character what kind
  • 00:01:42
    of situations would be really
  • 00:01:44
    interesting to get that character into
  • 00:01:46
    if you started with a phrase what sort
  • 00:01:48
    of things pair well with that phrase and
  • 00:01:50
    sometimes the things that germinate off
  • 00:01:52
    of that seed can just be you know game
  • 00:01:54
    mechanics visuals that you want to
  • 00:01:56
    suggest a narrative style then once you
  • 00:01:59
    feel like you have a kind of complete
  • 00:02:00
    grasp of what this idea is and what it
  • 00:02:04
    might fully turn into then you kind of
  • 00:02:06
    have to make a hard choice
  • 00:02:08
    are you going to do it or not and that's
  • 00:02:10
    really the most important part of this
  • 00:02:11
    process because if you're anything like
  • 00:02:13
    me you're just coming up with ideas all
  • 00:02:15
    the time but
  • 00:02:16
    a lot of them suck not every single one
  • 00:02:19
    of them deserves to have months possibly
  • 00:02:22
    years of your time dedicated to fully
  • 00:02:24
    fleshing out that idea and it's better
  • 00:02:26
    for you to drop those ideas at this
  • 00:02:29
    stage of the process than much later
  • 00:02:31
    i've had to
  • 00:02:33
    throw out ideas that i got to like the
  • 00:02:36
    scripting and storyboarding stage and
  • 00:02:38
    realize like oh this doesn't quite work
  • 00:02:40
    that hurts a lot worse when you have
  • 00:02:42
    months of your time dedicated to
  • 00:02:44
    something
  • 00:02:45
    seeing it get to a certain point and
  • 00:02:46
    then you have to go okay nope gotta
  • 00:02:49
    cancel a project now so it's worth being
  • 00:02:51
    really selective at this idea stage once
  • 00:02:54
    you have an idea that you're happy with
  • 00:02:55
    that you want to take to that next level
  • 00:02:57
    grab all your notes that you have on it
  • 00:02:59
    and write it just in a loose dock i
  • 00:03:01
    usually throw this on like a google doc
  • 00:03:03
    somewhere because that's going to be
  • 00:03:05
    where you're going to be starting from
  • 00:03:07
    just all those loose ideas and you're
  • 00:03:09
    going to use them for the next stage of
  • 00:03:10
    the process and it's important to treat
  • 00:03:12
    this as a living document because it's
  • 00:03:14
    something you're going to refer to over
  • 00:03:16
    and over and over again and you're going
  • 00:03:17
    to see that starting from the next step
  • 00:03:19
    and you're going to see that living
  • 00:03:21
    document being used over and over and
  • 00:03:23
    over and over again throughout this
  • 00:03:24
    entire process
  • 00:03:26
    [Music]
  • 00:03:30
    the next step is going to be setting up
  • 00:03:31
    the outline for your story now for this
  • 00:03:33
    stage of the process don't worry about
  • 00:03:35
    making all the different branches we're
  • 00:03:37
    going to focus just on one main branch
  • 00:03:40
    where you're going to want to hit all
  • 00:03:41
    the major story beats that you want to
  • 00:03:43
    hit during the course of your story now
  • 00:03:44
    what are those story beats so you're
  • 00:03:46
    going to have lots of like little scenes
  • 00:03:48
    little ideas things that you're going to
  • 00:03:49
    want to hit over the course of the story
  • 00:03:51
    so for your main branch go ahead and
  • 00:03:53
    just pick out like a whole bunch of
  • 00:03:55
    moments that you think really work well
  • 00:03:56
    together put those along a line and then
  • 00:03:59
    figure out ways that you can get from
  • 00:04:01
    one scene to the next now this part's
  • 00:04:03
    kind of
  • 00:04:05
    loose it's kind of free form there's
  • 00:04:06
    lots of different ways people are going
  • 00:04:08
    to be writing their little outlines but
  • 00:04:10
    i find this method works really well for
  • 00:04:12
    me because i just have a lot of ideas
  • 00:04:14
    for just like oh that we should have a
  • 00:04:16
    whole bunch of things in this story and
  • 00:04:18
    it's very loose it's very free form and
  • 00:04:22
    by forcing myself to put this in an
  • 00:04:24
    outline method i'm reducing all of these
  • 00:04:27
    really complex ideas down to how can i
  • 00:04:31
    fit all of these things in a single
  • 00:04:33
    story and at this stage i'm not just
  • 00:04:35
    worried about
  • 00:04:36
    including all the ideas i like but also
  • 00:04:39
    how are they gonna form together to
  • 00:04:41
    create like a full story you want your
  • 00:04:44
    visual novel to be like an additive
  • 00:04:46
    experience on top of some sort of base
  • 00:04:48
    gameplay so if you have an rpg a dating
  • 00:04:51
    sim some sort of rts just whatever game
  • 00:04:54
    genre you have if this is supposed to be
  • 00:04:56
    a story that goes on top of that
  • 00:04:58
    gameplay you're going to want to set
  • 00:05:00
    your plot line to work along with the
  • 00:05:02
    major beats of the game so usually
  • 00:05:04
    you're going to have a lot of story
  • 00:05:05
    beats happen earlier on and this is
  • 00:05:07
    going to reflect how the player is going
  • 00:05:09
    to learn different experiences and
  • 00:05:11
    skills during that kind of a mini
  • 00:05:13
    tutorial section
  • 00:05:14
    and then you're going to want other
  • 00:05:16
    story beats to align with when you're
  • 00:05:19
    learning new mechanics in the game or
  • 00:05:21
    when there's some new interesting
  • 00:05:23
    wrinkle on top of gameplay you want to
  • 00:05:25
    align those things with story moments
  • 00:05:27
    and that'll end up kind of becoming the
  • 00:05:28
    plot structure for your whole game if
  • 00:05:30
    it's not an additive experience on top
  • 00:05:32
    of gameplay then you're going to want to
  • 00:05:33
    consider what genre your visual novel's
  • 00:05:36
    in and that's because most genres kind
  • 00:05:38
    of have their own narrative beats and
  • 00:05:40
    genre conventions that you're going to
  • 00:05:41
    want to hit so even if you have very
  • 00:05:43
    clear ideas of what things you want in
  • 00:05:45
    your story if you know it's going to be
  • 00:05:47
    a romance you're going to want to hit
  • 00:05:48
    certain romance tones at first meeting
  • 00:05:51
    you know the midway fight the rival
  • 00:05:53
    character or if your visual novel is
  • 00:05:55
    like a classic adventure sort of sword
  • 00:05:57
    and sandal thing you might want to
  • 00:05:58
    follow along with joseph campbell's the
  • 00:06:00
    euros journey so you're gonna want to
  • 00:06:01
    have your character have them hit you
  • 00:06:04
    know the call which they refuse and then
  • 00:06:06
    they have to pick up again it's a whole
  • 00:06:08
    thing there's a whole bunch of different
  • 00:06:10
    story pyramids and structures that you
  • 00:06:13
    can kind of align your visual novel to
  • 00:06:15
    and
  • 00:06:16
    even if you're trying to make your
  • 00:06:18
    visual novel buck against those trends
  • 00:06:20
    those are things that you're going to
  • 00:06:21
    want to think about but most importantly
  • 00:06:23
    make sure that your outline really
  • 00:06:24
    focuses on the key scene throughout your
  • 00:06:26
    visual novel big story beats make sure
  • 00:06:28
    they're reflected in your outline and on
  • 00:06:30
    each one of those nodes you're going to
  • 00:06:32
    want to note what changes from the start
  • 00:06:34
    to the end of that scene so like in star
  • 00:06:36
    wars in that first scene in the blockade
  • 00:06:38
    runner the outline scene card would
  • 00:06:40
    include princess leia gives the plans to
  • 00:06:42
    r2d2 princess leia is captured and the
  • 00:06:45
    droids escaped tatooine and i'll get
  • 00:06:46
    into why this is kind of an important
  • 00:06:48
    part of this process later also at this
  • 00:06:50
    stage in the process you want to write
  • 00:06:51
    some character profiles for any major
  • 00:06:53
    character now you don't have to write a
  • 00:06:54
    whole character backstory but we are
  • 00:06:56
    going to want to know what motivates
  • 00:06:58
    them what are their primary character
  • 00:07:00
    flaws that are keeping them from
  • 00:07:02
    achieving those goals and then likes
  • 00:07:05
    dislikes just various little character
  • 00:07:07
    quirks that you might want to keep in
  • 00:07:08
    mind for later this is also going to be
  • 00:07:10
    a living document it's going to change a
  • 00:07:12
    lot over development so don't get too
  • 00:07:14
    attached to any small aspect of it
  • 00:07:17
    but it's good to have for each of the
  • 00:07:19
    major characters and if you're writing
  • 00:07:21
    an episodic visual novel something that
  • 00:07:23
    you're going to be releasing one episode
  • 00:07:25
    at a time this is probably the most
  • 00:07:28
    important part of this outline process
  • 00:07:30
    in hirohiko araki's creating manga in
  • 00:07:33
    theory and practice he covers why making
  • 00:07:35
    like really detailed character profiles
  • 00:07:38
    is important in the manga process
  • 00:07:39
    because you're not really going to know
  • 00:07:41
    where your plot's going to be going from
  • 00:07:43
    month to month to month because you know
  • 00:07:44
    lots of things could affect it or change
  • 00:07:47
    it over time you could have audiences
  • 00:07:49
    not really react to essential
  • 00:07:50
    antagonists so all of a sudden you need
  • 00:07:52
    to change it your editor might not like
  • 00:07:55
    how a certain story arc is going so you
  • 00:07:56
    might need to pivot that or you could
  • 00:07:58
    just have the audience really respond
  • 00:08:00
    strongly to something that you were not
  • 00:08:02
    expecting and now all of a sudden you
  • 00:08:04
    need to change your whole manga to fit
  • 00:08:07
    that interest like originally yu-gi-oh
  • 00:08:10
    was kind of like a horror manga but it
  • 00:08:12
    eventually turned into a card battle
  • 00:08:14
    anime dragon ball changed from a gag
  • 00:08:16
    manga to another battle manga and golden
  • 00:08:18
    kami turned into like an adventure
  • 00:08:20
    battle manga to
  • 00:08:22
    well this
  • 00:08:23
    so amongst all these changes that could
  • 00:08:25
    happen to your plot and this might
  • 00:08:27
    happen with your visual novels you want
  • 00:08:29
    to make sure that you have a really
  • 00:08:30
    solid idea of who your characters are
  • 00:08:33
    from the forefront your characters are
  • 00:08:35
    going to be the one consistent thing
  • 00:08:37
    that you can really control the big
  • 00:08:39
    focus is that if you have interesting
  • 00:08:41
    characters you can kind of make any plot
  • 00:08:44
    you want as long as people are
  • 00:08:46
    interested and invested in those
  • 00:08:48
    characters so that's
  • 00:08:50
    really important to get nailed down kind
  • 00:08:52
    of at this stage of the process
  • 00:08:54
    because that's going to make the next
  • 00:08:55
    stage a lot easier
  • 00:09:01
    now from this outline you're going to
  • 00:09:02
    want to start on your draft don't worry
  • 00:09:04
    about the proper syntax to look properly
  • 00:09:07
    integrated into engine like we're not
  • 00:09:08
    worried about that at this stage we just
  • 00:09:10
    want to write that story from start to
  • 00:09:12
    finish but we still want to keep the
  • 00:09:14
    story separated into those different
  • 00:09:16
    scenes and we're going to want to make
  • 00:09:17
    sure that that outline is constantly
  • 00:09:19
    updated if you make any major changes at
  • 00:09:22
    the draft stage now i like to write out
  • 00:09:24
    these drafts chronologically because as
  • 00:09:26
    you're going on you're going to realize
  • 00:09:27
    certain sections that you outlined you
  • 00:09:29
    thought it would take a really long time
  • 00:09:31
    but it doesn't
  • 00:09:32
    and other sections that you thought were
  • 00:09:34
    not going to take very long at all you
  • 00:09:36
    realize oh i actually really need to
  • 00:09:37
    elaborate a lot of things and it's kind
  • 00:09:40
    of easier to adjust your story outline
  • 00:09:42
    if you're doing these things in
  • 00:09:43
    narrative sequence as opposed to if
  • 00:09:45
    you'd kind of pick and choose what
  • 00:09:47
    sections you want to write if your story
  • 00:09:49
    isn't entirely gameplay focused but you
  • 00:09:51
    still want some gameplay in it write
  • 00:09:53
    notes on what you want that gameplay to
  • 00:09:55
    be so no need to design that part out
  • 00:09:57
    yet but make sure you align those mini
  • 00:09:58
    games with certain story beats that you
  • 00:10:00
    want to hit now at this stage things
  • 00:10:02
    might change a bit over time
  • 00:10:04
    and that is totally fine like you might
  • 00:10:06
    have a character written where their
  • 00:10:08
    main character flaws that they're
  • 00:10:10
    arrogant but as you're writing the draft
  • 00:10:12
    you realize like yeah he's a little
  • 00:10:14
    arrogant but that's not really his flaw
  • 00:10:16
    that's just a symptom of a deeper sort
  • 00:10:19
    of neurosis maybe he doesn't really
  • 00:10:21
    believe that people care about him and
  • 00:10:22
    he doesn't want to go out on a limb
  • 00:10:24
    asking for help only to get rejected or
  • 00:10:26
    maybe he honestly just is as good at
  • 00:10:28
    things as he thinks he is but he just
  • 00:10:30
    hasn't confronted better people out
  • 00:10:32
    there and once you find out these sort
  • 00:10:34
    of deeper problems as you're writing
  • 00:10:36
    stuff through you can kind of realize
  • 00:10:38
    like there are some real depths to some
  • 00:10:39
    of these characters that maybe you
  • 00:10:41
    didn't anticipate at first now keep in
  • 00:10:43
    mind even with these changes this you
  • 00:10:44
    know character that i kind of made up
  • 00:10:46
    hasn't really changed at all you know
  • 00:10:48
    he's still arrogant but now you have a
  • 00:10:50
    more nuanced view of who he is and what
  • 00:10:53
    motivates him and you're gonna find that
  • 00:10:56
    those little changes do change the plot
  • 00:10:58
    over time that motivation is really
  • 00:11:00
    important it's what's gonna drive the
  • 00:11:02
    plot personally i find that i have the
  • 00:11:05
    worst writer's block when i don't have a
  • 00:11:08
    clear idea what each character's
  • 00:11:10
    motivation is going into a scene if
  • 00:11:13
    everyone's just going in going through
  • 00:11:15
    the motions if i as a writer just know
  • 00:11:17
    whatever is happening here i just need
  • 00:11:19
    them to walk away with the key or i need
  • 00:11:22
    to have them get into a fight like i
  • 00:11:24
    have a really hard time figuring out how
  • 00:11:26
    to get there but if you have a really
  • 00:11:28
    good idea of who these characters are
  • 00:11:31
    what motivates them a lot of the
  • 00:11:33
    interesting things that come out of this
  • 00:11:35
    stage are figuring out how different
  • 00:11:38
    people's motivations clash so i try to
  • 00:11:41
    make sure that each character goes into
  • 00:11:43
    the scene with their own agenda so let a
  • 00:11:45
    scene grow organically by seeing how
  • 00:11:47
    these different needs and wants and
  • 00:11:49
    emotions how all of these things kind of
  • 00:11:51
    conflict with each other now personally
  • 00:11:53
    this is where my visual novels tend to
  • 00:11:55
    change the most a lot of those my new
  • 00:11:57
    little details what motivates who where
  • 00:12:00
    those motivations lead they can
  • 00:12:01
    sometimes lead to i get to a scene and i
  • 00:12:04
    realize this should progress entirely
  • 00:12:06
    differently
  • 00:12:07
    or i get to a certain climax and i
  • 00:12:10
    realize hey this really isn't the climax
  • 00:12:13
    for this character because they have
  • 00:12:14
    this thing but this thing that they say
  • 00:12:16
    they want it's not really what they want
  • 00:12:19
    so i realize i need to give them some
  • 00:12:21
    resolution for some new underpinning
  • 00:12:23
    maybe the arrogant guy
  • 00:12:24
    realizes that his defense mechanism is
  • 00:12:27
    really bad so maybe the resolution for
  • 00:12:29
    his story isn't everyone getting the
  • 00:12:31
    mcguffin
  • 00:12:32
    it's him finally trusting other people
  • 00:12:35
    asking for help and having that be
  • 00:12:38
    rewarded it's a very different visual
  • 00:12:39
    novel from where it may have started and
  • 00:12:41
    at this stage like that's fine for it to
  • 00:12:43
    change just make sure that each step of
  • 00:12:46
    this process as you're changing this
  • 00:12:48
    draft you're changing the outline to
  • 00:12:50
    reflect these changes
  • 00:12:54
    next we have the edit stage which is
  • 00:12:56
    kind of a rough one read through your
  • 00:12:58
    draft which already can be kind of hard
  • 00:13:00
    because
  • 00:13:01
    it's a first draft and then you're going
  • 00:13:03
    to want to start cutting stuff a lot of
  • 00:13:06
    visual novels like to brag my visual
  • 00:13:08
    novel's twice as long as war and peace
  • 00:13:10
    like it sounds really cool
  • 00:13:12
    but right now we just want to have a
  • 00:13:14
    really tight
  • 00:13:16
    really nice story and that means
  • 00:13:18
    trimming out like a lot of the fat we'll
  • 00:13:20
    add some of that stuff back in later
  • 00:13:22
    trust me but for right now we want to
  • 00:13:24
    make this as lean as possible to do that
  • 00:13:26
    reduce multiple lines of dialogue to
  • 00:13:28
    just one really strong line removing
  • 00:13:31
    story tangents that aren't really
  • 00:13:32
    related to the plot or combine
  • 00:13:34
    characters together sometimes you'll
  • 00:13:36
    have
  • 00:13:37
    two to three characters doing the job
  • 00:13:39
    that like just one really good character
  • 00:13:41
    can do so it's not bad to just reduce
  • 00:13:43
    the number of characters in the story
  • 00:13:45
    honestly it's less stuff you need to
  • 00:13:46
    draw it's fewer assets you need to worry
  • 00:13:49
    about later this also goes for story
  • 00:13:51
    locations sometimes you'll have people
  • 00:13:53
    going from location location location
  • 00:13:56
    and each one of those locations is going
  • 00:13:57
    to add a little bit more money to your
  • 00:13:59
    budget because you all of a sudden need
  • 00:14:01
    to make that new asset so if you can
  • 00:14:03
    find places where you can reduce the
  • 00:14:05
    number of locations for scenes that's
  • 00:14:07
    going to end up saving you money in the
  • 00:14:08
    long run and then once things are edited
  • 00:14:10
    down i usually like to do like just
  • 00:14:12
    another quick draft so sometimes you'll
  • 00:14:13
    have scenes later on where it's like oh
  • 00:14:15
    i should foreshadow that a little bit
  • 00:14:17
    let me just tuck some little elements in
  • 00:14:18
    there or if i have a scene that you know
  • 00:14:21
    is a little terse little short maybe
  • 00:14:23
    i'll pat it up a little bit or maybe i
  • 00:14:25
    have a really important plot point later
  • 00:14:27
    on that's really only mentioned once or
  • 00:14:29
    twice in the beginning i'll just add
  • 00:14:31
    some little scenes as i go along just to
  • 00:14:33
    make sure that the readers are
  • 00:14:34
    constantly reminded oh yeah this thing's
  • 00:14:36
    important and it's important that we get
  • 00:14:37
    this main story as nice
  • 00:14:41
    as tight as polished as we can get it
  • 00:14:43
    because now's the part where we're going
  • 00:14:45
    to make it a little bit more complicated
  • 00:14:46
    we're going to turn it from this
  • 00:14:48
    to this
  • 00:14:53
    yes that means this is the branching
  • 00:14:55
    stage and the first branch that we're
  • 00:14:57
    going to make isn't really one that
  • 00:14:59
    we're going to make off of that central
  • 00:15:01
    story outline we're going to start back
  • 00:15:04
    at the beginning even before the outline
  • 00:15:06
    we're going to want to take that story
  • 00:15:07
    seed and we're going to want to plop it
  • 00:15:09
    right at the beginning of that story and
  • 00:15:11
    start outlining
  • 00:15:12
    what the roots of our story really are
  • 00:15:15
    so to go back to that really nice
  • 00:15:17
    looking draft that you just finished and
  • 00:15:19
    start to pay attention to what patterns
  • 00:15:21
    or motifs might be popping up or what
  • 00:15:24
    sort of aspects of this story are things
  • 00:15:26
    that you really want the reader to focus
  • 00:15:29
    on so maybe a lot of characters have you
  • 00:15:31
    know suffered loss so you know loss is
  • 00:15:33
    something you're going to want to add to
  • 00:15:34
    your roots maybe you've had more than
  • 00:15:36
    one character compared to an animal in
  • 00:15:38
    some way some sort of like totem spirit
  • 00:15:40
    and you'd want that to be kind of more
  • 00:15:41
    of a recurring theme going forward or
  • 00:15:43
    maybe writing a romance and you kind of
  • 00:15:45
    realize that all the characters you know
  • 00:15:48
    aside from the romantic entanglements
  • 00:15:50
    involved
  • 00:15:51
    they have kind of more consistent
  • 00:15:53
    internal struggles that they're all
  • 00:15:55
    dealing with at the same time you know
  • 00:15:57
    that's a theme that you're going to want
  • 00:15:58
    to focus on now all these roots are
  • 00:16:00
    going to come out grow and you're going
  • 00:16:02
    to get a map of not just where your
  • 00:16:05
    story's gone
  • 00:16:06
    in a literal sense
  • 00:16:09
    but where it's gone in a figurative
  • 00:16:11
    sense
  • 00:16:12
    what sort of themes that you really want
  • 00:16:14
    this thing to be about what really the
  • 00:16:17
    central conflict is
  • 00:16:19
    and then each branch that you're going
  • 00:16:21
    to make off of that story narrative
  • 00:16:23
    you're going to want to have it be fed
  • 00:16:26
    from all those roots that you just
  • 00:16:28
    created now when you start making those
  • 00:16:30
    branching paths off of a branching
  • 00:16:32
    narrative you're going to want to make
  • 00:16:33
    it the same way that you did the main
  • 00:16:35
    branch you'll start with little story
  • 00:16:37
    ideas turn it into an outline write a
  • 00:16:39
    draft edit it
  • 00:16:41
    and then update those little root themes
  • 00:16:44
    because as you make new branches you're
  • 00:16:46
    probably gonna have new ideas emerge
  • 00:16:48
    and you're gonna do that over and over
  • 00:16:50
    and over again until you get something
  • 00:16:52
    more complicated now the first branch is
  • 00:16:54
    gonna be the longest and toughest one to
  • 00:16:56
    write but it'll still be way easier than
  • 00:16:58
    that main branch not just because it's
  • 00:17:00
    shorter because this time we have this
  • 00:17:01
    central branch as a rubric and we also
  • 00:17:04
    have that outline which is telling us
  • 00:17:06
    what things we need to have change from
  • 00:17:08
    the start of a scene to the end of the
  • 00:17:10
    scene in every little chunk so for
  • 00:17:13
    simplicity's sake we're going to define
  • 00:17:15
    each one of those changes as flags
  • 00:17:17
    variables that change as a character
  • 00:17:19
    moves from scene to scene and they'll
  • 00:17:21
    let you create new branches that work in
  • 00:17:23
    parallel with existing scenes now this
  • 00:17:25
    system one of the major issues that's
  • 00:17:27
    going to crop up as you make new
  • 00:17:28
    branching elements is you're going to
  • 00:17:29
    realize that sometimes you'll have
  • 00:17:31
    unexpected inconsistencies like in an
  • 00:17:34
    earlier branch you're going to introduce
  • 00:17:36
    one character and you don't even realize
  • 00:17:39
    that that's like an important flag you
  • 00:17:41
    don't realize that's an important story
  • 00:17:43
    moment until later on you realize like
  • 00:17:45
    oh that's actually a very important
  • 00:17:46
    character for this thing to happen and
  • 00:17:48
    whenever you find any of those
  • 00:17:49
    consistencies which once you work on one
  • 00:17:52
    branch you're gonna spot a whole bunch
  • 00:17:53
    of them you're just gonna set each one
  • 00:17:55
    of those moments as its own new flag so
  • 00:17:57
    you're just gonna add that list of
  • 00:17:59
    important things that are in that scene
  • 00:18:01
    and then what needs to change it at the
  • 00:18:03
    end so we're gonna keep updating the
  • 00:18:04
    outline as we go on just kind of
  • 00:18:06
    realizing what are important moments now
  • 00:18:08
    once you have that first branch done
  • 00:18:10
    you're gonna spot most of those
  • 00:18:11
    inconsistencies and now each new branch
  • 00:18:14
    is going to be a lot easier to set up
  • 00:18:15
    you can add new branches off of the
  • 00:18:17
    central story path
  • 00:18:19
    off of other branching paths new
  • 00:18:21
    branches that can be both integrated
  • 00:18:23
    separate and parallel with other story
  • 00:18:25
    blocks a new starting branch that might
  • 00:18:27
    lead to a later branch shortcuts from
  • 00:18:30
    one section to another a branch that
  • 00:18:32
    takes you back to an earlier path and
  • 00:18:35
    wow okay this tree metaphor is kind of
  • 00:18:36
    breaking down quick because that's not
  • 00:18:38
    what a tree is supposed to look like but
  • 00:18:41
    just roll with me here however as you
  • 00:18:43
    add each new branch you're gonna wanna
  • 00:18:45
    see how that compares to that central
  • 00:18:48
    story that you set up from the beginning
  • 00:18:50
    so let's say you wanted
  • 00:18:52
    several endings that had even sort of
  • 00:18:54
    weight with that central story this is
  • 00:18:56
    really common with romance stories where
  • 00:18:58
    really the only difference between one
  • 00:19:00
    play-through and the next is you're
  • 00:19:01
    romancing one character versus another
  • 00:19:04
    you don't want to suggest that one's
  • 00:19:06
    like the correct choice one is but you
  • 00:19:08
    want to make that feel unique for each
  • 00:19:10
    new player that comes in in that case we
  • 00:19:12
    want each new branch to kind of end at a
  • 00:19:15
    similar point as that main branch and
  • 00:19:17
    follow a lot of those same story beats
  • 00:19:19
    so we want to use that central story
  • 00:19:21
    path as a map that we're going to base
  • 00:19:24
    every other branch off of so if we're
  • 00:19:25
    playing that dating sim we're going to
  • 00:19:27
    want to have that moment where the
  • 00:19:29
    bookworm girl
  • 00:19:31
    really opens up to the main character
  • 00:19:32
    we're going to want to have that matched
  • 00:19:34
    with a similar dramatic scene with a
  • 00:19:36
    pretty similar amount of intensity to it
  • 00:19:38
    with the sporty girl you know it doesn't
  • 00:19:40
    have to be one-to-one we don't have to
  • 00:19:41
    have the sporty girl necessarily unload
  • 00:19:43
    a new truth onto the main character or
  • 00:19:45
    anything but you still want to hit that
  • 00:19:47
    same emotional intensity so maybe the
  • 00:19:49
    sporty girl breaks a leg and she can't
  • 00:19:51
    finish out the rest of the season and
  • 00:19:52
    now you kind of have to deal with the
  • 00:19:54
    fallout from that maybe the fashionista
  • 00:19:56
    girl from this other branch maybe at
  • 00:19:57
    that point she gets one of her designs
  • 00:19:59
    picked up by a local boutique like these
  • 00:20:01
    are very different sorts of emotions but
  • 00:20:03
    they're along that same line of
  • 00:20:05
    emotional intensity
  • 00:20:07
    and just by having them along those same
  • 00:20:10
    story beats by making sure that one
  • 00:20:12
    isn't much more different in intensity
  • 00:20:14
    than others we can give each storyline a
  • 00:20:17
    similar sort of weight to it
  • 00:20:19
    so one doesn't feel stronger or weaker
  • 00:20:21
    compared to the other ones but if we
  • 00:20:23
    want the different branches to feel like
  • 00:20:25
    you're playing an entirely different
  • 00:20:27
    sort of story and we want to consider
  • 00:20:28
    how the story flow and plot structure
  • 00:20:31
    change for each playthrough like for
  • 00:20:32
    instance if we want the main branch to
  • 00:20:34
    feel like a classic heroes story we do a
  • 00:20:37
    tragedy maybe at this moment where the
  • 00:20:39
    hero does something heroic maybe they
  • 00:20:41
    make a critical mistake and now we can
  • 00:20:43
    follow the trajectory of a tragedy we
  • 00:20:45
    can even end this story right then or
  • 00:20:47
    the hero doing the wrong thing at the
  • 00:20:49
    beginning of the story can turn it into
  • 00:20:51
    a cautionary tale so maybe it's just a
  • 00:20:53
    little offset of that branch we follow
  • 00:20:55
    most of the other steps and then at the
  • 00:20:58
    very end we have the hero fail because
  • 00:21:00
    this critical mistake they had early on
  • 00:21:02
    so these stories have like different
  • 00:21:04
    links to them we have different story
  • 00:21:05
    beats that we want to follow with each
  • 00:21:07
    one of them
  • 00:21:08
    but they're all deriving from this same
  • 00:21:10
    story that we are branching off of now
  • 00:21:12
    even if you're doing a kinetic novel if
  • 00:21:14
    it's just one story going the whole way
  • 00:21:16
    through i think it's worth at least
  • 00:21:17
    considering branching if only because
  • 00:21:20
    we're worried about streamers nowadays
  • 00:21:22
    and if they play through a game and it's
  • 00:21:24
    the same game that everyone else can
  • 00:21:26
    play through if these streamers don't
  • 00:21:28
    have a chance where they can kind of
  • 00:21:30
    express their individuality in some way
  • 00:21:32
    it can make the process like a little
  • 00:21:33
    bit less fun for them to participate in
  • 00:21:36
    and you want people streaming your game
  • 00:21:38
    so even just giving little options
  • 00:21:40
    things that don't change that central
  • 00:21:42
    story branch that much but just little
  • 00:21:45
    things little diversions in a story that
  • 00:21:48
    can lead to the same section later on
  • 00:21:50
    that can be enough to give some varied
  • 00:21:52
    gameplay to make it a little bit more
  • 00:21:53
    appealing to streamers and on a story
  • 00:21:56
    side i think that introducing
  • 00:21:59
    new branches little offshoots that you
  • 00:22:01
    can do that lead back into a central
  • 00:22:03
    branch make it so the path to the end is
  • 00:22:06
    a little bit more winding that can be
  • 00:22:08
    more than enough to make a streamer see
  • 00:22:10
    the value in doing a unique play through
  • 00:22:15
    [Music]
  • 00:22:16
    also at this stage is a little mini
  • 00:22:18
    stage i like to call graph thing how i
  • 00:22:20
    was just talking about creating variety
  • 00:22:23
    in your story by introducing like little
  • 00:22:25
    variable story paths you'd also kind of
  • 00:22:27
    do that by integrating gameplay in your
  • 00:22:29
    visual novel but the trouble i found is
  • 00:22:32
    that early on when you're doing the
  • 00:22:33
    outline stage you can have a very good
  • 00:22:35
    idea for a type of game that you want to
  • 00:22:37
    integrate but as time goes on you might
  • 00:22:40
    realize maybe this game doesn't work
  • 00:22:42
    maybe the story doesn't really need it
  • 00:22:44
    and that's kind of a sucky thing to
  • 00:22:46
    learn
  • 00:22:47
    after you've spent a lot of time trying
  • 00:22:49
    to make this game work so i usually like
  • 00:22:51
    to wait until i'm planning all the
  • 00:22:53
    branching stuff before i start really
  • 00:22:55
    heavily planning out that part of
  • 00:22:56
    gameplay and part of it's just a
  • 00:22:58
    production thing if this is a
  • 00:23:00
    game that i'm only going to use once
  • 00:23:02
    during a non-important story moment i'll
  • 00:23:05
    kind of realize how long the visual
  • 00:23:07
    novel is getting and i'll go you know
  • 00:23:10
    maybe i can cut that maybe that's not
  • 00:23:11
    worth it or alternatively you could
  • 00:23:13
    realize there's a story event that seems
  • 00:23:16
    to happen like over and over and over
  • 00:23:17
    again and i realized oh i can actually
  • 00:23:20
    kind of replace this with a somewhat
  • 00:23:22
    procedural system that would be good as
  • 00:23:25
    a game
  • 00:23:28
    finally we come to kind of one of the
  • 00:23:30
    most fun parts of the process
  • 00:23:33
    is a stage i like to call the twig stage
  • 00:23:36
    so once you have all your main branches
  • 00:23:38
    made your roots mapped out you should
  • 00:23:40
    have a whole entire picture
  • 00:23:42
    of what your visual novel's about so now
  • 00:23:45
    go back to everything that you cut
  • 00:23:47
    abandon storylines bits of dialogue that
  • 00:23:50
    you liked that you had to remove loose
  • 00:23:52
    ideas from your idea seeds and see if
  • 00:23:55
    any of them fit within the themes that
  • 00:23:58
    you've outlined earlier in your roots
  • 00:24:00
    because we're going to repurpose them as
  • 00:24:01
    story twigs that's a term that i've made
  • 00:24:03
    up for just little
  • 00:24:05
    story bits that i like to kind of salt
  • 00:24:08
    and pepper throughout my narrative it's
  • 00:24:09
    like optional bosses or side quests we
  • 00:24:12
    want to reward readers who really enjoy
  • 00:24:15
    what they're reading for delving into
  • 00:24:17
    the story a little bit more but we don't
  • 00:24:19
    want to give them penalties for skipping
  • 00:24:21
    it none of these little story bits are
  • 00:24:22
    imperative to understand the plot going
  • 00:24:25
    forward but they should just be
  • 00:24:27
    something that people enjoy when they
  • 00:24:29
    can come across it and we want all these
  • 00:24:31
    things to add back into the central
  • 00:24:33
    themes of your visual novel then you
  • 00:24:35
    have some new characters that kind of
  • 00:24:37
    parallel stuff that's happening in the
  • 00:24:39
    main plot little side stories that give
  • 00:24:41
    us details about the world the
  • 00:24:43
    characters inhabit have side characters
  • 00:24:45
    comment on things happening in the plot
  • 00:24:47
    stories they can pull off of a bookshelf
  • 00:24:49
    someplace anything that you want that
  • 00:24:51
    you feel like enriches the entire story
  • 00:24:55
    really signal to the reader that these
  • 00:24:57
    are optional things like you don't want
  • 00:25:00
    to lock a reader out of like a good main
  • 00:25:02
    branch because it was very important to
  • 00:25:05
    the story that they read this book off
  • 00:25:07
    the bookshelf when there's like 80 other
  • 00:25:10
    books on that bookshelf even if you want
  • 00:25:12
    your visual novel to be challenging to
  • 00:25:14
    get through there's a difference between
  • 00:25:15
    challenging and annoying if you're
  • 00:25:17
    training your reader that they need to
  • 00:25:20
    click every single little thing check
  • 00:25:22
    out every little side plot if they want
  • 00:25:24
    to get to a good ending you're not
  • 00:25:26
    making these little story details feel
  • 00:25:29
    fun and rewarding to find you're making
  • 00:25:32
    them feel tedious and a little tiring
  • 00:25:35
    and we want these things to be fun
  • 00:25:36
    because these are the rewards for your
  • 00:25:38
    die hard fans you know hide fun little
  • 00:25:41
    details in here you know go crazy with
  • 00:25:43
    it if a character is like deathly afraid
  • 00:25:45
    of popcorn for some reason you know you
  • 00:25:47
    can add the explanation in here you
  • 00:25:48
    don't have to explain the primary plot
  • 00:25:50
    again remove a lot of that fat and you
  • 00:25:53
    can transfer it out to this part of the
  • 00:25:55
    story and if you have readers that
  • 00:25:57
    really love your work
  • 00:25:59
    they are really going to clamp on to
  • 00:26:01
    this part of your visual novel but if
  • 00:26:04
    you have people who just kind of like
  • 00:26:06
    your story this is going to make it a
  • 00:26:08
    little bit easier for them to handle and
  • 00:26:10
    heck maybe it'll incentivize them to go
  • 00:26:12
    back to find things that they missed
  • 00:26:13
    later on
  • 00:26:17
    now a little caveat to this process what
  • 00:26:19
    if you have multiple writers working on
  • 00:26:21
    this so you'll want to divide the work
  • 00:26:23
    amongst the group but you're going to
  • 00:26:24
    want to make it collaborative they're
  • 00:26:25
    all doing mini versions of this same
  • 00:26:28
    sort of process on the outline part just
  • 00:26:30
    do that collaboratively once we get to
  • 00:26:32
    the drafting stage that's when you can
  • 00:26:34
    divide it into different chunks so going
  • 00:26:36
    in if you know that there are certain
  • 00:26:38
    things you need to happen before you get
  • 00:26:40
    into a scene and things that need to
  • 00:26:42
    change by the end of the scene you just
  • 00:26:44
    need to make each writer's chunk of work
  • 00:26:46
    fit together like legos once you put the
  • 00:26:48
    pieces together go through the editing
  • 00:26:50
    stage collaboratively so have everyone
  • 00:26:52
    read through it
  • 00:26:54
    have everyone take a stab at editing it
  • 00:26:56
    maybe have different writers edit
  • 00:26:58
    different chunks of the writer's story
  • 00:26:59
    or have a separate editor that can just
  • 00:27:01
    go through the whole thing and then you
  • 00:27:03
    can adjust the story bible the character
  • 00:27:06
    cards the outline just update that at
  • 00:27:09
    that stage now once you've edited that
  • 00:27:11
    draft and gotten it to a good stage
  • 00:27:13
    divide out branches to different writers
  • 00:27:15
    and again at every stage once everyone
  • 00:27:17
    kind of adds their work to it and as
  • 00:27:20
    long as you divide stuff pretty evenly
  • 00:27:21
    hopefully everyone should be finished
  • 00:27:23
    like around the same time every new
  • 00:27:25
    thing that comes into it just
  • 00:27:26
    collectively look stuff over
  • 00:27:29
    look for any mistakes or discrepancies
  • 00:27:31
    mark new flags that might be there and
  • 00:27:34
    edit the outline whenever you need to
  • 00:27:36
    and then hopefully once you have all
  • 00:27:37
    those branches made the twig stage you
  • 00:27:39
    can kind of just go crazy any little
  • 00:27:42
    idea that the writer has as long as it
  • 00:27:44
    supports that main
  • 00:27:46
    narrative as long as it reflects the
  • 00:27:48
    themes that are in the roots your
  • 00:27:50
    writers can kind of just do whatever
  • 00:27:51
    they want at that stage you know just
  • 00:27:53
    let them have fun with it this is their
  • 00:27:55
    victory lap
  • 00:27:56
    so hi me again from later on in this
  • 00:27:58
    video i guess now that i've gone through
  • 00:27:59
    my entire writing process from start to
  • 00:28:01
    finish i can let you know where i'm at
  • 00:28:03
    currently in that process i have a
  • 00:28:05
    little walking engine that i enjoy that
  • 00:28:07
    i think readers would like but there's
  • 00:28:09
    not really any reason for the readers to
  • 00:28:13
    actually explore the world at this stage
  • 00:28:15
    i'm going to take this later story
  • 00:28:17
    branch i'm going to kind of merge it in
  • 00:28:20
    with that section i'm going to make the
  • 00:28:22
    mini game a framing element for all of
  • 00:28:24
    this so i'm taking these story elements
  • 00:28:27
    and instead of treating them as
  • 00:28:29
    just a thing every reader's gonna go
  • 00:28:31
    through i'm gonna make it like its own
  • 00:28:33
    story branch that branches off of that
  • 00:28:36
    mini game god i hope this is all making
  • 00:28:38
    sense it's very abstract at this stage
  • 00:28:41
    but like i i feel like it's gonna work
  • 00:28:43
    out okay so in a later video i'll
  • 00:28:46
    probably go over what exactly this
  • 00:28:48
    project is for now if you want to see my
  • 00:28:50
    whole process for actually making visual
  • 00:28:52
    novels in renpi the engine i'm using for
  • 00:28:54
    tomb gamer you can go ahead and check
  • 00:28:56
    out a video over here and i have a lot
  • 00:28:58
    more videos on how to actually bring
  • 00:29:01
    visual novels from the writing stage to
  • 00:29:03
    completion so be sure to check them out
الوسوم
  • romance visual
  • narrativa ramificada
  • ideia inicial
  • esboço
  • edição
  • motivações dos personagens
  • integração de jogabilidade
  • story twigs
  • colaboração de escritores