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Post by bloodbeasthandler on Sept 18, 2021 7:06:11 GMT
A question directed at anyone who has written a gamebook (whether on an amateur basis or a professional one).
Could you describe the process from start to finish?
Having decided to write one, and no doubt with a number of ideas circling and crystallising in your head... what next?
Is it more or less planned out from the start?
Do you think in terms of an over-arching plot or let the story wend its way as it will?
Do you think in terms of interesting set-pieces which will challenge the reader and make them think and have an impact on them?
If you are already holding down a job or have other significant commitments, where do you find the time to think and write?
Do you dedicate certain hours of the day to writing and thinking? Do you write it ‘all in one go’ not stopping til it’s finished.. or add here and there as the mood takes you over a number of weeks or months? How to keep up momentum and not just let the project fizzle out?[maybe ‘easier’ for professionals – you’ll have a deadline]. And keeping disciplined – do you set a minimum number of words per day?
Mechanics – do you use flow charts? How? How to keep track of stats and what sort of state a player-character might be in at certain points in the books? How much playtesting and looking for bugs do you do? Would you get the book playtested by friends and family or not?
How to get feedback and what sort is most useful?
And when the project is ‘done’ do you go back and make amendments, tweaks? Or leave it be?
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Post by philsadler on Sept 18, 2021 7:51:06 GMT
A question directed at anyone who has written a gamebook (whether on an amateur basis or a professional one). Could you describe the process from start to finish? Having decided to write one, and no doubt with a number of ideas circling and crystallising in your head... what next? Is it more or less planned out from the start? From the start.
Do you think in terms of an over-arching plot or let the story wend its way as it will? I start with the plot but I will certainly bend it here and there as I get other ideas.
Do you think in terms of interesting set-pieces which will challenge the reader and make them think and have an impact on them? Absolutely. Anything interesting I can think of, anything fun.
If you are already holding down a job or have other significant commitments, where do you find the time to think and write? That's the one good thing about being amateur: don't have to worry about time.
Do you dedicate certain hours of the day to writing and thinking? Do you write it ‘all in one go’ not stopping til it’s finished.. or add here and there as the mood takes you over a number of weeks or months? How to keep up momentum and not just let the project fizzle out?[maybe ‘easier’ for professionals – you’ll have a deadline]. And keeping disciplined – do you set a minimum number of words per day? I write whenever I feel like it. I don't think you can force yourself.
Mechanics – do you use flow charts? How? Nope. All in the head and on a map and in the notes.
How to keep track of stats and what sort of state a player-character might be in at certain points in the books? I just assume they have 'average' stats.
How much playtesting and looking for bugs do you do? Tons. Or people will 'hate' you.
Would you get the book playtested by friends and family or not? There are a few Facebook groups which sometimes help.
How to get feedback and what sort is most useful? I send them to blogs and to various FB and FF groups and hope for the best.
And when the project is ‘done’ do you go back and make amendments, tweaks? Or leave it be? When it's done it's done because I've already playtested it. I'll go back if an obvious error rears its head.
1.) Well first of all I come up with an idea (it's probably best to do a sequel to an FF book you love for your first attempt).
2.) Decide what items are essential/very usesful and place them all over 1/2 A4 sheets of squared paper.
3.) Place favourite monsters/tricks/traps/riddles guarding each one of them.
4.) Place skill/stamina/luck near each place where they will be tested/lost.
5.) Place a few instant deaths here and there.
6.) Red herrings.
7.) Place information.
8.) Keys?
9) Have fun filling in the rest of the map.
I've attached maps from my first book but they're not great quality. For better ones go to here and the bottom of the page:
Attachments:img077.bmp (890.11 KB)
img078.bmp (877.61 KB)
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Post by philsadler on Sept 18, 2021 7:53:11 GMT
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Post by a moderator on Sept 18, 2021 16:52:10 GMT
With Return to the Icefinger Mountains I pretty much started with the end and worked backwards. First off, I flowcharted the climax. That way, I knew everything the reader would have to acquire in order to succeed, so I could then work out different set pieces to set the plot in motion and provide all the required items and information. Some of those created the need for other items or data, which meant coming up with further set pieces to make them available. Once they were all flowcharted, I knew how many sections were already accounted for and how many were still needed, and could come up with non-essential set pieces and connective material to tie everything together and make up the numbers. By the time I started properly writing, I had it all worked out. But no plan survives the writing process intact. As I started turning the ideas into written words, things changed, became more complicated. My 200-section outline grew to 250, and then to 275. I wrote it for National Novel Writing Month, as that set a strict deadline and daily target word counts for the first draft, and those constraints helped motivate me to keep going when I could have got bogged down. There were four main editing passes once I'd finished the first draft. - Basic polish. Improving the sub-par passages I'd settled for because of the time constraints. Tweaking the dialogue written before I'd properly got the characters' voices worked out. Lots of renumbering necessitated by those additional 75 sections.
- Fixing bugs and fine-tuning playability once I'd thoroughly playtested it (and by 'thoroughly playtesting' I mean playing through every conceivable path the reader could take).
- After I received the illustrations, modifying the text to more closely match the pictures where they didn't fully match up. Except for the one instance where amending the artwork was going to be pretty easy, and changing the words would have necessitated substantial alterations to the timeline and setting.
- Responding to feedback from the Fantazine playtester. Mostly minor stuff, but one section did double in length in order to clarify something that made perfect sense to me as the writer, but puzzled the playtester.
I was unemployed when I wrote it, so making time wasn't an issue. I've done work on two or three other titles since then, but now that I have more demands on my time, getting finished is proving much more of a struggle.
When collaborating with other FF fans on the humorous Yellow Snow saga, there was a lot more making things up as I went along, as other writers' contributions would often inspire new ideas. There was still some planning, but with a lot more flexibility built in. One path through the endgame changed drastically (and for the better) as a result of Per Jorner's riffing on The Ring at an earlier stage of the adventure.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,458
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Sept 19, 2021 16:09:35 GMT
I do a bit of brainstorming about plot, characters, encounters, traps and vital items and information. I then narrow down what exactly I want the plot to be and what I want the player to do to achieve a successful ending and if there will be any special rules. If it's a dungeon adventure, I start drawing out the dungeon (just free hand, I don't really worry about scales). If it's overland, I'll either draw a map of the area or work off an existing map.
I then do a very high-level flow chart of the main paths and which encounters, items and information will be down each one. If there are any in-depth encounters with a lot of variables, I do some mini flowcharts for them. I then start writing the gamebook out in a very brief form like this:
And so on. I refer to my broad flow charts and maps when doing this but sometimes I'll come up with something on the fly.
Once I've written the whole thing out this way (I usually aim for minimum of 25 sections a day), I try to increase or decrease the section count to a round number if it's not too hard. I then start writing out in full in Word. I set myself a target of 5 sections per day minimum. This might not seem like much, but I find anything higher means I find writing each day a bit daunting and projects get abandoned. I sometimes write more in a day, but never let myself write less. I also avoid doing stuff like "I'll just do 2 today but do 8 tomorrow". If due to circumstances I miss a day, I do a minimum of one extra section per day until I am back on track.
When it's all typed up, I start copying it into a gamebook program - I use Advelh just becuase it's what I've always used though it's kinda hard to find these days and I know other authors prefer other programs. Then when it's all in, I use Advelh's system to mix the sections up and do a proximity check. Any section numbers that are answers to puzzles, I make sure are not included in the mix up. I then export it back to Word.
Next stage is playtesting and tinkering. I generally give myself a week or two for this. I tend to like multiple viable paths in my gamebooks so I try to make all pathways fair without any being too easy.
Once that's done, proofreading and editing. I aim to do 25 sections a day of this. It's easily the bit of the process I hate most.
Then I write the rules and proofread those. Generally I copy and paste from what I've done before here and just modify if need be.
Once I'm satisfied with how it all plays and reads, I make the go-to sections clickable then export to a PDF.
As for when I have time to do it, I wrote my last gamebook while my partner was pregnant. I now have a daughter who allows me about 20 minutes of free time a day and I generally don't want to spend them writing gamebooks. Maybe when she's older!
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Post by tyrion on Sept 26, 2021 12:47:55 GMT
I have the overarching plot in place from the start. There may be minor tweaks here and there as I write, such as a minor encounter may have more impact than originally intended (e.g. you might befriend the hyena instead of attacking it, and it follows you around). Sometimes ideas get changed; I had a maze in one area, but ditched it for a series of puzzles instead.
Around this, I will put interesting set pieces, such as an archaeological dig site, a temple and so on.
I flowcharted the first two, just using pencil and paper. You can use twine if that suits you better. I'm trying something different at the moment, where I have written the story out in acts, so act one is travelling to the town, act two is an undead attack in the town at night, act three is searching for clues and so on. I've not done a flowchart for any of this, I just wrote down some ideas for each act and went from there. But if you're just starting out, I think doing a flowchart is easier.
I don't have items that are essential for victory; if you are missing a key item, I just make it harder for you to progress (e.g. if you don't have the magical amulet, the fight will be harder).
I'm terms of health points, I go off an average of what the character might lose in each fight/encounter, and make sure there are ways of healing along the way.
I work part time, so write for one morning a week. I'm in no rush, but I do try to finish a scene rather than leaving half way through.
I'm fortunate that I'm writing for dragon warriors so have lots of playtesters and proofreaders (and an editor!) available. Facebook is a good way of getting in touch with playtesters and proofreaders, people on there are always willing to help. Anyone with a good grasp of English (or whatever language you are writing in!) can proofread, but you need someone with an understanding of the game system to playtest.
Once that's done, it's time for artwork and cover. I just buy stock art off drivethrurpg, although I use the same artist throughout a book for consistency of style.
Once it's published, it's done. I don't make any changes after, unless a mistake has been spotted (such as a hyperlink not working).
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