My brain constantly conjures these random out-of-context scenes, so what I do is write them down when they appear, and then figure out later how they all fit together.
It is a plotting-stage thing though, I agree.
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I think it’s just the matter of getting excited for writing a particular scene.
I don’t do it because a lot of context that comes from one scene flowing into another gets lost if you write out of order. And all the stuff I get inspired for, I end up rewriting like 90% of when editing later on.
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That’s me tho fr. I had one large scene I wrote out, then when the time came to put it in, I rewrote most of it because it wouldn’t fit otherwise.
It doesn’t help that I’ll have my writing playlist going and a track comes on that inspires me, so I end up writing more things out of context and needing to figure out where it goes, even when I’ve finished drafting.
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I keep thinking about this. I already write a bunch in outlines so this would just be another, relatively small step to it. The only thing that makes me hesitate from doing something similar is that I add a lot to each scene as I’m writing it that wasn’t planned in the outline phase, so I won’t be able to anticipate all the code that goes into it beforehand nor if the plot will maintain the same direction
Are code skeletons common for experienced choicescript writers? If so, I might try my hand at it. Not to say that it’s better, some great writers don’t even make outlines, but it might make things easier/quicker
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I do it - usually one chapter at a time, though I did two at a time at one point in Honor Bound and it worked very well doing such a large chunk of code, so I might do something similar again. I’m not sure if I would do a whole game in one go that way - that sounds rather intimidating for me, and I like swapping between the type of work I’m doing every so often.
Recently I wrote a blog post about my usual process if that’s of interest! People do things very differently though, it’s just a case of seeing what works best. I feel like I’ve seen several authors saying they do the code and writing at the same time.
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I did a bit more rewriting of Chapter One, going through the initial part of the jail scenes. Now, I am just trying to figure out how I want to implement the jobs (either having the job choices mixed up with the event choices or splitting the events up into three parts and having jobs between each part),
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I prefer flowcharts over code skeletons, but I’m also not an experienced CS writer by any metric.
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I used to just stick to flow charts, but I’ve found that as my branching’s gotten more complex and involved over time, a code skeleton makes it a lot easier for me to organise extremely complicated conditional trees and less linear hub-and-spoke systems.
It also lets me get a preliminary idea of what the game will play like ahead of time as well.
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The worse part of writing is after an evening of not being able to decide how to approach something in your game/story, then as you’re walking to work the next morning your brain decides that is the perfect time to come to a decision and the ideas flow when you’re away from your computer and you are forced to jot notes down on your phone.
Sigh. I want to write but I’m stuck at work until 4:45pm (and it’s only 12:34pm here in Blighty 
)
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Same! I get my best ideas while walking, but instead of writing them down, I just keep repeating them in my head, until I remember.
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My wife, who is working on a four-book series, is experimenting with a little audio recorder for capturing ideas. It adds a step where you have to review and write down what you recorded, but it helps when something occurs to her when we are out on a walk or notionally asleep.
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Can anyone ever truly be an “experienced choicescript writer”? After working on these in an armature capacity for around 5 or 6 years now, I’m still constantly finding better ways to do things. That said, last few updates on Sense & Sorcery and Dice & Dungeon Masters I used skeletons to at least a minor extent, and find them really useful, especially for the sandbox sections. It gives a good start point where I can easily add in more content with further updates and helps offer queues to make me remember what I was about.
Yeah, that happens all the time, usually at the start of my shift, and then sadly by the end of work half the time it is lost to the ages due to whatever chaos and havok was happening at work moving to dominate my mind.
Same with the getting a lot of ideas on walks - it’s a great way to mull things over and envision the scenes and plots. Though yeah, my problem is the remembering what I came up with. If it seems good enough I’ll sometimes add notes on my phone, but I probably should start keeping a pocket notebook on hand again, as you never know when inspiration will strike.
Other than for really simple plots, I haven’t used flow charts to much, but I can see the appeal. Probably was mentioned on the forum somewhere before, but are there good programs for flow charting that people particularly like?
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Thats why I try and make notes as often as I can work can be the destroyer of creativity when things get crazy,
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Me being taught to use them in my software design courses, plus me preferring the visualization they provide, probably helps.
I have software that is passable, but wouldn’t call any something that I particularly like. If I could have paper with edge scrolling (and zooming), I’d prefer that.
(…I am having an urge to have “code skeletons” in-game… as in, actual skeletons as programmers. Well, I already have a literal skeleton crew, so…)
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I’d still be doing this if I didn’t have a constant stream of people going “okay, so the size of your shirt and the way it falls on your torso implies a 29-30 inch natural waist, are you wearing low-rise or a classic waist?”
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I was advised that this is because of how the brain works. It helps a lot with creativity to get away from your normal. I was advised that whenever you get stuck on your writing to go somewhere you normally don’t sit to write and write there instead. Even a different room in the house can do this if you always write in the same room. This has been true for me every time. I’ve written outside, in other rooms, at other houses, and a park. It has something about your brain not being in a comfortable place that makes it work harder or something like that.
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Yeah, it’s quite amazing. I’ve managed some essays and stuff I’ve been stuck with by simply going to another room.
Of course if you have only one place where you can work comfortably, you may need to decide whether the back pain and the like you’ll get are worth the tradeoff.
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Transferred my notes into my game either fully, rewritten or added as skeleton code.
Heading to bed for now, my next challenge is to figure out how the player will now choose the first way they follow. As originally it is something decided when you meet up with Little John and Will Scarlet which now won’t happen until Chapter Two.
My initial thought it to have them taught to Robin by Friar Tuck (as he is part of the Merry Men and would obviously know them). I’ll sleep on it for now.
In the meantime here is the revised description of my favourite original character Nell.
Meet Nell
Nell is just under five feet tall, her messy red hair fell past her shoulders, framing a pretty but not quite beautiful face. It is the eyes that people find so alluring, a bright blue almost as vivid as the sky itself. It is that or her golden skin, akin to honey that gave the courtesan a certain mystique, that she knew exactly how to wield, even while wearing those drab prison rags.
I like the imagery at the moment but I’d still like to tweak some of the words I’ve chosen as she deserves the right words to describe her.
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This is slightly embarrassing, but could one of the friendly neighbourhood mods unlock my Blood of the Living thread? I, uh, wrote Chapter Three and need somewhere to say that.
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