And welcome to my first real post. I’ve been lurking on the forum for too long.
This is likely answered elsewhere, but in all my digging, I haven’t discovered a concrete answer. But…is there an optimal time in your development to start sharing your project? How many of you start sharing your ideas and concepts before even writing? After outlining? After chapter one? After 50% of the book is done? At what point do you open it up for beta testing? From the beginning? Or do you wait until it’s completely done?
I’m curious about everyone’s personal approach. It might give me the courage to start sharing or let me know I should wait.
I’m not a writer or author so I have no personal experience but I’d just recommend uploading whenever your happy with your work, people tend to upload their stories with only the prologue or sometimes with multiple chapters so their isn’t really a criteria.
If you have the whole story planned out with a clear idea of where it’s headed and a chapter to go with it then your golden.
Also uploading with the story in it’s earlier stages could mean you might receive feedback that changes the whole story itself.
I’d recommend asking these sorts of questions in the writers thread, definitely very helpful people over there.
ALSO I believe authors do beta testing right before submitting to HG.
Also, yeah, I put this in the “development” channel, because that’s how I often view creating one of these books. But it probably would be better placed in the writer’s area.
I started sharing as soon as I got the prologue done. It’s never too soon to start building up a fanbase, and now I have people eagerly awaiting the next installment.
I tend to put something up once I’ve written two or three chapters or so - by that point I both feel solid about what I’m doing, as well as it being useful to get feedback before everything is set in stone. For my first project I didn’t share anything until the full beta, and that’s probably what I’ll be doing with my NDA project now, but for other cases I prefer showing people stuff so I can get a sense of what’s landing best.
Good advice. I’m considering just waiting until it’s done, but I see the value is getting feedback at this stage as well, to root out anything wrong before getting even further into development. I’m torn, but learning a lot about other people’s processes is helpful.
When to show your work is something that feels like it varies a lot from people to people, for sure. So I agree that there isn’t an optimal time to show it.
Personally, I thrive out of interactions with people. Those responses keep my motivation up and let me get out of my head, as I tend to overthink. Not to mention, criticism and feedback also helps with identifying what type of self-criticism you have is valid or not. Both don’t seem like they apply to you, with how much you have done already, haha.
Though, the argument for starting early, as soon as you have a settled idea and a working start, is very much what was pointed out by @Jonathan_Bagelman, the fact that it helps build a following. Every update is more time your thread and demo spends up in the recent topics, which helps get more eyeballs on it. Also, same reason why shows are going back to weekly releases. It’s more time your project spends on people’s minds as they discuss and wait for the next update. But that’s about the only strategic aspect I can think to this decision. Everything else is just how you feel, I think.
I’ll likely end up revising whatever I’ve shared significantly as I write & refine my story further. I was wondering how disruptive it would be to my readers if they had to start the demo from scratch? Does anyone have any experience on this?
I have several demos that I check regularly for updates, but even if I like them so much, I accumulate updates for about six months? Because I tried playing when they just updated, and very soon I get tired of starting over from the first page over and over and over again. So, in my opinion, the best options are 1) slow updates, but in large portions; 2) regular updates, but with quick access to new chapters, where you can create a character, adjust statistics and important variables, and immediately move on to new content. I think readers will appreciate the latter the most.
Fascinating and very helpful content, thank you. I’ve not yet moved to the business of wrangling Choicescript, but I suspect my greatest difficulties will arise there. Interesting to think about content update vs. fixing UI errors
There’s no single “right” time. Share once you have something you’re comfortable showing and are open to feedback. Many people start with just a prologue or early chapters, others wait until a solid demo exists. Sharing early can help shape the project through feedback, but waiting longer gives you more control. Do what fits your confidence and workflow.
I have 4 chapters done of a project outlined for 8, which is why I’m thinking about possibly sharing what I have.