I Wrote a Novel, Now What? A Visual Novel Writer’s Pro Tips for Honing Your Skills

Every year, we emerge from NaNo with a better understanding of ourselves as writers, and new goals for the months to come. Today, visual novel writer and NaNo participant Cara Hillstock shares her thoughts on the many skills it takes to craft a great story, and how to prepare for the “next steps”:

I’m staring across the abyss at what I’d like to call my finished novel. It’s a mess—a tangle of loosely collected plot threads, hesitant relationships, and symbolic themes as potent as the flowers on an old lady’s wallpaper. On the other side of thirty days, I have a half-finished novel in hand and a deepening frustration with the age old advice for writers seeking to improve: “Just write.”

You see, when I’m not driving myself to the edge of madness with a thirty-day novel-writing binge, I’m a video game author and editor. I primarily work in visual novels—a type of video game that mirrors a Choose Your Own Adventure novel, except that one interacts directly with the characters and the choices made come back to haunt you.

The ‘visual’ aspect of a visual novel means descriptions are redundant. The reader can see everything worth describing onscreen. Instead, visual novels use potent dialogue to move the story forward and meaningful choices that trigger players to reflect on the consequences of their decisions.

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