itch.io

Hey, thanks for the compliments and replies! It warms my heart with gratitude! 😍

As of the moment, half of my visual novels are bite-sized reading experiences that can be read in less than 5 minutes.

This is because they were either made for game jams, I wanted to show off my art, or I couldn’t think of anything to expand upon the story and left them as is. 

Also, that was me starting out making them and trying to keep them short and to the point because I overworked myself with the first one I published to itch. 

The other main reason I would create mini VNs was because I would be taking 2 months or more making my longer visual novels that I wanted to publish something short in the meantime to give something out to the players and to my followers and for myself.

Now, after making visual novels for almost a year, I am at a point where I’m relying on my stories rather than game jams to push myself through to the finish line in the creation of them. 

And that’s how I was able to start and finish my longer visual novels because I had that foundation of the story being written out that I could then create art and music with that vision in mind without fear of it failing or changing. 

Of course, I learned the importance of scope through my projects, and my last one was definitely my most ambitious project yet. 

Therefore, it’s important to think about how much is in your story and narrow down the characters, places, and plot points to make the visual novel more easier to manage and achieve. 

That’s why I focus on short stories in particular because I can follow a plot diagram. Yet, most of my stories, if not all of them, are character-driven stories, too. So, I think about the why behind why characters are in this story, why they are doing what they are doing, and what is the main conflict in their lives that makes their story uniquely their own. 

That’s how you can extract and give meaning to a story by making the plot of the story meaningful to both you and the characters of that world. Plot is simply a character trying to achieve a goal or desire of some kind, and something is in their way. The story ends when it reaches that conclusion. 

Those are my words of wisdom anyway.

Regardless, I was thinking of making a YouTube video about my journey and the lessons I’ve learned from this side hobby of mine that is also a passion of mine too. 

Even though I created more visual novels than you, you’re also ahead of the game too in terms of art, dedication, and programming knowledge.

I tried learning Godot, and I gave up early on. I’m still learning art, and I’ve yet to pick up my violin and learn music again. So, I have a long ways to go, but it’s about the journey, not the destination.