Narrative

A visual novel's narrative is the overall story it tells, especially via the written word. It includes choices presented to the player, the branching structure of the story and its endings (or single ending, in the case of a kinetic novel). While writing and editing are often seen as cornerstones of visual novel narratives, the best narratives seamlessly integrate other assets such as art, audio, and gameplay.

Features of visual novel narratives

Visual novels are a complex medium, with a unique blend of characteristics.

Like traditional novels, visual novels have a heavy emphasis on text as a medium for conveying information to the reader. However, they also have multiple other channels of communication - such as sprite expressions, CGs, and audio (or lack thereof) - which can be used to impact the player's emotions, perceptions, and understandings. Information can be conveyed:

• via writing only
• via art only
• via audio only
• or via a combination of these methods.

Each combination of information channels can create unique effects or perceptions in the player. (Please note, however, the importance of accessibility features to ensure that all players can experience the totality of your narrative.)

Visual novels are self-paced, similar to media such as comics or traditional novels, in that the reader can choose how quickly or slowly to progress the story. This is distinct from media like film, TV, or podcasts, where there is an inherent time-based element. Self-pacing allows the reader to engage more deeply in the narrative and easily re-experience parts of it as they wish.

Most visual novels are also non-linear, allowing for a wide range of branching structures as well as more than one ending. Non-linearity is a very unique aspect of visual novel writing. It allows the player direct control over the narrative, creating a highly intimate experience. Multiple paths through a narrative allow the player to explore different themes, characters, alternate realities, or other variations on the same story.

Narrative development process

The life of a visual novel narrative begins, naturally, from an idea. Initial concepts could be any part of a story, from a character's personality or quirk, to an interesting worldbuilding concept, to an idea for how to use visual novel mechanics in an unusual way, to a plot twist. Ideas are then workshopped, revised, or built upon to develop the full concept for the game. Developmental editors specialize in assisting with this process.

Before writing begins in earnest, it is generally recommended to have a plan for the overall flow of the narrative, such as major plot beats, themes, and estimated word/scene count. Such details might be reflected in an outline. Different writers have different styles with regard to this type of planning. Some prefer to meticulously plan out every scene before beginning to write anything that may appear in the final game; others prefer a much looser structure, sorting out details as they come up in the writing process. These differences are sometimes referred to as being a "planner" or a "pantser", the latter word coming from the expression "flying by the seat of your pants", which means to do something without a plan.

It is common for written material to be revised multiple times. Revision is often a collaborative process between the writer, editor, and other staff with creative authority on the project (such as a creative director). Each team will have their own workflow, based on the type of revisions needed, preferences of the narrative team, necessary speed, and other factors. Revision may include proofreading for misspellings and punctuation errors, ensuring continuity, adjusting the tone or emotional impact of scenes, or even adding or removing scenes, characters, or subplots entirely.

Many other parts of the development process rely on having information about the narrative before they can be completed (or sometimes even started). For example, the exact text of the narrative should be finalized before beginning to record voice acting, at the risk of having to re-record lines (which can be expensive and time consuming). Scene direction relies on having characters' dialogue, emotional states, and physical actions set relatively firmly. Small tweaks such as phrasing for clarity or removing typos, however, usually do not disrupt the scene direction process. Art, also, relies on the narrative to determine how to craft character designs, which parts of the narrative will warrant CGs, and so on.

Because the narrative is liable to hold up the progress of many other types of assets, it is essential for the narrative team to have good project management. This will help ensure that delays do not cascade and impact the entire production process.