How can I get other people invested in my story when they don’t know all the fun things that will happen in it?
hello o greatly wise seal, please help this novice writer out; literally do not know to even begin a story... like. I know about every Spicy and Fun thing that will happen so i am invested. how to make other people invested??? specially when this interactive novel has a self insert MC. i cannot possibly incluse every choice under the sun to make the mc they will love... but i want them invested in the main character. the story.
this question feels a little all over the place. but i feel a little all over the place so i suppose it cannot be helped. i am ready to accept any advice you will have for me please!
Dear Novice Friend,
I do apologise for the very, very long time it's taken to answer your query. Am I a seal that hibernates for longer than just the winter months? Maybe.
To begin, let's think about the Spiciness and Fun.
I wonder, would it work to begin just before, or even during, one of those Spicy Fun moments? My roommate @hpowellsmith says there is a quote from an author on this subject about starting as late as you can, but they have been mumbling about whether it's Vonnegut or someone else for a number of hours and will not be drawn on details.Quotes aside, starting off with something you're truly excited about will help you communicate that excitement to your lovely players. In the games I like to play, I also love getting a sense for the kinds of choices the players will be making and the kinds of things they will be doing as the game develops. The beginning is a wonderful time to show that off!
About your MC, I entirely understand your conundrum. Harry DuBois, for instance, is a character with desires and personality which helps us have strong feelings about him. But when we are co-creating a character with our players, it's a different kind of relationship.
But when we ask players to make choices about their MC, along with the challenge of needing to account for more options, we have a unique asset! The invitation to collaborate in making the MC is powerful because it can give the choices more weight.
For example, say there's a character who's the MC's friend from childhood who feels strongly about them. If a player gets to choose how they feel about this character, from "we've been together through thick and thin and I feel like they're my sibling", to "they annoy me sometimes but we're still close" to "they're a bit clingy these days" to "I've been trying to distance myself", then the MC's feelings feel more intentional. Even if the player would always want to be best friends forever, having the chance to choose that gives it more of an impact.
With all of this in mind, though, I would gently advise you not to try to allow every choice under the sun. Don't spread yourself too thin trying to eat all the squid in the ocean.
So, what I would like you to consider is: what are the fixed points of your MC? Are there aspects of their life, or skills, that are necessary for who they are or their role in the story? An MC whose job it is to drive carriages for passengers across their city will need a certain degree of affinity for horses. An recently orphaned MC sent to a harrowing boarding school will need a certain degree of emotion about their family's fate, although it's reasonable to allow players to pick how this manifests. Defining those fixed points will give you aspects of the MC which you can tempt players with like a tasty prawn.
Best wishes, Novice Friend. I do hope you are writing these days.