IF Seal: I'm not sure how to start!
Hello IF Seal !! (throws a fish at you) I’m really needing some encouragement and advice on creating my first ever IF project!! I am neurodivergent so I write when i can and sometimes I just can’t figure out how to start my project.. I’ve honestly tried and failed to start many times so if you have any tips for how to keep working on a project and ideas then that would be great!! Also side note: I honestly tried twine and it had a error that I’m not sure how to fix so I’ll probably be trying Choicescript next If you also have tips for simple character customization for the PC also that would be awesome! Thanks again IF seal!! ❤️
Good afternoon Starting Friend,
Thank you for the fish, it is my favourite thing other than assisting with interactive fiction queries!
I wonder how much planning you have done with your ideas that started and stopped. Do you begin with the seed of an idea and race onward but then lose steam? Do you end up doing only planning and once you start it feels as though you've already written the project? It may be that there is a way of doing it that's a happy medium.
I also wonder whether you might enjoy making some short-story-length pieces of IF before jumping into a very ambitious project. Doing that, or writing some short scenes that you might use for a project, or exploring a character you've made and feel excited about, may be a good way of dipping your toes into the water of making this kind of work - rather than diving straight in.
My human roommate @hpowellsmith made many short pieces of interactive fiction, and started two or three long ones, before making Blood Money, the first long game they finished. It's useful to try something small and manageable to get used to the coding side of things.
I would recommend having a look at existing pieces of interactive fiction for character customisation! There is a template here for pronouns and gender, but I think seeing how it can be done in different ways in-game may be useful to you. You can have a look at ChoiceScript released games' code by following the instructions here, or on cogdemos games will have a "code" button that you can click to view their files if the author has enabled it.
Good luck, Starting Friend! Remember that starting a project and not finishing it is a natural part of starting out and you will learn from it regardless, but also that completing something small will teach you a lot more than doing a lot of starts and stops. I do hope that your writing goes well!