How do you start your story ?

[Dear_Elise 36]

Greetings dear fantasy people !

 

I have been a little inquisitive today , I noticed that the manner of producing a storyline differs from people to people .

 

As an exemple , I usually start  mine after having created , what I would call , a "captivating cast" !

Most of the time , I cannot start producing a game or a plot without having first created characters that I would have affection for .

I would then plunge them into a gripping storyline full of twists to finally create an engrossing title !

(engrossing sounds as a pretty odd adjective .)

 

Now , I was wondering , what is your first step toward the creation of a game , story or whatever else ?

• Do you first try to find an appealing title ? 
• Do you rather want to create an awesome story first ?
• Or , just like me , you first want to conceive a "captivating cast" ?
• (Perhaps do you even have another manner of proceeding ? Like imagining the environment or whatever else .)

Feel free to respond ! It seems interesting to witness how each of us proceed to the development of the creativity ?

Edited August 3, 2016 by Wisteria Rosew.

[Rinoazelda 287]

• Do you first try to find an appealing title ? 

Well, most titles I see have nothing to do with the game at all. Others are references to either the game's main protagonist or objectives or important items. Can't really help on this one...

• Do you rather want to create an awesome story first ?

Is that what we are supposed to do?

• Or , just like me , you first want to conceive a "captivating cast" ?

Both are required, otherwise people will most likely hate the game.

 

Also, when you said "fantasy people" RPG Maker is not limited to fantasy games

[Chadzter01 183]

• Do you first try to find an appealing title ? 

 -I tried my best to make the story first and then base the title from it.

• Do you rather want to create an awesome story first ?

-Yes. =3

• Or , just like me , you first want to conceive a "captivating cast" ?

I'm doing the story and the characters at the same time. XD lol

• (Perhaps do you even have another manner of proceeding ? Like imagining the environment or whatever else .)

-I have so many things in my mind but when it comes to putting it all down, They disappear like bubbles lol.

[Kaneshon 10]

I'm more of a creator and a gamer who invests on the characters rather than the story itself. The plot and the world can go crazy or silly for all I care, as long as the characters have depth, progression and development.

[amerk 1,122]

I just kind of start somewhere, and then go back to tweak. The title comes to me as I write, so I worry about that later. The opening is the hardest, and quite often I'll rewrite it multiple times once I have a handle on where the story is taking me. I also try to outline some major events so I have a means of connecting the dots. And all too often I'll have an ending in mind, although by the time I get to the end, it's usually different than what I first imagined.

[Scrogdog 8]

I usually go top down. So, the world and background come first. Races, political structures, history and lore. Most of these things will never make it in to the game directly, but it helps me achieve consistency and also helps a great deal with reasons for things like side quests.

 

Once the backdrop is created, then I start on character bios. To me, that's the best way to sort of get to know the folks you are writing about. It also gives the player an anchor and an understanding of why a particular flaw or foil may make the character act in a certain way. Frankly, I don't know my own characters as well as I do my favorite villains and heroes in my favorite stories. It is only a beginning though, so part of that might also describe how the character changes and evolves through the story and the impetus for that development. It also helps you write so that not all of your characters seem the same. You always know that so-and-so has a racial hatred so he is going to react differently towards that group than your other characters do. Also, various traits are important to help define your character. Is he or she always dressed to the nines, or slovenly? How about social status? Did the character struggle and grow up poor, or is he or she nobility? Are they locals or travellers from afar?

 

For me, the more the world has been 'set up' the more ideas you get for interesting plot twists that are actually meaningful and have a reason to occur.

Edited August 3, 2016 by Scrogdog

[Lord Vectra 414]

• Do you first try to find an appealing title ? 

I try to make appealing titles. Like Jackus said, most titles dont have much to do with the main story but rather the protag or such.

• Do you rather want to create an awesome story first ?

I rather make the stories first before anything. it works better for me anyhow.

• Or , just like me , you first want to conceive a "captivating cast" ?

Both are required, and I feel that making the stories first makes this a bit easier because people's personalities come from what they experience and know.

• (Perhaps do you even have another manner of proceeding ? Like imagining the environment or whatever else .)

I like to imagine the environment and how the world will shape because that also plays into the storys which plays into the casts

and how they talk, react, etc.

 

[Yuugami 252]

 

• Do you first try to find an appealing title ? 

I try to make appealing titles. Like Jackus said, most titles dont have much to do with the main story but rather the protag or such.

 

Man, I feel like people should really get this right, but Jackus and Kirimash has two very different characters from two very different series as avatars. It was not Jackus who said that, it was Kirimash. Jackus's avatar is Yuu from Owari no Seraph, Kirimash's avatar is Kirito from Sword Art Online.

 

Anyways, to contribute to this discussion: what makes a good story? For me, I think a story is good enough if you tie everything up neatly - you don't leave any plot holes, you finish all plot threads, you make sure every relevant character has an arc of some sort, or at least feel like they have a real role to the story, etc. Do you want a big puzzle that is impossible and frustrating to solve and you end up with an ugly finished product, or do you want a simpler puzzle that is very clear, and ultimately comes out being much neater and prettier at the end?

 

That being said, a captivating cast definitely helps, but I think the important thing to consider is that every character that appears throughout the course of the story has to have relevant development. I usually point to Silent Hill 2 as a good case of this, where that game had like six characters - no one else. And they made those characters really relevant. Silent Hill 2 will always remain, to me, as a prime example of good plot, a great cast, tied together with excellent storytelling - it knew how to contain itself, and a contained story can be much more interesting than a grand plot. On one hand, an epic journey is a great fantasy to play through, but a smaller adventure is more relatable.

[+ Asharonapaul 276]

for the most part, I just think of a theme or message I want to convey.

[lonequeso 1,921]

Now , I was wondering , what is your first step toward the creation of a game , story or whatever else ?

• Do you first try to find an appealing title ? 
  

Ideally, a title that's both appealing and captures the general theme or ambiance of the story. For me, that can happen at anytime during the process. I usually don't spend a lot of time trying to come up with one. Sooner or later, one tends to pop up in my head.

• Do you rather want to create an awesome story first ?
  

I like starting with a basic storyline or even a concept/idea and shaping it. I'm not good at planning ahead so usually I just come up with various scenes/situations and connect the dots later. Definitely not the way you should go about making a story, but whatever, it works for me. There is some rhyme and reason to it. I have a simple start and end point in mind, and then I focus on the middle. The beginning and end usually end up changing somewhat depending on what direction the bulk of the story goes. Same goes for all the stories within the story also known as scenes. 

• Or , just like me , you first want to conceive a "captivating cast" ?
  

Not first necessarily, but I like having a solid and usually diverse cast of characters. Character development and dialogue are my favorite aspects of writing so I do like getting my characters establishes and somewhat developed early on. 

• (Perhaps do you even have another manner of proceeding ? Like imagining the environment or whatever else .)
  

Partly, I always have a general setting and theme in mind when before I even start. It helps me visualize my characters. In a game, it also helps with the battle system. weapons, magic, classes, etc.

[Skysagi 219]

• Do you first try to find an appealing title ? 

No, I only start to decide the title after most of the premise (or the actual story) is planned enough. Then, I proceed to create the title.

• Do you rather want to create an awesome story first ?

The story is always my main focus.

• Or , just like me , you first want to conceive a "captivating cast" ?

The cast is not one of my main focuses, but I try making them as captivating as possible.... to kill them later, hehehehe.

• (Perhaps do you even have another manner of proceeding ? Like imagining the environment or whatever else .)

Believable or not, the way I actually begin my stories are by the end, or most specifically, by the Final Boss.

[Saeryen 299]

Most of my stories come from dreams.

 

Catty Lands actually started from a dream about a character named Maia. She lived in Harry Potter's world and was the adopted daughter of Sirius Black. I loved the character and story so much that I started to write fanfiction about her. I came up with two other characters during that time, Maia's best friend Katrina, and her rival Kali. I came up with a whole alternate Harry Potter universe and thought that one day, I would write a story in which Katrina voyaged into a Wonderland-like place called the Catty Lands.

 

I did post my fanfiction, but I deleted it after no one read it, and also because I decided that I wanted to use these characters for an original idea. The Catty Lands became the characters' homeland, and Maia's guardian is named Syri as homage to the fact that she used to be Sirius Black's adopted daughter.

 

I have another game I plan to make after CL is finished, also inspired by dreams, many different dreams, actually.

[SpuddyFerret 90]

When starting a story, you should consider what the purpose of the story is. Is there a moral in this story? What do you want the audience to take away from your story masterpiece? Then, you need to think about how you approach it and how you portray it. Even things like 'would this game even suit an RPG' are questions you need to ask yourself. Obviously, you can make anything an RPG, but if you got a game idea like God of War and put it into a RPG, it would be a completely different game.

Let's go answer these questions then.

 

Do you first try to find an appealing title ? 

Who says you can't? A lot of people base their work off the smallest of information! If you have an interesting title that sounds cool, then ideas can develop, and in no time you can have a strong idea.

 

Do you rather want to create an awesome story first ?

I put the story in front of everything in a game. It's because a story is something you take away with you, while gameplay is something you experience in seconds or minutes.

 

Or , just like me , you first want to conceive a "captivating cast" ?

Cast characters can be a lot like finding a title. Then again, to have a good story, you need characters for it, with their special duties and decisions.