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So You Want To/Make a Visual Novel: Difference between revisions
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* '''[[Background Music]]''': The major reason why a visual novel can get away with a lower quality of wordsmithing than traditional novels is because of this. Other than [[Grammar Nazi|Grammar Nazis]], no cares if a phrase is a tiny bit awkward if [[Awesome Music]] is playing in the background. The background music has to complement and enhance the text it is behind. Describing a soothing [[Slice of Life]] scene? Then use calming music! An action scene? [[Heavy Metal (Music)|Heavy Metal]], of course! A [[Plot Twist]] goes great with [[Ominous Latin Chanting]], and so on. You could also try using [[Soundtrack Dissonance]] to complement [[Black Comedy]] or [[Mundane Made Awesome]]. Music is important, dammit! The [[When They Cry]] series is so good at the music (and so bad at the art) that they are called Sound Novels instead.
* '''[[Sound Effects]]''': Like in any audio/visual media, a well placed sound effect can have a great impact. They are especially important in action based visual novels like [[Demonbane]] or [[Fate Stay Night]].
* '''Voice Acting''': [[Ha Ha Ha No]]. Unless you are a professional who can hire professional voice actors or miraculously have good amateur voice actors despite [[
=== [[Video Game]] Aspect of a [[Visual Novel]] ===
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== '''Characters''' ==
Especially in the ADV style where you are forced to rely mostly on dialogue to tell your story, characters are the most important component of a [[Visual Novel]]. [[Background Music]] can cover up any weakness the prose has in creating the atmosphere. Plot events can be shown with CGs rather than told to follow the philosophy of [[Show, Don't Tell]]. Character personalities have no such fail safes even in a visual novel. An awesome [[Leitmotif]] or cool looking character sprites can help, but a weak character leads to weak dialogue which leads to weak storytelling. Weak story telling can easily ruin a plot.
* '''The Protagonist''': Lets break down to various archetypes, from sliding scale of moral. Pick one that fit your story best.
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* '''Don't bite off more than you can chew.''' [[Katawa Shoujo]] (a Medium length [[Visual Novel]]) took five years for a reason. A [[Visual Novel]] requires an organized team of artists, musicians, programmers, writers, and editors. Don't forget about the potential infighting an amateur group may have when a project is too big. Start small.
* '''Substance over Style''': Nothing can save a [[Visual Novel]] if the story it tells is [[So Bad
* '''List of Cliches that are extremely common in visual novels''': [[Groundhog Day Loop]], [[Ill Girl]], [[Rape As Drama]]
* '''[[Vaporware]]''': Creating [[Freeware Games]] of any kind, including visual novels, is a long and often frustrating process. If you can not (or choose not to) charge money for your final game, then it can be difficult to keep writing and coding until it's finished. Some people who aspire to create freeware visual novels give up, leaving nothing more than a few paragraphs of description and perhaps some concept art. Other people finish a demo, and the final version ends up in [[Development Hell]]. If a group decides to collaborate on a freeware VN, then it may be more likely to remain unfinished. Either way, if months go by with no substantial news, then the VN has likely become vaporware.
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