i'll often have a loose idea that's bouncing around my head like it's in a rock tumbler until it turns into something i'm excited to work on, then i start on writing at the beginning of the jam i'm planning for (at least in the case for most of my games, which are jam games).

i try to figure out pretty early if i want the text to display in adv or nvl or a mix because that heavily influences the way i'll write the entirety of the work. adv lends more towards more conversationally-written things, while nvl is better for longer-form prose, though nowadays i've considered learning more and more towards using nvl mainly, even in things that might end up being more dialogue-heavy... i just tend to like how it plays with screen space a little better. i care about the visual ergonomics of my games a lot and i don't necessarily like making things that tire your eyes out and make you follow exhausting patterns of movement. the text is the thing you're looking at for 98% of a vn's runtime, so i want to create layouts with that in mind. this is the biggest part of why i tend to not want to go the route of traditionally-staged adv, because your eyes are glued to a little rectangle at the bottom of the screen, often with a wider resolution than necessary. for that reason i try my best to figure out a layout as soon as i can, but that doesn't always come as quick as i'd like it to. shortstop's layout came about mid-way through production and lyn remarked that it was like the light had returned to my eyes when it came to me, gahahah...

when writing i try to also keep a sort of 'choreography' in my head, even if it doesn't always manifest physically. i don't have to describe every single thing in text because i can use audio or visuals to communicate them, so i try to keep notes on things (at least, when i remember to take them). assembling vns sometimes feel like putting together a film or a play, because the actors will give life to the work after the script's been written.

if i'm doing the art myself, i tend to weave it in between working on the script when i want to have a day where i'm not just writing. a boon to solo work is if i'm getting tired of doing one thing for too long a stretch, i can chip away at something else for a bit and i don't necessarily feel like i'm stuck banging my head against one thing at a time. i do get pretty absorbed in my work even if i'm not actively working, so i get kind of crazy sometimes. this is why it's important for me to do things that aren't work while i'm actively making a game, like walking, or watching baseball, or seeing new places, or in general just seeking novelty. most of my better ideas come while i'm away from the keyboard and experiencing life. you need time by the creek, time and space to let your mind wander and be somewhere else.

i'll also try to do a bunch of research depending on what it is i'm writing for. for one of the games i'm working on i spent a ton of time visiting a bunch of out-of-use coastal sea forts and being in them, feeling their stone, feeling the sea air, and inhabiting those spaces while also learning about the forts themselves and their histories, and the histories of the surrounding areas. i don't get to be in the space of everything that i write for, but it definitely helps a lot. postcard i made while out in the midwest and i don't think i would have been able to write it like i did if i didn't immerse myself in it in the way i go to.

after i've gotten writing done, i'll generally give it a few editing passes, and let a friend or friends read it, and then give it a few more passes. i almost ended up sequencing shortstop's ending a little differently but lyn ended up giving me some pretty good direction for how it'd better work and i think she was right for it.

other aspects i don't have processes that are as clear, i have yet to really fully take on and complete a project where i've dedicated myself to just art for example, but i do tend to end up sketching a lot out in my sketchbooks.

all in all the process tends to be me going it's so over=>we're so back=>it's so over=>we're so back etc. for a few weeks and then it's done