Developer's Journal 2:8
Added 2022-12-11 06:42:51 +0000 UTCHey everybody. Post-worked renders number 337. I am presently working on another office scene with Jamie and MC.
Writing dialogue in an adult visual novel is hard. I remember after Attack of the Clones came out, my brother said, "George Lucas can't write a romance." I can appreciate his struggles.
Dialogue heavy scenes in LDNA should accomplish multiple goals. They should explore the themes of the story, they should advance the relationships between the characters, they should advance the plot, and they should not be boring. While I felt pretty confident about a couple of the scenes I wrote in Part One, in general I constantly worry about every scene where characters are sitting around talking. I worry the player will find it boring or pointless, or I worry that the player won't have the emotional response to the scene I'm trying to create.
Quentin Tarantino is just about the best dialogue writer in mainstream movies, IMO. His skill is so far above mine that I'm not even capable of explaining exactly why his dialogue is so good. But I do try to learn from his approach. He has said that he puts the characters in a room and then just lets them talk. So that's why I try to do with my characters.
In this scene, Jamie and MC are arguing over whether Team Captain America or Team Iron Man was stronger (Captain America: Civil War). I don't think this conversation really hits on any themes of the story and it doesn't advance the murder investigation plot, so a professional writer may poo-poo the scene as being a waste of time. Tarantino's seemingly random conversations generally hit on some theme or symbolism related to the larger story. But I'm no Tarantino, and in an adult visual novel, it is important to have scenes that allow the player to get to know each of the love interests. So I have to make sure that I include plenty of screen time with each of the women, even if it slows down the overarching plot and/or I'm unable to tie it into the game's larger themes. Hopefully you will enjoy these conversations when they come.
Thank you for your support!
--Monk
P.S. - For a really good movie that is literally just two people having a conversation, watch "My Dinner with Andre."
Comments
Writing dialogue is hard, but I really enjoyed the long bar scene and how one topic led into another. It felt organic. I just read a manga called Imaginary where conversations go off on weird tangents in a pretty realistic way. It was not only funny, but felt fairly realistic. And, the point here, is that it let's you get to know these people, what they happen to think of tells us something about them.
Jarulf
2022-12-11 06:55:29 +0000 UTC
