Hello I've been reading erotica for a couple of years now and just recently picked up writing. I'm the author of the story "Unfaithful". Before I started writing the story I envisioned it being 50+ chapters deep with multiple choices in every chapter and tons of branching storylines about a women cheating on her boyfriend. Basically the story I've always wanted to read. ^^ With now 15 chapters done I have sort of realised just how big the story is going to be. I need some advice as I realise the story is gonna take me awhile to finish, if it ever finishes. I still have a lot of ideas for the direction and story and I don't think the story is too ambitous as I'm a pretty ambitous individual in general. But I already have new ideas for other stories I want to write, with completely different kinks and fetishes. What is your advice and/or opinion on writing multiple stories at the same time? Kind regards, Sortaf
Finished stories are rare on CHYOA. Barely any of my stories/threads have 'endings'. Right now I've got at least 5 stories (each with multiple threads) I'm actively posting on in addition to planning out new stories. If I'm being honest, I enjoy being able to bounce around my active threads as it allows me to write what I'm in the mood for, whether it be a romantic date, a swinger party, a one night stand, or some other form of kinky fuckery. If you want to start a new story, go for it. Otherwise, you could try to find stories to contribute to that have may be able to incorporate the fetishes you want to write about (that way you don't have to come up with settings/characters) As for writing advice: If you're doing it for free, write what you enjoy.
Exponential chapter growth is tricky. If you did two options per chapter for 5 chapters, for example, that's (1 + 2 + 4 + 8 + 16) = 31 chapters. Even short chapters add up quickly. I've been doing a schema on Lois Lane's Night Out, where the first 7 chapters all get two options, and everything after that is based on likes and bookmarks (5 likes earns 1 option, 10 likes earns the 2nd option), with a cap at 20 chapters deep. Even then, and with people helping, I've got 1000+ chapters and the end not in sight. You might consider spreading out the chapter options a bit - it's not a bad idea to have a run of 2-3 chapters and then provide a crucial decision point. But as BR said, just try to have fun.
Branching out is extra problematic because you can only sort by Chapter Depth but not by Word Count or Number of Chapters or Depth x Breadth (or whatever...) A lot of people sort by Depth, since they want to make sure that there's enough material in the story for "a sesh" as it were, so getting too squirrelly with branching options could well be a big risk to view numbers... I've been working off and on on Family Succubus for a few years now and even though the story has around 50 chapters of pretty good length it only has a max depth of 15, which I can imagine turning off some people for fear of there not being enough material there... Really my only advice is write what you like and if you don't want to just say "fuck it". Part of the fun on writing smut for free online is how phenomenally low-stakes it is, there's no editor breathing down your neck or rabid fans breaking your legs and tying you to the bed to finish the story, just write when you feel like it (says the guy who feels kinda guilty for not writing anything in a while...)
the formula for calculating the number of chapters relative to depth where there are exactly two options per chapter is actually (2^n)-1 where n = your desired chapter depth. So you'd need to write, absolute minimum, more than 1 000 000 000 000 000, or literally a quadrillion, chapters to achieve the goal you envision. Fun. it's doable with a) chapter links and b) really short chapters, might be able to narrow it down to a few thousand short chapters, but you'll never finish even that. if you need advice, try taking a look at what I've done with my story Darkest Challenges (sorry for the advertising). What i did involves these 'objectives' where you have, say, a dozen or so fleshed-out chapters per objective that always lead to only a couple of possible outcomes, differing by their content and the Score changes. However, it might not be suitable for yours since it relies on the idea of 'succeeding' or 'failing' at a task, which is easy given mine is a fantasy game, but your story sounds like it gives more power to the viewer. take it or leave it I guess, your call.
