Hi, Just wondering if other authors had thoughts on how you create new paths for your stories (i.e. new chapters). Do you create paths based on the choices characters make - e.g. she goes home/she stays in the office Or based on the outcomes that happen to the characters - e.g. she gets fired/she gets a promotion. Hope ithe distinction makes sense. Do you think one is better than the other? Or more enjoyable than the other?
It really depends on how the story is planned. If the reader is meant to be an observer (3rd person and maybe 1st person,) outcome-related chapter options might make sense. Alternatively, you could allow the author to decide for all characters or just for one character. When the reader is meant to slip into the role of the character (2nd person or 1st person,) choice-related options might be the preferred way. Though there are users who like to have the full power of what happens so outcome-related can work as well. If you want a consistent environment between paths, choice-related options make more sense. (E.g. it will rain at 2:35, no matter what path you chose.) So it's mostly a preference of the reader. I feel that outcome-related is more wish-fulfillment. And as you can only predict the outcome of choice-related options, I'd say they might feel more real or game-like.
Choice paths amplify whatever the stakes are in the moment. It transfers some of the heavy lifting of maintaining drama to the reader. I HIGHLY prefer the environments and characters to be consistent as well. I think butterfly effect changes are fine, choosing some initial conditions is fine. I just want to feel like I know the characters and world better, not worse, for having explored differing paths. I particularly dislike when I am told to choose how 3rd-person characters respond to the POV character’s actions. If feels more like I am choosing which parallel dimension to visit. The stakes evaporate.
I should say that choice paths with a pinch of outcome is a useful approach, too. Adding a little clarification tag in the chapter title as a content warning or as a signpost of where that path is heading. (good/evil, etc.) I have started using them to hint to players how to unlock hidden chapters.
Choose Your Own Adventures are traditionally based on the protagonist's decisions in order to deliberately hide what happens next. In a regular book, you wouldn't read a summary of a chapter immediately before reading the chapter itself. Finding out the outcome of choices intentionally happens through prose. However, in online erotica, you do usually want to know a scene's premise before you start to read it. Certain kinks can be severe turn-offs (or worse) and certain characters might be distinctly unattractive to you. This is really the only reason such a dilemma even exists. Choice-based paths are still generally better, in my opinion - tension and unknown outcomes make erotica interesting as much as any other story. Outcome-based paths rarely end up being more than a system of categorising different scenes by kink. I think this is the reason for the enormous proportion of stories on CHYOA where the protagonist is all-powerful and unstoppable. When everything you do is guaranteed to play out exactly as you intend, there ends up being no difference between choice and outcome. "She talks to the boss about a promotion" and "She gets a promotion" end up being the same: "She mind-controls the boss into giving her a promotion." Personally, I don't consider that a functional solution; it's really just outcome-based paths told from a single character's perspective. The best compromises I've seen are as follows: Write your story with only a very small amount of unpredictability. Essentially, don't make random things happen that create unexpected outcomes. The content of each chapter should be the logical consequence of whatever action the character chose. If the reader clicks "She goes home," then she goes home, without being stopped at the door or missing her bus. Maybe an event could happen on the way that prevents her from actually reaching home, such as an accident blocking the roads or a sudden decision to visit X store when she sees an advertisement for it. In that case, I'd change it to, "She finishes for the day" or "She starts heading home," to indicate the potential for another event. The reader should never feel cheated. Use the unpredictability of choice-based paths to your advantage, and go all-in on them. Make explicit to the reader from the beginning that they won't know for sure what's behind every door. Make a list of kinks you'll use, and completely avoid the rest; the shorter this list, the better. Be sure to put that list in the tags and in some warning chapter. Be extra careful to have environmental consistency, so that the reader can meaningfully learn from their mistakes when they go back. Treat the story like a videogame, with good and bad outcomes, and enjoy burying pleasant surprises everywhere. Fair warning: the type of people who prefer choice-based outcomes often are more attentive to detail in their stories and prioritise narrative cohesion and quality. Those same types of people are much more likely to visit the forum to discuss their writing. Your poll will likely be very skewed.
Yes it does seem like there is a very strong preference for the choice paths, so you're probably right about the skew.
