083. How to Write a Proposal (Part One)

At Jiang Yu’s home.

“Yu? Are you listening?” Erino Aki looked at Jiang Yu, whose eyes were unfocused, and stopped his lengthy speech, sounding a little displeased.

Jiang Yu snapped out of his thoughts about Kyoma Hououin and, embarrassed, replied, “Ah—sorry about that, Erino…”

“Hmph… I’ll let it go this time, but in the future, at least try to pay attention when others are speaking! Especially when it concerns the proposal for the game we’re about to make, which you created!”

Erino Aki had encountered this kind of situation with Jiang Yu more than once. He’d run into similar scenarios when communicating with Senior Shi Yu, who was also a writer, so he’d grown quite adept at handling it.

“Would you like some water, Jiang Yu?” Just as Jiang Yu was smiling apologetically for his distraction, a familiar voice spoke up.

So practiced, Megumi… Now that I think about it, the water Erino drank earlier must have been poured by you too, right?

As he took the cup, Jiang Yu couldn’t help but comment, as if out of habit, “So you were here all along…”

Megumi Kato brushed back her hair and responded calmly, “Jiang Yu, you always say that. I’m almost immune to it now~”

“You can become immune to that?” Jiang Yu shot back.

Megumi remained unfazed, pouring more water as she replied, “Who knows~ Here, this is for you, Erino.”

“Ah, thank you,” Erino said gratefully, accepting the cup.

After a short break, Erino’s eyes lit up as he looked at Jiang Yu, exclaiming excitedly, “Hurry up and finish the proposal! After reading the initial settings, I can’t wait to see what twists and turns the story will take!”

Megumi, who had been calmly playing on her phone nearby, suddenly paused. She seemed a bit distracted as she asked, “Does the story have to be full of twists and turns?”

“What are you talking about, Megumi? Of course it does! If the main characters don’t face setbacks, they’ll never make a deep impression on the players!” Erino retorted.

Megumi lowered her head, gazing at the cup before her, and whispered, “But aren’t there also heroines who don’t wish for dramatic changes and just want a simple, uneventful life?”

Erino frowned, adjusted his glasses, and said seriously, “Megumi, if the plot is too bland, the ending will lack depth. To put it simply, if players finish the game and wonder ‘Why are the protagonists even together?’ that’s a sure sign of failure!”

Hearing Erino repeatedly call her “Megumi,” Jiang Yu almost felt like he was back in yesterday morning. But then again, “Kato” was a common surname in Japan, wasn’t it?

He shook his head in mild amusement and let the thought go. Looking at Megumi, who clearly disagreed with Erino’s opinion, and then at Erino, who was speaking with fervor, Jiang Yu interjected, “Erino, hold on a second. Megumi, do you know how many sections a piece of music has?”

Hmm, that was a rather unexpected question.

Megumi looked at Jiang Yu in confusion, clearly not understanding why he was asking this now, but she still replied, “Um… I suppose there's the prelude, the climax, the chorus, the ending, things like that?”

Jiang Yu smacked his forehead and said with a wry smile, “Sorry, I didn’t make myself clear. Let me be direct: in music, a piece is generally divided into four parts—introduction, development, transition, and conclusion. Of course, that’s not set in stone. The same idea applies to writing. Like in that ‘Love Metronome’ you read a few days ago—the author Kasashiko laid a lot of groundwork before the climax, when the male protagonist makes his choice.”

“Introduction is the cause, development is the process, transition is the twist, and conclusion is the result. Put simply, it’s the beginning, the middle, the climax, and the ending of a story.”

“Of course, these are just general guidelines. Compared to traditional novels, game plots tend to drag on and aren’t as full of sharp twists. But people are strange creatures—they hate certain things and yet yearn for them at the same time.”

“Players especially. They claim to hate tragedy, but if there’s none, they’ll say the work lacks depth. They want the heroine to be happy, but reject happiness that comes too easily.”

“That’s why, in traditional galgames—which are rare these days—the heroine ends up carrying two contradictory expectations from the players.”

“She is both the sacrificial vessel for players who want to see her endure pain and setbacks, and the embodiment of their longing to see her find happiness.”

“Of course, players can enter different routes by making different choices. Even though there are only a handful of possible endings, the decision is in their hands. That’s the greatest positive feedback galgames give to players.”

At this point, Jiang Yu realized he had strayed from the original topic. He scratched his head awkwardly and, seeing both Erino and Megumi deep in thought, apologized, “Sorry, I guess I went off on a tangent. But broadly speaking, when it comes to rewarding players, the idea that happiness is more deeply felt when it’s hard-won rather than easily gained—this holds true in almost all creative works.”

“Though, apart from one true ending, I don’t know whether the other endings in this work could really be called happy,” Jiang Yu added after a moment’s thought.

Megumi still frowned, clearly unconvinced but unable to refute the reasoning. Erino, however, asked, “But isn’t the specific plot the scriptwriter’s responsibility?”

Jiang Yu nodded, then shook his head, replying, “The scriptwriter does control the details of the plot. But as the planner, you need to give the artist and writer clear instructions, to avoid endless revisions during production that might make us miss deadlines.”

“For example, with the protagonist Hououin Kyoma in ‘Steins;Gate’, I didn’t provide a lengthy description of his appearance—only my artistic requirements.”

“I labeled him as a chuunibyou, a researcher, unkempt, tall, and handsome. But that alone isn’t clear enough, so I included more specific notes: a white lab coat, tousled short hair, stubble. If needed, I could specify his height, weight, catchphrases, and so on.”

“Once the artist has read your notes and has a clear impression, they can adjust based on their own understanding. When both sides are satisfied, the character design is complete.”

“Of course, if the artist still doesn’t have a clear image, they can wait until the script is finished and read through it to get a deeper feel for the characters before creating their designs.”