Something that has challenged would-be gamebook author is how exactly do you go about keeping track of all the different paragraphs of the adventure, how do you jumble them up, how do you avoid dead ends or wonky and disorganised narratives in general?
I used to write my adventures by hand, and for "go to 32" from paragraph 1, would just leave empty space for as much as I expected the intervening paragraphs to fill. Worked OK, and once I started using a computer and writing in Word, this got a lot easier. I was dimly aware that there were more sophisticated approaches - Scrivener was a massive help (about which I may post more at some point on the subject of scenario and campaign writing), but now - very late to the party - I have tried out and am completely taken with The Gamebook Authoring Tool from Crumbly Head Games.
I'm in the process of rewriting "Nor Gloom of Night" using the GAT, and having a lot of fun with it. The software keeps a flow-chart of the adventure as you write (something I have never bothered to do when writing adventures myself even though it is always one of the key bits of advice from the pros), and allows you to randomise all the paragraphs when finished. The free version of the software will let you write a 100 paragraph adventure - which should be plenty for anyone to try the system out and see for themselves how much of a help it can be.
If you are tempted to download the GAT and get to work on your own solo adventure, you also have the ideal opportunity to motivate yourself to get an adventure finished: blogger Lloyd of Gamebooks is running The Lindenbaum Prize for short gamebook fiction, entries open 1st December to 1st February. Even if you don't fancy taking a shot at the prize, check out the blog for some great posts about the craft of adventure gamebook writing.
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