Contest can be really stressful, I’ve joined 2 so far. I must say that the first time I entered, I underestimated how hard it was. At first I thought I could publish a month in advance, but in the end I released how high the level of coding was and worked on my story to improve it.
My tips would be the following:
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Don’t join to win the contest, join it because you love writing and coding. I’m just saying this because the weeks of planning, writing and coding take a lot of time. If you aren’t liking that, it will be a major bummer.
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Start planning early on. Writing a chapter, then do the coding, think about what comes next and writing that part out etc. No, that’ll make you loose a lot of time and it might cost you extra long hours of coding when you’re not happy with how it’s going.
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Upload your overlays and backgrounds in time. I have seen amazing stories passing by in group chats for contests, but weren’t able to join just because of being too late with their approvals. Also, it’ll reduce your stress!
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Make sure to announce bits of information on different platforms, make people interested in your story from the early start. Make a trailer before you relaese your story, it’ll give you free reads later on.
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During the writing process it’s possible to feel lost, but don’t give up! Just take a break and start whenever you feel like it again. It’s something that should be fun, not a burden on your mind.
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Lastly, I’d say read some entries of others from the past and see what the expectations are from a finished story. It’s difficult to say “I’m done, it’s good enough.” I’m not saying to compair your story, just look how choices are implemented, mini games are presented, background characters are placed and zooms are used. It’ll just give you some more ideas to polish your story.
Good luck with your entry 