Always exciting to see more CYOA's. Here's some advice:
1. You are going to spend WAAAAAY more time on this game than anybody else will. Full stop. So make sure it's a game that you like. In particular, I would make sure there's something in the game that keeps you interested above and beyond spankings. Every spanking scene I write stops being sexy to me long before I've finished writing it, so make sure there's something else in the game (i.e. characters, plot, setting, *something*) that makes you excited. For example, I get super excited about interesting combat mechanics, and I spend a lot of time developing a plot, characters, and setting that I find interesting and want to write about.
2. As a rule of thumb, if you're bored writing it, people will probably be bored reading it. Don't get me wrong, there are parts of writing that are boring, but can make it much more enjoyable for your readers, but I generally find that to be editing, and going through previous content to try to catch continuity snarls and the like. Usually, the act of creating the content should be exciting.
3. In terms of choices, here's what I do to manage the complexity for each episode in my game:
a. I usually have a very small number (at most two, often zero) choices that I consider Big. These are choices that significantly impact the course of the story. One example of a Major event is in episode 2 and you decide whether to pretend to be a potential customer for Megawater, or make Juliana do it.
b. Most of my choices are Minor. These are choices that have a significant short-term impact, but they quickly converge. One example of a Minor choice is in episode 1of Scarlet Moon where you choose how to get into the warehouse at the docs. Each choice gives one or two events, and then converges back on finding Buzzsaw.
c. I also have a bunch of Empty choices. These are "choices" that don't actually affect the course of the game, but rather give the player a chance to roleplay. These are usually low effort because you only need to come up with a bunch of responses, but they can help keep the player engaged. Maybe. I haven't actually done any sort of useability analysis on this.
One thing that I also like to do is view my game as an elephant, and the player as a blind man. I try to slip in little details and hints into the consequences of some choices but not others. Some choices can even dictate which characters you first meet when. This I think can enhance the replay value, and make the player feel like their choices have a consequence. As they play through it and try different choices, they see more of the story, or understand more about the setting.
I also generally make the spanking scenes fairly static. The dynamic part is whether the player makes choices that *lead* to a spanking in the first place or not.
Finally, don't be afraid to be ambitious, but keep most of your ambitions to yourself. That way, when your ambition inevitably crashes against the hard rocks of reality, you can dial down your plans without disappointing anybody except perhaps yourself.
Good luck!
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