In short, the ideal editing process would be as follows: [Write paragraph with choices at end], [Add arrows connecting choices to new paragraph], [Repeat until end of route].

Sounds simple, and it was simple working in Excel until I found out that I'd have to individually edit each cell if I wanted to change the name of characters and maintain formatting

iirc there's actually a visual novel maker on ...steam i think. that'd probably be a lot simpler

...doesnt have great reviews anymore though, idk

Wouldn't know about illustrations but a lot of visual novels are made with Renpy. If I do any graphical work, it's with gimp but I wouldn't know. I never attempted a VN.

As an engineer, i think i might make a visual novel too. Perhaps one about my many successes Shouldn't take more than a few minutes.

try twine: https://twinery.org/

twine is probably better for laying out the story routes rather than graphics or anything. It's more novel than visual.