For this week, I wanted to begin a new series of articles inspired by the most recent podcast “JUST DO IT!”. Part way through our discussion, the topic of creating stories came up and I, quite clumsily, tried to explain the theory of narrative circles and arcs as told by ...
The Circle of Arcs
Emma_Clare at 12:00AM, March 9, 2018Points of view - part two - Unreliable
Banes at 12:00AM, March 8, 2018
Last week we talked a little pov basics.
This time, how about we talk the fascinating device called the Unreliable Narrator. For anyone who doesn't know, this type of narration (usually first person in prose, but not necessarily) tells the story in question…but is not necessarily giving an ...
A Trip to the Circus: A Classic Comedy Spectacular
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, March 5, 2018I had tickets to watch a big tent circus last week that was reminiscent of classic Circus shows from older generations (minus the elephants). It was my first time going to the circus since I was six years old, unless Cirque du Soliel is considered a circus, which for the ...
Points of View - part one
Banes at 12:00AM, March 1, 2018
Welcome to March!
I thought I'd try a connected theme of Thursday articles this month. I've had some half-baked ideas floating around on the subject of “Point of View”. They haven't coalesced completely but I think I can figure out four articles on this topic over the ...
Quackcast 363 - The Art Of Comments
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, Feb. 27, 2018 LISTEN!
Jason Moon, author of Crater's Edge, messaged me about some comments he had. He was perturbed about reader reaction to his storyline and wasn't sure how to handle the comments. I told him that those sorts of comments are the very greatest compliment an author can get ...
The Dance Scene
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Feb. 24, 2018
Just like the table scene, the dance scene can be an invaluable story telling tool: a way to showcase where your characters stand without having to force them to speak about it or have someone else infodump about it.
This stance can be on the characters that dance (i.e ...
Nothing Under the Sun
Banes at 12:00AM, Feb. 22, 2018
A friend of mine, many years ago, showed me a cartoon that was fascinating, funny, and horrifying. In my memory, it was the first anime I'd ever seen. I'd forgotten most of it over the years, and would try to find it once every so often, without knowing ...
Writing into (and out of) the corner
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Feb. 17, 2018
So you've written this awesome scene, or placed your pawns (aka characters) just perfectly to create a perfect scenario… and then you are stuck.
There is no way you can solve the problem in a way that pans out well for the character or the plot, or what you ...
On boredom and the slip into daydreams
Emma_Clare at 12:00AM, Feb. 16, 2018
In my day job, I am occasionally asked to attend events or webinars as part of professional development. Earlier this week I happened to be at one of these activities focussing on the future of artificial intelligence, which you would think would be a riveting topic for discussion. But soon ...
Quackcast 361 - Primordial Creations
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, Feb. 13, 2018 LISTEN!
Today we talk about where our characters began, not their origin stories or why we started writing them but rather what they used to look like! Pitface was inspired to create a thread based on this idea by Emma Clare's newspost series of origin stories. So we just ...