People experience the pace of a story in different ways according to different story mediums.
When I bought some collections of the old newspaper strip “Li'l Abner”, I was interested to see how many strips would have a panel of recap from the story so far. It was funny ...

The Medium is the Message
Banes at 12:00AM, March 17, 2022When You Have to Tone it Down
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, March 5, 2022
I've talked at times about how, as I make Without Moonlight, I have to constantly make choices on what to include and what not to from …reality.
By that I mean that true, documented (and even photographed) events from the nazi occupation of Athens during WWII are so grotesquely ...
Tropes I Hate: Slap n' Kiss
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Feb. 26, 2022
I revert to talking about tropes I hate, because I don't want to talk about things happening around us but I still want to talk about something I despise.
Tropes I hate it is!
The horrible slap n' kiss or “slap slap kiss” trope.
Especially prevalent in lakorns (Thai ...
The Disaster Episode
Banes at 12:00AM, Feb. 24, 2022
The Disaster Episode is a template that I noticed in the different Star Trek series from the 90's.
It's a neat way to separate a big cast of characters into different small groups. And when it's done well, it can be very powerful and show a different ...
The Twist
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Feb. 19, 2022
I remember the first time I watched The Others in the cinema. (how I miss going there…)
It was an awesome experience. Not only because the horror/thriller film was excellently shot with really good actors, but because it played with shadows and your mind in an elegant but unforgiving ...
Secret Dens of Evil
Andreas_Helixfinger at 12:00AM, Feb. 13, 2022
Privacy. It’s something we come to appreciate even in our early childhood, don’t we. Forming our own little secret club in a tree house we keep in a remote spot in someones backyard somewhere, for which only our closest friends, and schoolmates of common interests and preferences, may ...
Being Unsure of the Ending
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Feb. 5, 2022
Unless you're winging it 100%, chances are that you have an ending in mind for your story. Perhaps you even have the entire ending scene plotted out in your mind, the layouts ready, even some of the lines or expressions your characters will say and have.
You might have ...
The Message in Stories
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Jan. 15, 2022
There is no story without a theme. Even when written without anything prepared in terms of a message, a story will always give people things to think about and messages drawn from how the story was set up and how it was resolved (if at all).
So I don't ...
Horror within beauty
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Jan. 8, 2022
This trope might come in several different packages, but it always involves the same stages: a presence (a character, an apparition, an item, a painting, etc) appears to be perfect, gorgeous, stunningly beautiful, angelic in every way relevant. Then suddenly or gradually, this beauty dissolves into nightmarish horror: the character ...
Μerry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Coincidence?
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Dec. 25, 2021
It's Christmas Day today!
What are the chances! It's the first time my day to post in the blog is so perfectly timed for well wishes! So first off, I'd like to wish you all a happy Christmas Day, and if you don't observe it, a ...