Writing Timeclocks


Timeclocks are one of those elements of fiction that usually shows up in the middle or just before the final act, to give things a little boost in the adrenaline department, and make the drama more urgent. Not only are your characters facing big problems, but suddenly their ...

There is a general idea that cliches, when they surface in the narrative of a story, be it movie, tv or webcomics or anything else, is a sign of bad writing.

There is of course a good basis for this presumption, because usually a cliche is a plot device, or ...

You’ve got your amazing idea down for a story but how do you begin? You want to make your first chapter amazing! This is where you need to lay down some concrete foundations to get your audience main character and why they care about what is happening to them ...

When do you bail on a series, movie or story?

We had a pretty fine conversation on the Quackcast last week that wandered into the category of “endings” and when they're set up well vs badly and such. I had a similar convo today with someone about various series ...

If you want to design a memorable character it doesn’t just stop at their looks. How they speak, write and use body language is integral to who they are as a person as well as how other character’s may react to them. When you read a comic or ...

Guilt is a powerful tool in the creative process.

No, I'm not talking about the guilt you feel because you haven't updated in six months which pushes you to sit down and finish that darn page (though that helps too, we've all been there).

Guilt is very ...

THERE WILL BE SPOILERS, ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK

I was amazed and surprised to see that I wasn't the only one that had an idea to talk about setup and payoff and Game of Thrones this week! The lovely Emma Clare did it ahead of me, and she ...

I had a meeting the other day with a director, who asked me “how do you approach a historical era to keep true to it?” and “how do you keep from being biased?”

I fear that I eclipsed the poor guy with my soap box lectures, but that aside, I ...

Gag Orders 2 - Gag Harder

Last week we touched on the outcry over Captain Marvel's marketing campaign, and the shutting down of the ‘Interested-Not Interested’ section of Rotten Tomatoes.

At the same time, a somewhat-related hammer hit YouTube creators when channels were demonetized or limited and told that unsavory ...

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This is a big, awkward, contentious and fiery subject. What we're talking about in this Quackcast is the current phenomenon of social marketing and how it ...