A character will stay stuck in their ways if they can, just like a real person tends to. It takes effort to move forward and achieve things. And we resist.

In the beginning of a story, a character might feel comfortable where they are, but they are usually incomplete in ...

ACT 2 - The Premise

It's about a guy who…

When we try to decide with our friends about seeing a movie, or surf Netflix for something to watch, or try to sell people on a movie/book/story we want them to experience, that's what we have to ...

Every good story (true, fabricated, or more typically, somewhere in between) here in the City That Forgot to Care, begins with a thoughtful pause, a drawn out “Well,” followed by the phrase “what had happened was…”

“Who drank my beer?”
“Dude, what happened to your face?”
“Why are you carrying ...

LISTEN!

What defines evil in fiction?
I say the simplest one is bad guys are selfish, good guys are selfless.
That is massively over simplistic but it's a good easy template for basic hero's and villains. Basic ones
I was just doing a quick thought experiment to work ...

In the words of Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka: “Hold your breath. Make a wish. Count to three. Come with me. And you'll be. In a world of. Pure Imagination.”

Imagine a world where everyone woke up one day and fully committed to doing the right thing. Blood donation ...

-royalty free stock photo

When I went to see Assassin's Creed last week, there was a scene where the main character was sitting in a nearly empty room with a small twin sized bed as its only furnishing. I turned to my sister and said, “I wish my room ...

I came across a little blurb the other day about Mary Sues, and fanfiction, and how the writer of a fanfiction is basically writing a fantasy, inserting themselves as the character at the center of attention, immaculate, glittering and perfect. Basically everything you want to smack into a different galaxy ...

I found myself at a crossroads two weeks ago where I felt that my mind and my heart were in two separate places. I would carry on the same routine for months, following the motions of getting to work, performing a mundane task, and then driving home with heavy eyelids ...

METAPHORROR

Hey, they're always tellin' me to recycle!

Last Halloween I did a breakdown of four categories of horror. So I've repurposed it here, images and all, to talk about the metaphorical nature of horror.

Horror is perfect for metaphor and allegory. In fact, a horror story is ...

LISTEN!
Ayn Rand and The Fountainhead movie poster

Separating the art from the artist, the message from the messenger… Can you do this?
You know, when you find out an actor, musician, comic artist or whatever is an arsehole or says things you disagree with or is a criminal, can ...