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 ...
A river in Egypt
Banes at 12:00AM, Feb. 23, 2017Used Books Celebrates Ten Years with an Anniversary Special!
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, Feb. 20, 2017
Used Books is celebrating its tenth anniversary on Feb. 23 (Thursday), so we are interrupting the story for a couple special extras this week. The first is posted Monday.
usedbooks writes:
The Beginning
Thursday, February 23rd marks the 10th anniversary of Used Books online. I started drawing UB shortly after ...
Boring Action
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Jan. 28, 2017
Yesterday I was looking at reviews on youtube of the last Resident Evil movie that just came out. And while different reviewers had different degrees of leniency on the movie’s below average quality, everyone was unanimous in that the action in it was a ton, and boring.
So let ...
One Dimensional Characters
Banes at 12:00AM, Dec. 22, 2016
Talking Stock
A good character is a three-dimensional character, right? They have to be relateable. With wants and fears that make sense. And a bit of a history. And a flaw or two to keep them “human”. And a wound to try and overcome. And maybe even a contradiction within ...
Diminishing Returns
Banes at 12:00AM, Dec. 15, 2016
Emotional Charges and Diminishing Returns
Many writing methodologies suggest mapping out the emotional change of each scene. The scene either starts positive, and goes to either negative or “extra positive”, or starts negative and goes to positive or “extra negative” by the end of the scene.
So if a lovelorn ...
Quackcast 300 - 3rd DD meetup!
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, Dec. 6, 2016 LISTEN!
Art by Ozoneocean
We finally did it! We got to 300 Quackcasts! We've been doing these non-stop for SIX years! Wow… That's pretty incredible. We couldn't think of anything clever do do so we had another DD electronic meetup. The 3rd DD meetup on the 3rd ...
Constructing Suspense
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Nov. 19, 2016
Everyone loves a good thriller, a titillating mystery, a tale full of twists and turns (that make sense), something that challenges you to find the answer before you’re given it at the final act.
I’m not sure how many like sitting down to construct them.
Don’t get ...
No Hugging, No Learning
HippieVan at 12:00AM, Nov. 18, 2016
Recently I wrote a throwaway character for my comic based on a real-life friend of mine. In short, he’s a loveable misanthrope. And because he’s based on a real human being, I felt like I owed the character something: he won’t grow, or change, or become a ...
Incomprehensible Notes to Yourself
HippieVan at 12:00AM, Oct. 7, 2016
I think we all do this – you leave a quick note to yourself with some great idea you’ve had, or something you need to remember to do later on. Days, weeks, or months later you re-discover the note and you have no idea what your past self was thinking ...