There's nothing more entertaining than the angst of a monster that was once a human being. A monster that hates who he/she is, that strives to regain all the terrible loss he/she has sustained, to strive to become human again.



Or if it starts off a monster ...

Pixar has had one of the most dedicated story teams in the business. Here are the Pixar rules of storytelling. I find them to be powerful and sensible! If you haven't seen this list before (I hadn't), here they are!


1. You admire a character for trying more ...

Hi everyone! We’re interrupting your regular programming to talk about the upcoming Drunk Duck anthology!

Firstly: voting on the anthology theme is open to all Duck users. The admins have narrowed it down to five, and you can vote by following this link https://strawpoll.com/hqdh2g81c, and voting ...

I have this gig where I make summaries for new books that come out- a shortcut, if you like, for those who want to appear bookish without actually reading the damn thing. Or perhaps they are just looking to see if the actual book is worth their time.

This book ...

I've talked a lot about motivations in my articles. And how could I not? My scientific field aside, what makes us behave in certain manners or way is a question that has occupied entire schools of thought in psychology, philosophy, political science, even AI and (bio)chemistry.

There are ...

First off, Happy 4th of July to all USA Duckers!

Recently I listened to Lindsey Ellis' excellently made video essay on so-called ‘woke Disney’: the company's attempt to remake or edit or outright hide past works because they are now judged to be problematic in some way or other ...

Early in my writing efforts, I mostly did short stories. Scenes, really. I'd imagine a whole story around the scene I wrote and drew. I did a series of scenes about two private detectives hired to solve a 20-year old murder. I had no idea who did it, why ...

What made a character be who he/she is? What is it that drives them, and why?

That's the allure of any origin story: we get to see how characters we look up to or love or love to hate came to be who they are.

Most, if not ...

LISTEN on our new player!
Listen on Stitcher ​​- https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/drunkduck-quackcast
Or TuneinRadio - https://tunein.com/podcasts/Books–Literature/Drunkduck-Quackcast-p1150194/

Fools are an iconic character trope and I wanted to explore them. They're a lot more varied and interesting than is readily apparent. There's a ...

LISTEN on our new player!
Listen on Stitcher ​​- https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/drunkduck-quackcast
Or TuneinRadio - https://tunein.com/podcasts/Books–Literature/Drunkduck-Quackcast-p1150194/

Today on this glorious date we chat about that part in stories where everything turns to crap for the protagonists, just before the run up to the ...