With the Thanksgiving holiday coming to a close and Christmas not being far away, now is a good time to take a step back and consider the past year. For my writing partner and I, we had high hopes for the year coupled with a mountain of plans. However, those ...

Do the things you draw come true?

At the end of Annie Hall, Woody Allen's character writes a play that recreates his breakup with Annie. But in the fictional version, they stay together and the romance continues. Narrating the movie, Woody apologizes to the movie's audience and says ...

Nowhere to Hyde

Last time we talked about characters who are not what they seem. Folks who are introduced one way but are revealed to have a secret nature, or hidden depths, or a hidden agenda.

Another type of “hidden side” I enjoy is a little less universal, but can ...

edward norton in “primal fear”

One of the things I like in fiction is characters who are not what they seem.

Like all things, this sort of thing can be done well, or badly, or somewhere in between. It can be fascinating and surprising, or cliche and predictable. It can ...

Who's it for?

In writing instructional books, there used to be this bit about deciding who your story/screenplay/series is FOR. This is a notion used in the industry (so I've read) to figure out who the audience is going to be for a given project. In ...

An alternate universe (AU) is, in case anyone isn't aware, a story taking place in a fantastical, alternate historical timeline that usually kicks off from a specific event in actual history that takes a different turn from the one that it did in reality.

Alternate universes are fascinating. From ...

I know you are probably rolling your eyes right now, thinking I'm about to rant about the Star Wars sequels again. I'm not.

Ok, I might a little, but not in the typical manner. And I'm inviting you to hear me out because this isn't a ...

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As promised we dive right into the second half of the Star Wars chat! We cover all the Star Wars stuff besides the original trilogy and the ...

Considering how many steps there are in creating comics, planning, plotting, writing, scripting, sketches, pencils, inks or colours and everything in between, it’s important to build in some time for review. Now this seems like a logical step. But when deadlines, self-imposed or otherwise, loom, this step is often ...

There are things that appeal to the head - intriguing “what ifs” in terms of world building, and insights into technology, culture, politics, and history that capture the imagination in an intellectual way.

Then there's the heart - stories without emotional connection are the ones that critics and audiences call “sterile ...