You’ve gone through the arduous process of fleshing out your world, the themes and the lore and you’re standing back looking at your shining new playground; but there is a blight standing right in the centre that you can no longer ignore. You hate your characters. Maybe it ...

Creating a Cast - in 1-2-3

One of the challenges…and maybe one of the greatest pleasures…of creating a series is populating it with a cast of heroes. I know I spend many weeks or months tinkering with characters and deciding who they're going to be. …And how many ...

We all talk about the sheer necessity to create characters that don't appear cardboard, that are fleshed out, that generally feel like real flesh-and-blood, living, breathing people (regardless of your character's species or nature) with personalities that ring true to the audience.

There are several elements that contribute ...

For of all sad words of tongue and pen,
The saddest are these: “It might have been!”



Whether it's a webcomic, graphic novel, book, TV Show or movie, there is generally a “promise” made to the audience on some level. Maybe it starts with a thumbnail image and a ...

I had to hold myself back from making a 50 shades joke so badly I feel chafing from the restraints.

But this isn't about what you think- i.e. using grayscale or black and white rather than colour in a webcomic.

Rather, this is about a webcomic's characters ...

In the latest issue of Game Informer, a magazine produced by GameStop in North America, there was an entire article about a new game being released called “Night in the Woods” featuring anthropomorphic animals that exhibit mental health characteristics such as depression and bipolar disorder. This article struck a chord ...

A well written protagonist will generally have some flaws, starting out as an underdog of some kind, with lessons to learn and improvements to make over the course of the story.

Granted, some heroes are, well, just heroes, who are pretty much who they need to be from the beginning ...

There are few scenes more dramatic, more alluring and more riveting than the moment when the one of the main characters of a story makes the Turn: the moment where they change their convictions- for better or worse.

If properly prepared, the Turn is an extremely cathartic and exciting moment ...

PART THREE!
“I wouldn't give this guy's problems to a monkey on a rock!”
-David Letterman

Part One:
http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2017/may/10/the-comedy-plot-toolbox-edition-part-one/

Part Two:
http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2017/may/17/the-comedy-plot-toolbox-edition-part-two/

The Story so far…

Who is the Hero
What Does ...

Hello again!

I'm gonna continue for the next two or three weeks about “The Comedy Toolbox” approach to comedy structure.

There is quite a bit of crossover between this method and other methods you've heard of. But that's probably a good thing; there should be some similarity ...