We talk a lot about Franchises here because those have been the big, widely known movies/stories in the culture in recent years.
But it's not all about Franchises - one thing that a standalone story can do, and occasionally does, is have an ending that changes the world forever ...

When the World has Changed Forever
Banes at 12:00AM, May 18, 2023Ban Fan Plan?
Banes at 12:00AM, May 11, 2023
I watched an interview with Ira Behr, the writer and showrunner on Star Trek Deep Space Nine. He talked about his days in the DS9 writer's room. It was the 90's, and the early days of the Internet. Even in those days, Star Trek discussion was flourishing online ...
Submit Original Story Scripts to Lite Bites!
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, May 8, 2023
“Squidhead Cover”. Drawn by Genejoke. Lite Bites. (April 2023)
Genejoke, creator behind the Lite Bites Project, wants to remind everyone in the Drunk Duck community that Lite Bites is, “Always looking for contributors.”
CALL FOR WRITERS
Lite Bites is, “Looking for scripts mainly, do you have a script you don ...
My Own Private Central Valley
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, May 1, 2023
Photo: “Windmills through the Passenger Side Window”. Photo taken by me. (June 2022).
“When June came
The grasses headed out
And turned brown,
And the hills turned brown
Which was not a brown
But a gold and saffron
And red—
An indescribable color.
And from then on until the next ...
Fanservice and Nostalgia
Banes at 12:00AM, April 27, 2023
Picard Season Three hit the fan service HARD. I absolutely loved it.
The final season of Star Trek Picard is winning very good reviews from fans and critics.
Of course, in some corners there is criticism of fan service, nostalgia and ‘member berries’ being the driving force behind the season ...
Creator Feuds and Hidden Messages
Banes at 12:00AM, April 20, 2023
Jon Favreau played Maz Kanada. Or Pablo Hidalgo. Or something like that
There are Easter Eggs hidden in media that might be spottable by viewers/readers, and others that the audience would never know unless they got the inside scoop from somewhere.
It's one reason I like commentaries and ...
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Uses Genre Tropes Against You
Emma_Clare at 12:00AM, April 1, 2023
Recently I have been revisiting a sitcom that I used to love but, funnily enough, never finished. The last season of the show dropped during a hectic period of my life and by the time I had, well time, to watch it, I had lost the plot. But thanks to ...
Conflict
Banes at 12:00AM, March 23, 2023
Conflict!
It's the essential building block of drama. You don't have a story without the basics of “someone wants something, and something's in the way of getting it.”
Screenwriting books - books I really love and have given me a lot - will often say that amping up the ...
The Modern Classics: Die Hard
Banes at 12:00AM, Feb. 16, 2023
Die Hard was a surprise smash hit back in the day, and became famous in some circles as a template for screenwriters to pitch their stories (“It's Die Hard on a bus”…or a boat, or a jet, or in a house).
It's also talked about as a ...
Quackcast 622 - Whaddaya take me for?
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, Feb. 14, 2023 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/
This is when the writer leads you to think something big has happened in the story, like a character dying or falling in love or winning a ...