I was fishing for smelts the other day and scooped up an old bottle, with a rolled-up paper inside. It contained the following:
In older literature I think it was common to have a story told by a narrator who was never a part of the action. Someone who may ...

Storytelling, Once Removed
Banes at 12:00AM, July 29, 2021Interviewing Miranda of "Into the Swell"
damehelsing at 12:00AM, July 25, 2021
Hello ducklings! I’m back with another interview, and this time we’ve got our wonderful sea captain Miranda! So, Captain Miranda, please introduce yourself!!
Miranda: Hello ducklings! I'm Miranda! I'm a full time computer engineer and in my spare time I enjoy baking, doing puzzles, playing video ...
Story Seeds
Banes at 12:00AM, July 15, 2021
In the early parts of the story, it helps the quality of the thing and the experience of the audience to layer in the details that will come into play later.
These are little character and world details that will come into play later - the sword that falls off the ...
The Test of Character
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, July 10, 2021
If you are in a fairy tale and encounter an Old Woman… never take that meeting lightly. It's usually a test of character: the manner in which you respond to her will be a measure of how kind, decisive, clever, obliging, evil, rude, crass, abusive, or idiotic you are ...
Comic Prep Work
damehelsing at 12:00AM, July 4, 2021
One of the things I love the most about comics, is the prep work, which may not be obvious by the countless amount of times that I’ve stated that I’m doing absolutely no prep work as of now for Scorned; but when I worked on Scarred Eden, that ...
Space Based Interactions
Banes at 12:00AM, July 1, 2021
Some of my earliest memories are playing with Star Wars toys - my awareness of the first film and the toys are muddled together, but I clearly remember seeing The Empire Strikes Back, and vividly recall the couple-years-long wait after that, before Return of the Jedi would come and resolve the ...
QUACKCAST 537 - Historicity
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, June 29, 2021 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/
We have a chat about historicity in this Quackcast. What IS historicity? It's historical authenticity basically but a nicer way of saying it! It's pretty ...
An Ode to Sidekicks (Part Deux)
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, June 28, 2021
Photo: Conan O’Brien and Andy Richter during a Cold Open for San Diego Comic-Con International (2016)
Seven years ago, on November 17, 2014, I wrote a Monday article on the Duck following the final taping of the Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson. It was around that time that ...
Is it Luck?
damehelsing at 12:00AM, June 27, 2021
Have you seen ”The Road to El’Dorado”? If you pay attention to the movie, the whole thing is pretty much based on luck.
Spoilers ahead if you haven’t watched the movie!
We witness luck happening from the start of the movie when Miguel and Tulio have been using ...
Writing Writers
Banes at 12:00AM, June 24, 2021
I read some writing…advice? Or commentary? Or something like that years ago that pointed out how often amateur writers will create Protagonists who are writers. If I'm remembering correctly, this was expressed as a bad thing, probably because it's overdone. On the one hand, they say write ...