I've talked about villains before and how they can be very nuanced in their motivations (without those motivations being redeeming) but today, thanks to Emma Clare's Friday post, I became inspired to talk about abject, absolute, abominable villainy! The twirling mustache type, the one that is so pure ...

Pure Evil
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, April 20, 2019Handling Controversial Historical Characters
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, April 13, 2019
image by Ben Burgraff
When writing a historical fiction, it's very likely that you will need to include some actual historical personalities along with your historically-adept yet fictional cast.
Depicting a historical character is hard enough when there's a general consensus among historians and popular belief about who ...
A Short List of Writing Tips
Banes at 12:00AM, April 11, 2019I watched a great series of interview clips with a writer/producer/teacher named Dr. Ken Atchity on the Film Courage channel. He talks about screenwriting, and productive creativity in general. Great interviews from a guy who I find quite inspiring, and in a down-to-earth kind of way.
Here's ...
The Status Quo
Banes at 12:00AM, April 4, 2019
“Don't worry, Bart. It seems like every week something odd happens to the Simpsons. My advice is to ride it out, make an occasional smart-aleck quip, and by next week, we'll be back to where we started from, ready for another wacky adventure. ”
-Lisa Simpson
In most series ...
The Use of Nightmares
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, March 30, 2019
When they happen, nightmares can be anything from a terrible experience to a nuisance that can be settled with a warm cup of tea or chocolate. And while they harp on our peace of mind and our precious time asleep, the general consensus among psychologists is that, if it isn ...
It's All You
Banes at 12:00AM, March 28, 2019
You
Creating something new is daunting. Where do you start? I know if I'm putting something together, at some point I get anxious about how it will be received by people who read it. Will it make any sense? Is it good enough? Is it just terrible? Irrelevant? Boring ...
Gag Orders 2
Banes at 12:00AM, March 14, 2019
Gag Orders 2 - Gag Harder
Last week we touched on the outcry over Captain Marvel's marketing campaign, and the shutting down of the ‘Interested-Not Interested’ section of Rotten Tomatoes.
At the same time, a somewhat-related hammer hit YouTube creators when channels were demonetized or limited and told that unsavory ...
QUACKCAST 417 - Can we be better?
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, March 12, 2019 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 a big, awkward, contentious and fiery subject. What we're talking about in this Quackcast is the current phenomenon of social marketing and how it ...
Building Platonic Friendships (Part 2)
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, March 9, 2019
Building a platonic friendship has its challenges, not only because as an author or creator of your webcomic you will need to handle the audience's propensity to assume your male and female lead will be romantically involved, but because of the demands you'll need to meet to make ...