They say that the best and most important elements in visual arts, from movies to comics, are done well when the audience doesn’t quite notice them. And that is definitely true- research and plot development and world building are some of them about which I’ve already talked about ...

LISTEN!

Romances don't always have to be the main focus of a story, infact you can have richer, more interesting romances if they occur in support of a bigger plot issue. It can lend them and the story more weight if they're in a secondary position. Characters can ...

The other day I read a very interesting post by our very own Vickie of Used Books where she was talking about Romance. And what caught my eye the most was her description of the driving force behind romance stories as “relationship-driven conflict”- a very succinct way to put it ...

Having decided that shock value is needed in your comic and you must scare, disgust or generally traumatize your audience in some way in order to get the emotional reaction to serve your theme and your subject matter, how do you decide when and where to draw the line? (note ...

We’ve heard it and experienced it many times: For a creator to make an impact, to truly etch his/her message in the brains of his/her audience when it comes to art, from novels to films to comics, imagery with a high shock value is employed or simulations ...

Thursdays with Banes - The Murky Middle

A good way to put together a story is to figure out some essentials, first - Elements of Character, Plot and Theme, and Building some World and all that. We've talked about these things around here a lot, and we'll prolly continue to ...

Where's Chuck? - Retcons

Hello again!

On the previous Quackcast we talked about retcons - here's that episode if you care to listen:

http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2017/jul/08/quackcast-331-retconning-your-work/

A retcon is a little tricky to define perfectly, but I guess it boils down to an alteration ...

art by yours truly

It is no secret that as an artist, it is prose that I’m professional at rather than painting/drawing. And historical fiction aside, what I’m told I write quite well is fantasy. So, for a long time I have wanted to talk about writing ...

Every comic needs to be researched. Except maybe an autobiographical one, since it’s most likely you already have a thorough knowledge of what is going on in your life.

Or maybe you don’t, and this is your Cognitive Therapy homework.

In any case, a few exceptions aside, just ...

So we come to the end of this long litany of presentations on Jung’s assorted archetypes that craftsmen of the narrative arts have used since time immemorial to weave their yarns.

And what better way to end with the crowning jewel in every story, from books to movies to ...