Tropes aren’t bad. In fact, they are a useful and, at times, necessary shorthand that creators, particularly in the webcomic field, can wield to enhance their work. J Hillis Miller posited a trope as, “… the use of figurative language, via word, phrase or an image, for artistic effect.”

Every ...

Inspiration is quite the rush. The mind is set alight with seemingly limitless possibilities and, in that moment, you want to experience them all. For a creator, inspiration is the high that we pursue. But eventually our creative significant other packs up their stuff and quietly disappears into the night ...

I may have told this story in this spot before, but years ago I worked with this book called “The Artist's Way”, which included fun exercises meant to unlock the creativity most of us adults don't access regularly.

The main ongoing exercise done throughout the whole process of ...

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 ...

Welcome to a stream of consciousness.

There are times, more than we might like to admit, when we encounter the chasm of blank thought that is writer’s block. So often in fact, that there are countless books, articles and videos on how to get around it; to spark your ...

Recently, my writing partner and I have gone on a very short hiatus whilst we rework a few things to accommodate another project and it got me thinking about the almost inevitable and sometimes dreaded occurrence that is, “The Hiatus”.

It is very rare to find an artist or team ...

LISTEN!

In today's Quackcast we talk about a couple of subjects: Doing things at the last minute VS doing them slowly, over time. Sometimes you get that wonderful last minute energy caused by a deadline, your work can be inspired, or at least fresh and full of vibrancy. Other ...

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 ...

So for the last few posts I’ve been meaning to go back and finish off an idea that I had begun to explain, albeit poorly, but, as you can see, I have not. I know that there is more I could do with it; more I could delve into ...

A character starts in one state of being, and ends in a very different state of being.

The Character Arc in a nutshell!

Every time the subject of character arcs comes up around the site or on the Quackcast, one of the first examples that comes to my mind is ...