Normally in stories there is the hero vs the villain or the protagonist vs the antagonist. As the audience, we generally expect to root for the hero or the protagonist and hope for the villain's or antagonist's comeuppance.

But there come those times when we find ourselves rooting ...

Designing memorable characters doesn’t just stop at their appearance. The manner in which they speak and use body language is integral to building a full picture of who they are as a character as well as how others react to them. Here are some tips on how to make ...

Reverse-Engineering Conflict in a Story
part one

Conflict is the basic material of a scene, and of a story. I've talked a lot over the years about structure and genre, and how all that stuff can work.

Another way to create a new story, and new characters, is to ...

Conflict in a story is not only necessary, it can be the juiciest part of your comic. Think about it! We often remember and recount the parts of a movie, comic or show where the emotions were the strongest. A solid vitriolic scene can result in one hell of a ...

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 ...

The moment of change in a character is not always crystal clear in a story. Very often the secret to good storytelling I think, is to understand all the structural elements in a story, and a character arc, and then to HIDE those elements so they feel realistic while they ...

So your comic is coming to end but you still have some small threads to tie up. What better way to bookend the story than with an epilogue? Much like the prologue, the events in the epilogue can take place some time after the concluded events. The main purpose is ...

I was browsing my twitter a few weeks ago and I noticed someone I follow ask if there’s any webcomic hosts out there. Of course I said the duck, wings down. One thing led to another and the conversation turned to when I could read it. They said they ...

Creating believable and engaging dialogue is key when creating a story. It’s not only used to convey important plot information, but also emotions, motivations and rapport amongst the cast.

Dialog can be an effective way to convey information or raise conflict that maintains the momentum of the comic. The ...

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Image from Genghis Khan by Miike Snow.

Sexual tension between characters is a great way to augment the conflict that drives a story. The audience really wants ...