Many of us have been talking about AI increasingly over the last little while, and it's a discussion point in the WGA writer's strike that's been going on right now. Actually, as of this Newspost, the actors have just gone on strike as well, joining the writers ...

Ok yes. Plot armor in general is considered a mistake. With good reason. Enough plot armor and there are no stakes left in your plot, and the audience isn't worried your plot-armored characters may not make it. And if there's no suspense, there's no engagement or the ...

In the whole “show don't tell” thing that is the holy grail of ‘good storytelling’ (yes but not always, this is for a newspost of another time) what they usually don't tell you is that behavioral patterns are your friend.

To show rather than tell, you need to ...

Hey all! Wasn’t in the mood to put up another poem for this Sunday post, so I’d thought I instead dedicate this Sunday post to something I’ve done recently. Last Tuesday June 6th it was Swedish National Day and the day before that day I spent the ...

There are many areas where the “rule of three” comes into play. There are plenty of them in storytelling.

Fairy Tales and Fables are full of threes, of course, with Three Little Pigs, Three Bears, Three Wishes, and on and on - the first unit sets things up, the second reinforces ...

Photo: “Submission No. 2” by stinger9. 04 June 2023.

Hello all, this is a major announcement for the Drunk Duck Awards contest that has been underway for the last ten days on the Comic Talk and General Discussion forums. Original Trophy Design entries will be accepted until Wednesday, June 7 ...

Photo: “Blessed Days: Chapter 5 Promo (featuring Dylan + Grace)”. Story and art created by InkyMoondrop. May 2023.

We have several major announcements from three talented comic creators here on The Duck. InkyMoondrop of Blessed Days has updates for the direction chapters five and six are headed. Stahlberg of Android Blues ...

We talk a lot about Franchises here because those have been the big, widely known movies/stories in the culture in recent years.

But it's not all about Franchises - one thing that a standalone story can do, and occasionally does, is have an ending that changes the world forever ...

In rewatching some 1990's movies, I saw quite a few of these Protagonists show up - they're these disaffected types, usually quite intelligent or at least verbose, who are wrapped up in their emotions and sort of spinning their wheels in life as they analyze their problems and face ...

Since I first read it, the book “Save The Cat!” has been incredibly useful to me as far as thinking about stories, outlining them, and finishing them. It's a fun way to approach structure, and applies to a LOT of mainstream stories.

It's become an essential textbook in ...