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 ...

Raise your Flag
Andreas_Helixfinger at 12:00AM, June 11, 2023One Three to Rule Them All
Banes at 12:00AM, June 8, 2023
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 ...
Three Rounds of Milestones for Blessed Days, Android Blues, and Crimson Stars!
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, May 29, 2023
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 ...
When the World has Changed Forever
Banes at 12:00AM, May 18, 2023
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 ...
The 1990's Whiny Slacker Protagonist
Banes at 12:00AM, May 4, 2023
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 ...
Before You Save That Cat, all Willy Nilly...
Banes at 12:00AM, April 6, 2023
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 ...
Conflict
Banes at 12:00AM, March 23, 2023
Conflict!
It's the essential building block of drama. You don't have a story without the basics of “someone wants something, and something's in the way of getting it.”
Screenwriting books - books I really love and have given me a lot - will often say that amping up the ...
Being Inclusive vs. Being Authentic
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, March 18, 2023
So for some reason my youtube is being besieged by rant videos over The Little Mermaid live action movie by Disney… AGAIN. You'd think the algorithm would know by now that I only watch ER skits and debunking videos, but here we are.
The controversy (again) is over the ...
Panel By Panel: 'Heaven Hunters' and Splitting the Focus
hpkomic at 3:40PM, March 10, 2023
Hello everyone, and welcome to Panel by Panel, a periodic exploration of comic panels around The Duck. This week as I weigh possible panel challenges for later updates, I wanted to return to our more usual analysis of panels. This week we're turning to the comic Heaven Hunters by ...