I have this gig where I make summaries for new books that come out- a shortcut, if you like, for those who want to appear bookish without actually reading the damn thing. Or perhaps they are just looking to see if the actual book is worth their time.

This book ...

It's very easy for us creators to get wrapped up in our own art and stories that sometimes we begin to feel stagnant. It’s important to take a step back and look at what others are doing as it might go on to serve as inspiration for your ...

So on occasion, there's a lot of controversy over gender bending characters- that is, to change the character's sex from male to female or vice versa.

I'm not going to talk about my take on this controversy. At least not in this article.

What I want to ...

When Stranger Things ended their first season I didn’t feel that there was a need to continue. The character’s had had their arcs come full circle, most loose ends were neatly tied and, despite the ending being left slightly ambiguous, for the most part, it was wrapped up ...

With Valentine's day just behind us and a lot of talk of love, I thought I'd take a look on the exact opposite of love and affection- how do we write and display hatred in characters? How do characters hate, and what's the difference from rage?

In ...

Having discussed a general approach to writing characters with mental disorders (with a lot of thoughtful comments by you further enriching what I had to say!) it's only right that we wrap up this very quick analysis with an example of a story that properly portrays them.

I chose ...

Have you ever noticed that among the dead webcomics, a preponderance of them have “Hiatus” on their tombstone? That tombstone being, of course, the final page posted years and years ago with a promise they will be “right back” after a “short break”. There are of course a number of ...

Inspiration strikes! A new idea forms, and you're really excited about it. You want to take your time, however– you want this to be great, and no great thing just springs fully formed from one's brow. For years you toil, tweak, refine, moving ever closer to the point ...

If there is one thing about your comic you will want to nail it is the manner in which the character’s speak to one another. When it comes to creating good and effective conversation you have to keep in mind two things.

1) Does the dialogue progress the story ...

A discussion at twitter (you should be there! If you haven’t looked for @Drunkduck you should, add DD and you’ll be added back!) brought to my attention a very subtle but very aesthetically and narratively pleasing element that, when we take the time as artists to factor it ...