I was fishing for smelts the other day and scooped up an old bottle, with a rolled-up paper inside. It contained the following:
In older literature I think it was common to have a story told by a narrator who was never a part of the action. Someone who may ...
Storytelling, Once Removed
Banes at 12:00AM, July 29, 2021Color Theory as a Rewind Machine (Revisited): Community Contributions
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, July 26, 2021
The 31 May 2021 article related to “Color Theory as a Rewind Machine” mentioned how colors could be used intentionally as a way to transport the reader to different time periods. At the end, I posed the question whether anyone had ever used a specific decade’s color palette in ...
Layers in Character
Banes at 12:00AM, July 8, 2021
Welcome to my Underground Layers
-Banes, your pop culture references are as on point as ever!
I've talked about story structure here many times, normally in similar ways.
A different approach to character and story, one I haven't used much personally, is what we could call the “onion ...
QUACKCAST 537 - Historicity
Ozoneocean at 12:00AM, June 29, 2021 LISTEN on our new player!
Listen on Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/drunkduck-quackcast
Or TuneinRadio - https://tunein.com/podcasts/Books–Literature/Drunkduck-Quackcast-p1150194/
We have a chat about historicity in this Quackcast. What IS historicity? It's historical authenticity basically but a nicer way of saying it! It's pretty ...
Writing Writers
Banes at 12:00AM, June 24, 2021
I read some writing…advice? Or commentary? Or something like that years ago that pointed out how often amateur writers will create Protagonists who are writers. If I'm remembering correctly, this was expressed as a bad thing, probably because it's overdone. On the one hand, they say write ...
On 'Fixing' Art
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, May 22, 2021
So the other day I came across a whole twitter quarrel between a famous Spiderman artist and an anonymous (potentially teenaged) “art fixer”. Usually I tend to support or find some kind of explanation or excuse for the underdog- the non-famous, small account, low tier, unrecognized artist rather than the ...
I Can Do Better
Banes at 12:00AM, May 20, 2021
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 ...
On Writer’s Block, Slumps, and Bohemia
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, May 17, 2021
The cyclical pattern of creative forces of energy comes and goes like the ocean waves during the high tide. Writing happens so naturally on some days, as easily as cutting a pad of butter with a warm knife, whereas there are other days that require five hours of positive self-talk ...
The Problem With Urban Fantasy
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, May 8, 2021
Sooo… I love some good urban fantasy. I think I've always had, even before I knew what I liked was called that. The idea that a world full of magic exists behind a thin veil of concealment, the idea that wizards or elves or fairies could walk among us ...
It Has Begun
kawaiidaigakusei at 12:00AM, April 26, 2021
Photo: Mortal Kombat logo from the original Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Call it what it is: Nostalgia. Intellectual property rights. Series reboot. The chills start to form as soon as Scorpion drags SubZero’s masked face across the screen and yells, “Get over here!” The goblet of Summer 2021 Blockbusters ...