You’ve got your amazing idea down for a story but how do you begin? You want to make your first chapter amazing! This is where you need to lay down some concrete foundations to get your audience main character and why they care about what is happening to them ...

When do you bail on a series, movie or story?

We had a pretty fine conversation on the Quackcast last week that wandered into the category of “endings” and when they're set up well vs badly and such. I had a similar convo today with someone about various series ...

Happy June 1st everyone!

I have been youtube-crawling today around the cinema pop-culture side. And as I was watching assorted comments and commentary on a whole lot of YA (i.e. Young Adult) and children's books and TV/film/animation series, from Harry Potter to The Last Airbender to ...

Didn't Do Nothin'

During the making of the movie Cast Away, Tom Hanks and the screenwriter were developing the story, and
it was going well - other than the ending. In the end, the character was rescued.

Robert Zemeckis, the eventual director of the movie told them that the character ...

There are going to be times in your life where you will be rejected or subjected to defeat; whether that be professionally, personally or existentially. During these moments it is very easy to fall into a funk that feels impossible to drag yourself out of. So here are some tips ...

Hurtling through space without a helmet and a jetpack on her back is Jill, the spunky redhead who still needs to do chores. One night, after sharing a room with the son of her friends, Jill is awoken by the foreboding tales of a little boy’s nightmare. In order ...

This is a topic that Ozoneocean suggested to me and I have to say I'm quite intrigued to tackle it and start a conversation perhaps around the concept as a plot device but also as an issue of the relationship of the creators and the audiences.

Betrayal can be ...

When creating a story you begin leading the reader down a path. You know where you’re going, or at least can pretend to know, but the reader does not. But, with some well laid out clues and foreshadowing, they can begin to piece the map together. Now here comes ...

There comes the time when you may have a scene that starts off quite innocuously. It might even start all fun and games. But sometime during it, the atmosphere changes drastically, and things escalate, seemingly out of nowhere.

What used to be a chill scene, now is suddenly a strife ...

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In this Quackcast we chat about set-ups. pay-offs, and rip-offs. To make your climaxes and endings more satisfying you have pay-offs for audience expectations: set them up ...