You’ve got your amazing idea down for a story but how do you begin? You want to make your first chapter amazing! En medias res means opening in the midst of the plot. This way, exposition is bypassed, allowing you to fill it in more gradually, either through dialogue ...

Picking a name for your character is a pivotal moment. Almost like breathing life into them, the name you pick for them will give their identity a hue, a flavor that wouldn't be the same with any other name. Yes, a Rose by any other name would smell as ...

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Character trajectories are really interesting- in terms of character alignment, like a good guy that slowly turns into a bad guy through a whole bunch of bad ...

Unless they are an old-timey Disney villain or similarly classic cartoon villain, nobody wants to be evil or bad starting off. Nobody's ambition is to be the villain in their own story. (note I say ‘villain’ and not ‘antagonist’)

Everyone is out to be the hero.

So why aren ...

I’ve been revisiting a fantasy novel that I had fallen in love with as a teenager, The Axis Trilogy. As I was reading it I remembered what the author had said about the character Faraday and her intentions for her fate. She commented in an interview, “She was never ...

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What is the most definitive version of your character? Where does it pop up in your comic? What part of your work most defines your main character ...

There are a lot of discussions pertaining to the idea that artificial intelligence and brain implants will be a huge part of the future. Cyborgs are a topic demonstrated in science fiction, such as when the Borg assimilated Captain Picard and seduced Data in Star Trek. It is argued that ...

Now that's a little TOO scary!

Horror is perfect for metaphor and allegory. In fact, a horror story is often allegorical by default, what with its bizarre landscapes and freaky beasties.

Here are some categories of horror and some thoughts on what they symbolize:

Reality Bites


psycho killer! Qu ...

Raymond is a hardboiled, hard bitten, old style private dick. He's headstrong and goes after leads like a bloodhound. Thankfully his secretary has a calmer head on her shoulders and is there to back him up when he gets into trouble. The problem is that the leads he's ...

(Fish Being Chased Down by Prehistoric Beast drawn by the Wondrous and Glorious, El Cid, 2015)

I have experienced times in my life where I am scrambling to make ends meet, working hard to get my basic needs met, trying desperately trying to connect point A to point B. There ...