The long-running series Supernatural just came to an end and I enjoyed the last couple episodes. Even though I haven't seen the last few seasons and don't plan to, I knew the series fairly well from its first 6 or 7 years. I could say more about this ...

Who doesn't love pirates?

Kids love to dress up as them in Halloween or during carnival season. There was whole a whole era of Hollywood where pirate movies were the blockbuster vein of gold. Pirates in fiction are charming, fun, dastardly, and the epitome of adventure.

Pirates in real ...

Whether we have free will or not is a philosophical, existential and psychological conundrum that will forever tease and challenge us. While I can't speak for philosophers, I can for psychologists:

Behaviorists will tell you it doesn't exist (look up Skinner); Cognitive behaviorists will tell you it's ...

We've talked before about theme in these Newsposts.

Many people know what a theme is, but just to set it up right, theme is what a story is about, on a deeper level. It's about the journey the character is taking. It's the larger “point” of the ...

Last week, I went into the basics of building your fictional worlds. We’re continuing on with our second instalment where we’ll dive a bit deeper into the nitty gritty of world building. Without further ado…

What’s your world’s system of government?
Politics plays a large role ...

I'm not sure who the first fictional character was that I became attached to. The Cat in the Hat? Superman or Batman? Animal from the Muppets? Oscar the Grouch?

In any case, Jughead Jones was somewhere in that very early group of beloved characters. I liked Archie, and envied ...

Naming towns, cities or worlds can be a challenge. A name speaks volumes when it comes to world building so the pressure to get it right is real. To help overcome the struggle of finding the perfect name, here are some tips you can use to really nail it.

Consider ...

I like mentor characters.

This is not just me of course; the mentor and protagonist relationship is powerful. Some of the best moments in many stories are the first encounter with the mentor, the training and sense of discovery for the protagonist, and the eventual loss of the mentor character ...

Do the things you draw come true?

At the end of Annie Hall, Woody Allen's character writes a play that recreates his breakup with Annie. But in the fictional version, they stay together and the romance continues. Narrating the movie, Woody apologizes to the movie's audience and says ...

I decided to give the first episode of Riverdale chance after seeing lots of its merchandise advertised in the local Hot Topic and several teenagers recommending it. If anyone is late to the party (as I was), Riverdale is a series based off of the 1939 Archie Comics. It shares ...