As creators of stories, be they novels or graphic novels or comics, we all have heard the adage “write what you know”. It's been drummed into our minds to the point that its cold fingers have our impostor syndrome in a deathgrip every time we venture our to write ...

Photo: “More Than A Psychological Test”. Ink on White Paper, found objects, rubber roller, ink blotter. Created by kawaiidaigakusei. Westwood, Los Angeles, California. (February 2025)

Last Saturday afternoon was spent at an Art Lab in a museum in Los Angeles, California, that was open to participants of all ages.

The ...

It’s time for another Character Deep Dive, this within the amazing political war thriller The Second Crimean War by the awesome and proliferate The Doodler!

The Second Crimean War is an alternate history webcomic, of a different 1995 where, after the collapse of the USSR, the emerging, independent Ukraine ...

How do you make a clever character stupid?

You give them an infatuation. A fixation. Something that completely overrides their critical thinking and better judgment. Something that drives them nuts like a switch is thrown.

And when that happens, they're dumber than a bag of rocks. (And they're ...

Photo: “-Spring- Ch.3: Page 80”. Imago, Nebraska, created by InkyMoondrop. (November 2024)

InkyMoondrop writes:

“He-hey! It's that time again. Chapter 3 of Imago, Nebraska ends on the 27th (Wednesday). I hope it was to your liking, Ch.4 will focus more on Theo once again, with a few ...

The telling of stories, in a big way, is about working emotions. A major reason stories have the power they do is that the great ones wring emotions out of us, and take us through some kind of emotional journey.

In a movie or TV show, things are different than ...

Halloween is just around the corner, so what better thing to do than talk about monsters?

Specifically, what has motivated humanity to create them, talk about them, fear them and love them across time and across culture.

Monsters are generally linked with our sense of fear. Fear is an adaptive ...

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 ...

When we hear about a broken heart, usually our collective minds to go romantic disappointments and devastation. Unrequited love, betrayed love, or even love separated by death or any other type of force majeure.

And that's absolutely one type of heartbreak that is and will remain legit. It's ...

Hello there my fellow Quackernauts! As it’s the spooky season, what better time is there to explore one of my favourite genres, horror. Horror is many things, but at its core it’s intention is to challenge the human mind; to remind us that, despite all our attempts to ...