I think many of us who make comics or write stories or are interested in writing can agree that mistake number one in writing is to front-load a story with a long-winded backstory. We've talked about it here on the site plenty of times.

There is an opposite mistake ...

Been dragging my feet writing this Sunday article - among many other things - as I’ve been hit by this latest compulsive obsession of mine to keep rearranging my Youtube library to perfectly push out the distracting vestiges of my past internet media consumption, in order to become more focused in ...

Last week I talked about what kind of stuff to stick in the middle section of stories.

Here's a tangent I found myself on, about the actual halfway mark:

Well, the middle bit almost always contains the actual halfway point of the story. In many stories this is a ...

In the beginning, we set up our character
Iin the middle, we get them into trouble
In the end, we get them out of trouble.

Sounds so simple! It's tougher than that to pull off.

The middle of a story in particular, as people have talked about, is often ...

The idea of genre is somewhat obvious, and somewhat murky. It can be rigid for some fans, and irrelevant to others.

I was reading some thoughts from readers of various niches that were very particular about what belongs in them and what doesn't. There were some complaints there about ...

Earlier today Ozoneocean made a pretty interesting post at Facebook, regarding how demons are depicted in modern culture as opposed to how they were earlier, and especially what they symbolized in western culture: they are now generally depicted as sexy, good, glittering, or misunderstood. If they are doing negative things ...

Thursdays with Banes - The Murky Middle

A good way to put together a story is to figure out some essentials, first - Elements of Character, Plot and Theme, and Building some World and all that. We've talked about these things around here a lot, and we'll prolly continue to ...

One of Drunk Duck's most respected and talented comic creators makes a grand comeback with Mindfold, a beautifully stunning comic.

The setting is in the vast plains of an otherworldly location. On this planet, fantastical magenta beasts wander the land, a half homosapien-half cheetah girl calls it home, and ...

There is a brand new piece of off-white coloured paper on the desk. The click of a GraphiGear mechanical pencil. The lead hitting the table. Tap. Tap. Tap. The need to draw is there, but the inspiration behind it makes it very difficult to create an image out of thin ...