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 ...

I'm not a superfan of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but I read some of them, liked them, and I found a lot of the characters wonderful, and many story elements have stayed with me for many years.

In that series, travelers through the cosmos could run into ...

Webcomics don't need to follow rules.

They are often created by one person and don't need to answer to editors, publishers or money-type-people. They can be made by just you, and can be made for an audience of just a couple friends or relatives…or just for yourself ...

So, last week we talked about theme, and how it is generally expressed through the Protagonist in a given story, as they struggle through whatever type of conflict is appropriate to that tale. We had a few common examples of themes:

-Love conquers all

-The strongest or most determined will ...

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 ...

I haven't had a chance to get into the Locke and Key comic series, although I've meant to for a long time - It's been recommended to me a few times, and shows up on lists of “top horror comics”.

Like almost every other “genre comic” that has ...

The suspension of disbelief happens automatically in readers and audiences if a story does its job.

Audiences WANT to believe in a story when they start reading or watching it.

I mean, you can' t count on everyone. I remember going to see the Benjamin Button movie and my friend ...

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 ...

A few Newsposts from our contributors have mentioned plotting or planning vs the pantsing or ‘discovery’ approach to writing.

Plotting, which is obviously building some kind of plan or outline, is an approach many writers swear by, at least to some degree. It might be a vague plan, with a ...

Greetings, citizens!

Superpowers coming from magical abilities or fantastic technology are essential to many stories in the fantasy and science fiction genres. They can show up in other genres, too, like horror and of course, superhero stories (are they science fiction stories? Science-Fantasy? Heroic Fantasy? Whatever - most of those folks ...