Episode 721 - A plot B plot
Jan 4, 2025
A standard thing in stories is to have multiple plot lines. In short stories or when you're just starting out as a writer you tend to have a single line, the A plot, but as soon as you get a bit more experience and write longer stories you'll find the plots tend to branch and multiply, even if you don't always fully intend it. The usual is to have the A and B plots: the A is the main one that drives the story and the B is where you put other interesting junk like character development, villain stuff, comic relief, love interests etc. But it can get a LOT more advanced than that and you can have far more than simply A and B.
Topics and Show Notes
The genesis of this cast was that I was moaning and groaning about long-form TV series that are intended for binge watching these days. Instead of being reasonably contained episodes you're actually watching a 16 hour long movie and I find that fatiguing and stressful because with those plot structures you feel compelled to watch and finish it (not all in one sitting, but finish it regardless). My complaint was that these things tend to have the A plot as the overarching story plot that connects all the episodes while the B and C plots etc are reserved for the episode itself, and that is NOT how it should be done, at least in my opinion. When series started this trend it would be a C or D line that connected the episodes, just minor developments and a continuing lore. Then it moved up to a B, major story stuff but the main storyline was still episodic, but now it's the A line and that is not cool.. according to me.
In the Quackcast we chatted about interesting structures and variations, like twin A plots that complete for attention. One of my personal faves are the A and B plot lines that constantly switch: An A shifts down to be the B and vice versa over and over so you're not sure which is the main line. That's very organic and keeps you on your toes. One of the most boring versions are strict A and B plot structures where it's all pure formula and things just don't break out of that so you know that one line is always less important to the other and things become too predictable.
Do you play with A, B, C, D etc storylines or just not bother and let things develop into that on their own, or do you just stick with only an A? And what do you LIKE in stories you consume?
This week Gunwallace has given us a theme inspired by AlfiesWorld - Exciting electronica salsa, shimmying and shimmering across the glittering dance floor, shaking the hips, grinding, and sliding to this cool, sophisticated Latin sound!
Topics and shownotes
Links
Featured comic:
Auguste Fighter - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/news/2024/dec/30/featured-comic-auguste-fighter/
Featured music:
AlfiesWorld - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/AlfiesWorld/ - by RealityJockey, rated M.
Special thanks to:
Gunwallace - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Gunwallace/
Ozoneocean - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/ozoneocean
Tantz Aerine - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Tantz_Aerine/
Banes - https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/user/Banes/
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Episode 720 - Happy New Year!
Dec 30, 2024
It's not the new year yet but this is the final Quackcast of 2024 and it's coming out on New Year's Eve! In this Quackcast we do a bit of a year in review. A bit happened this year… DD reached its 22nd year online being one of the oldest sites on the internet and definitely one of the very oldest free comic hosts next to Keenspace which doesn't really exist now. We released another DD anthology comic collection, A Flock of Dreams (linked bellow), in which your Quackcast hosts collaborated on a comic together! We were really proud of that, Key of Dreams, our story was a real work of love, and you can read that in the anthology.
Episode 719 - Merry Christmas!
Dec 22, 2024
Happy Christmas eve! In this penultimate Quackcast of the year we decided to have a free day and just chat about any subject that interested us at the time. Next week will be our final cast of the year when we'll do a year in review. We even went back to our roots and did some silly accents, mine were of course A-mazing! (they were pretty crap TBH)
Episode 718 - Dumbarses
Dec 15, 2024
This Quackcast was inspired by world renowned idiot Robert F Kennedy Jnr. We decided to talk about writing dumb characters. I keep calling him John F Kennedy Jnr because I am also an idiot. Some context: he wants to remove approval for the life saving Polio vaccine and allow dangerous unpasteurised milk to be widely sold, among other things. He's a classic idiot. This put us in mind of fictional idiots.
Episode 717 - Stories out of order!
Dec 7, 2024
Non-linear stories are a different way of telling a tale. There are many famous examples (Pulp fiction, Mulholland Drive etc), where the sequence of events isn't in strict chronological order. This style has gained a false reputation of being superior or more advanced or challenging to an audience than linear stories.
Episode 716 - Identify with characters?
Dec 2, 2024
Is it important to Identify with characters? This question occurred to me as I was watching a rather banal sitcom, Rules of Engagement. I love two of the stars, David Spade and Patrick Warburton, but it's not really that engaging a show, the humour is anodyne and a lot of it is based around traditional gender roles and expectations, but I forced myself to watch it anyway just to see more of the aforementioned stars. The only way I was able to get into it was because I somewhat identified with David Spade's character- being a small blonde guy with long hair and a bit of a perv, haha!
Episode 715 - Apocalypse
Nov 25, 2024
This is the third in our weapons trilogy and it's about what happens AFTER the ultimate weapons have done their work: Apocalypse! The end of all things… This term comes from the bible, with the Book of Revelations which talks about what happens during the end of the world, but aside from the myth it's a pretty real concept- there are a LOT of ways the world can end and has indeed ended for various civilisations throughout history.
Episode 714 - Future Weapons
Nov 18, 2024
Last week we had an overview of weapons throughout history and how it's a constant game of balance and oneupmanship. Now we're looking at future weapons and Scifi stuff! There's a lot of potential and a lot of interesting ideas you can use in comics and stories. We talk about a few of these and some of our faves, as well as our own inventions.
