Surprise and Foreshadowing
Surprise is the lifeblood of story. In Maximizing your Turns, I talk a bit about foreshadowing your turns—actually foreshadowing the opposite of your turns to make them more dramatic. But […]
Elements
Fix your Flashbacks
Building Flashbacks into a story is like setting high explosive charges–effective when used properly, potentially disastrous in inexperienced hands. When I see a script from a new writer that contains […]
How Many Acts – TIP
Stories have a beginning, middle and end. 3 Acts. Like a pizza, you can cut these three acts into as many parts as you want. Run a 4 act, 5 […]
Point of View and Captions
Though captions in modern comics are generally a shadow of their former self, in my book they’re still an indispensable tool for the comic writer. Of course captions (CAP) deliver […]
The Super Trifecta
These days, amateur writers are under the impression that they can write about nothing as long as it’s “written well”. That the story engine is less important than trendy subjects […]
Story Checklist
You’ll often hear me equate writing to cooking, in that for a dish to come out well, you need the right ingredients, in the right amounts, in the right order. […]
Effective Subplots
Subplots are integral to deep, rich stories and a mainstay in the serial comic. What exactly is a subplot? From Storycraft for Comics; Subplots are smaller, specific story arcs within […]
6 Things Done Best In Comics
Comics are an incredible medium, art from the in-between space. Visual like movies, yet driven by words. Pictures powered by prose. Having read comics for over 35 years, I’ve seen […]
Hooks and Cliffhangers
In long prose novel writing, one of the ways you keep the reader engaged in the story is to directly connect one chapter to the next. If you intrigue the […]
Scene Sizes
When I’m wearing my long prose hat, I’m often asked “how long should my scene be?” Looking at the size itself is largely irrelevant and the answer is always the […]