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 […]
Author: nickmac
Streamline your Outline
Between the basic outline and advanced outline articles, I give a bunch of solid tips in approaching outlines. But, since there’s always more to learn, here’s three more when building […]
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 […]
Talking Heads Kill Comics
Comics are two warriors, Art and Script, fighting back to back against the horde of boredom. As a writer you must always know what you are trying to say at any […]
Comic Storyboards – [Download]
A while back someone on social media was asking about storyboarding comics. Though it’s a habit I personally don’t do much these days, when I need to, I’ll break out […]
Beware the False Subtext of Profanity
If you’re gonna write, you must know the difference between conversation and dialogue. Something I’ve seen increase lately is the use of profanity to carry a panel. A panel with […]
Dual Name Characters
So you’ve got a character that has two identities… easy peasy. Let’s start with the basic example: Your character’s name is Fletch. FLETCH Do you think it’s a real gun? […]
Stories without Character Arcs
Genuine story delivers a thesis about how we writers see the world. Our underlying message is our Master Theme. At its most fundamental level, genuine story is new understanding revealed […]
A Better Way to Pitch
I see it constantly. My comic is “Die hard, meets Night of the Living Dead.” I know it won’t stop anytime soon, it’s easy, requires no thought on the pitcher’s […]
Recognize Split Narratives – TIP
How do you realize you’re running a split narrative and not showcasing key secondary character development? When the story focuses on your secondary character, are they still progressing the main […]