“Linguistics, Style and Writing in the 21st Century – with Steven Pinker”
A brilliant video which changed my thinking about style. All academics should watch it.
Wonder Woman has opened my eyes.
So, I was listening to the Wonder Woman episode of The Story Toolkit podcast, and I have to say it was a major eye opener. The episode...
Emotional Emphasis
So, I’m puzzling over this quote from Araki’s book on writing manga. In Western comic storyboards, panels are laid out with the most importance placed on good...
Ki-Sho-Ten-Ketsu- a Japanese way to structure your stories.
A while back, I blogged about a Japanese story structure called Ki-Sho-Ten-Ketsu (Kee-Show-Ten-Ketsoo), which is normally presented as an alternative story structure which doesn’t revolve around conflict....
Review- Manga in Theory and Practice: The Craft of Creating Manga
As a writer, writing teacher, and a lover of Japanese comics, I was excited when I stumbled upon Hirohiko Araki’s Manga in Theory and Practice: The Craft...
DNA Podcast 47 – The History of Manga Part 1
Page from Tagosaku and Mokube’s Big Toyko Adventure In this episode, Rob and Don journey back into the past of Japanese comic books to explore it from...
The Shonen Battle Manga Formula
(This article is the first rough part of what would later become my book Write! Shonen Manga. I’m leaving it up so that people can see how...
Writing Sports Dramas and other Japanese-Style Activity Dramas
If you’ve ever read more than a few manga, or watched a half-dozen anime, then this storyline will sound familiar- a reluctant youth becomes part of a...
DNA Podcast 46 – Interview with Larry Houston
In this episode, Don and Rob sit down with Larry Houston, storyboard artist and animation producer, to talk about his history in animation and work on X-men:...
How to Write a Good Story- Human Needs
All stories are ultimately about humans needs- specifically, a human (or human-like being) trying to meet those basic fundamental needs in some way. No matter what the...