Reinier van der Plas – Writer's Block Magazine

Endings: Outer Wilds and the Inevitable

*Mild Spoilers for Outer Wilds1 ahead* I awakened by the campfire on Timber Hearth, my home, ascended to the launch site where a cobbled together ship stood, waiting to take me to the stars, a bright yellow sun encouraging me onward. Gingerly, I travelled outward and landed on the Hearthian moon. There, I meet EskerContinue reading “Endings: Outer Wilds and the Inevitable”

Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Storytelling

Artificial intelligence will be the future of storytelling because it will let authors tell stories in a way that’s never been possible before. However, it will take tremendous effort for authors to take advantage of this opportunity and develop content that’s valuable, engaging, and works well across mediums. Here are three key things to do:Continue reading “Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Storytelling”

Burnout’s Long Shadow

Photo credit: borchee, iStock. If there is anything that can be called the affliction of our time, it is burnout. We all know burnout in one form or another, either having experienced it ourselves or knowing others who have. When faced with the question ‘how are you?’, ‘tired’ seems to be as acceptable an answerContinue reading “Burnout’s Long Shadow”

Adventure Comics, Exoticism, and Nostalgia Part III: The Genre Today

Over the last couple of months I have examined some of the problems of European and American adventure comics of the 20th century with regards to exoticism. Whether it is Don Rosa’s all too simplistic portrayal of Scrooge McDuck’s colonial enterprise, or Tintin’s touristic gaze and white saviourism. Now, in this third and final lookContinue reading “Adventure Comics, Exoticism, and Nostalgia Part III: The Genre Today”

Adventure Comics, Exoticism, and Nostalgia, Part II: Tintin the Tourist

I can’t remember when I first discovered Tintin, which can only mean one of two things: either I am getting old, or it was a very long time ago. Probably both. What I do know is that I read Hergé’s Tintin comics enough times as a kid to easily remember many of the stories cover-to-cover.Continue reading “Adventure Comics, Exoticism, and Nostalgia, Part II: Tintin the Tourist”

Adventure Comics, Exoticism, and Nostalgia. Part 1: Scrooge McDuck

Up until the age of sixteen (or thereabouts) reading for fun meant reading comics. I grew up on the Belgian classics of Tintin, Asterix, Suske & Wiske, on the weekly Dutch magazine Donald Duck, on Jim Davis’ Garfield. The list goes on, but you get the picture. Many of these comicstrips have lost the allureContinue reading “Adventure Comics, Exoticism, and Nostalgia. Part 1: Scrooge McDuck”

Beginnings: Sable’s Coming-of-age Tale

Credit for the images in the article goes to Shedworks. It is a fresh new year for Writer’s Block with a wholly new board, and so it truly is a new beginning for us all. As we are finding our feet and discovering how we will work as a team, how to meet the expectationsContinue reading “Beginnings: Sable’s Coming-of-age Tale”