Story Nerd
For novelists, memoirists and screenwriters who want to write stories their readers will love. Each week literary editors, Valerie Francis and Melanie Hill, use films to explain how to craft a story that hooks the reader on page one and holds their attention all the way to the end. The goal is simple: to learn from writers who have come before us...what worked well and what didn't work so well. If you're a writer who loves to write, this podcast is for you! "The only thing that matters, and that ever will matter, is the story. That's it." - Tom Hanks (Oxford Union 2024)
Episodes
This is storytelling at its finest. We could study it to learn about almost any aspect of writing, but this week, Melanie and I are highlighting the complexity and nuance of the main character. He's a passive character, which makes for an especially interesting study of both the hero's monologue and the shadow. If you've not seen THE HOLDOVERS yet, watch it as a gift to yourself this holiday season. You won't be disappointed. We'll...
If you are writing a villain’s POV in your story, this episode is for you. Lydia Tar is a villain but she’s also the protagonist of the story. Quite simply: villain + protagonist = anti-hero. The slow reveal of Tar’s shadow is a masterclass in writing a villain POV. You could start off with an evil villain and maintain that line in your story, but it’s much more compelling to watch the villain’s camouflage and true nature being rev...
If you're curious about how to handle unlikeable protagonists, this episode is for you! In Hitchcock's classic, DIAL M FOR MURDER, the protagonist is the villain — he plots the murder of his wife, and that's about as unlikeable as it gets! His anti-hero's monologue is a veritable masterclass and his shadow reveals that he's actually kind of a nice guy underneath it all ... when he's not blackmailing people and planning murders that...
The villain isn’t a stand in for the hero’s shadow. The villain is a warning to the hero if the hero doesn't learn to integrate their shadow. The Incredibles is storytelling gold and a very clear example of the role of the villain and hero plus their relationship to the hero’s shadow. Of course, every good superhero movie needs a hero’s monologue and The Incredibles delivers. This week is a great week for both our topics, so join u...
You need to read stories you don’t like. Yep, it’s true. This week I put my body on the line and I forced myself (and Valerie - so sorry, please forgive me) to watch The Substance. I don’t read, watch, or listen to horror, but there are times when I need to go outside my comfort zone to learn more about the craft. My topic this season is The Shadow, so it would be remiss of me to ignore a genre that relies on The Shadow. You don’t ...
How does your reader know why your protagonist does what she does? This seemingly minor detail is one of the most important parts of your story and the way you let the reader know about it is through the hero's monologue. What aspect of your protagonist is hidden from her, from your reader, or both? If you want to create a main character with dimension and an arc, then understanding her shadow is key. The hero's monologue and the s...
I think I missed the mark with my choice for What When Right this Season. I went with The Outrun because it scored well on ratings sites. Why did this movie get such good ratings when both Valerie and I had trouble staying engaged? It’s a story that has great performances and it handles addiction without judgement. There’s also some parallel story telling in the shape of traditional Orkney fairy tales, which assists the viewer with...
Today is a fantastic day for the Story Nerd Podcast. We are celebrating the launch of Melanie’s new middle-grade novel, Jett Cooper, by sharing a behind the veil look at how she put theory into practice.
Join us for this special episode and learn more about Melanie, what inspired her to write this novel, and why it took her so long. Valerie also shares her reaction to reading the completed novel for the first time with Melanie.
If ...
STAYIN' ALIVE has a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (I didn't even know that was possible!) so Melanie and I wanted to see if we could figure out where the storytelling in this movie went wrong. And boy, did it give us the giggles. In this episode, we cover everything from missing empathy to missing pants. So come join us, and be sure to let us know what you think of our analysis. -V.
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We've come to the end of another season and that means it's time for our best advice about the villain's monologue (what it is, and why it's essential you have one in your story) and turning points (those unexpected events that create opportunities for you to reveal character). -V.
Acquire the power to write a bestselling story at storynerd.ca/courses
For access to writing templates and worksheets, and more than 70 hours of tr...
I think BLACK BAG misses the mark but it's one of Melanie's favourites. So what happens when we disagree on whether, from a craft perspective, a story is working or not? Well, you'll have to tune in to this week's episode to find out. One thing I'll say is that this might be a film that is meant for super fans of the spy genre (i.e., Melanie) because it seems to assume a level of knowledge about the world of espionage that the aver...
Primal Fear is a superb film. The novel, by William Diehl, is even better. This is a story to add to your short list of go-to stories to study for absolutely any aspect of the craft. Enjoy! - V.
Acquire the power to write a bestselling story at storynerd.ca/courses
For access to writing templates and worksheets, and more than 70 hours of training (all for free), subscribe to Valerie's Inner Circle.
This week we're throwing it back to season 2. Valerie is studying The Hero's Gift Expressed and Melanie is studying Forces of Antagonism. Legally Blonde is a beautiful example of both!
Acquire the power to write a bestselling story at storynerd.ca/courses
For access to writing templates and worksheets, and more than 70 hours of training (all for free), subscribe to Valerie's Inner Circle.
To learn to read like a writer, visit M...
In this week's episode, Melanie introduces the concept of conflict triangles and honestly, if you use them in your work, your story will improve immediately. In terms of cast design, while usually the plot supports the development of the characters in this case, the characters support the development of the plot. If you don't know which option best serves your story, you'd better tune in.
In this episode, Melanie is studying female characters and how women are presented in modern stories (her work in this episode is reeeeally interesting!), and I investigate something I learned from Steven Pressfield, which is that we shouldn't introduce anything new after Act 2.
Acquire the power to write a bestselling story at storynerd.ca/courses
For access to writing templates and worksheets, and more than 70 hours of train...
Whatever kind of story you're writing, if you want a reader to stick with you all the way to the end, you've got to build tension! Believe it or not, The Bourne Identity is a terrific example to study - even for a love story or coming of age story.
Acquire the power to write a bestselling story at storynerd.ca/courses
For access to writing templates and worksheets, and more than 70 hours of training (all for free), subscribe t...
Puzzled about what it takes to write a great mystery? Then grab your notebook because this episode is chock-full of tips. No red herrings in this show, we promise!
Acquire the power to write a bestselling story at storynerd.ca/courses
For access to writing templates and worksheets, and more than 70 hours of training (all for free), subscribe to Valerie's Inner Circle.
To learn to read like a writer, visit Melanie's website.
Ummm … I don’t know what to say to introduce this week’s episode. Perhaps I should start with a simple question, ‘What makes a story un-watchable/un-readable?’ Part of the answer is chickens. If you’d like to know the rest of the answer, then buckle-up and dive in. -M
“Foe makes all the same mistakes that most novelists make.” - Valerie Francis
Related Story Nerd Episodes
THE MIRACLE CLUB is a multiple protagonist, miniplot, story. That means that each protagonist is also an antagonist. Sounds cool, right? But how the heck do you pull it off? Well one of the ways is to give each POV character her own villain's monologue. This film misses on one character and you just have to hear what happens to the story because of it! Melanie continues her study of turning points and this week, she shows us how th...
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