Story Nerd

By Melanie Hill, Valerie Francis

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Subscribers: 6
Reviews: 0
Episodes: 124

Description

For novelists, memoirists and screenwriters who want to know how stories work so they can finish their manuscripts faster, and without frustration. Each week literary editors Valerie Francis and Melanie Hill explain the craft of storytelling using films as examples. 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 want to spend more time writing your book/screenplay and less time studying story theory, 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)

Episode Date
Zero Dark Thirty: women in war zones
May 01, 2024
Moonstruck: writing female characters
Apr 24, 2024
What do agents do?
Apr 20, 2024
Our Best Advice: left-brained stories
Apr 17, 2024
The Sixth Sense: the art of the gotcha ending
Apr 10, 2024
Breakout Books v. Words on a Page
Apr 06, 2024
How to Write a Breakout Book
Apr 03, 2024
The Last of Sheila: soooo good
Apr 03, 2024
How do stories work?
Apr 01, 2024
Gosford Park: did he deserve it?
Mar 27, 2024
One Line Writing Secret You Need to Know
Mar 26, 2024
Our Most Embarrassing Literary Moments
Mar 23, 2024
A Most Wanted Man: why now?
Mar 20, 2024
THIS is how your novel gets noticed!
Mar 18, 2024
The Good Liar: surprise v twist
Mar 13, 2024
See How They Run: wasted potential
Mar 06, 2024
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: when did Smiley know?
Feb 28, 2024
The Game: why endings are important
Feb 21, 2024
The Dry: an introduction to outback noir
Feb 14, 2024
Crooked House: left-brained stories
Feb 07, 2024
Character Lessons from an Actor
Feb 05, 2024
Our Best Advice: conflict + cast design
Jan 31, 2024
The Lost Daughter: fisticuffs
Jan 24, 2024
Lady Bird: writing female protagonists
Jan 17, 2024
Love, Simon: how (not) to arc a character
Jan 10, 2024
Sex and the City: great world building, but meh
Jan 03, 2024
The Gentlemen: conflict and a detour
Dec 27, 2023
Little Women: why we do (or don't) love it
Dec 20, 2023
No Way Out: conflict triangles
Dec 13, 2023
The Full Monty: writing comedic characters
Dec 06, 2023
The Woman King: when storylines compete
Nov 29, 2023
August Osage County: one for your repertoire
Nov 22, 2023
Best Advice: character development + worldbuilding
Nov 15, 2023
The Electrical Life of Louis Wain: externalize the internal
Nov 08, 2023
Pretty Woman: a masterclass in the fundamentals
Nov 01, 2023
Nanowrimo: how to win
Oct 31, 2023
Don't Worry Darling: where did it go wrong?
Oct 29, 2023
The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas: writing historical fiction
Oct 25, 2023
Big: writing comedic characters
Oct 18, 2023
Everything Everywhere All At Once: was there a script?
Oct 11, 2023
Fatal Attraction: who's the villain?
Oct 04, 2023
District 9: worldbuilding 101
Sep 27, 2023
Bridget Jones's Diary: why we love her
Sep 20, 2023
Story 101: Poetic Device
Sep 18, 2023
Can You Ever Forgive Me: what's hiding under your bed?
Sep 13, 2023
Ray: a product of his environment
Sep 06, 2023
Death on the Nile: the moustache mystery (archive)
Aug 30, 2023
Skyfall: m is for mother? (archive)
Aug 23, 2023
The Water Horse: keep subplots at bay (archive)
Aug 16, 2023
West Side Story: innovative or cliche? (archive episode)
Aug 09, 2023
Wanted: AI Prompt Engineer
Aug 07, 2023
Alec Sokolow: the hero's journey
Aug 02, 2023
Our Best Advice: empathy + stakes
Jul 26, 2023
Operation Mincemeat: truth is stranger than fiction
Jul 19, 2023
WALL-E: the basics, mastered
Jul 12, 2023
Manchester by the Sea: I'm not crying, you're crying
Jul 05, 2023
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande: do you empathize?
Jun 28, 2023
The Hate U Give: delete the first 28 minutes
Jun 21, 2023
Is AI good or bad for writers?
Jun 16, 2023
As Good As It Gets: creating unlikable characters
Jun 14, 2023
The Wife: sublime storytelling
Jun 07, 2023
The Godfather: empathy for a mafia don?
May 31, 2023
Story 101: Quibbling Over Semantics
May 26, 2023
10 Things I Hate About You: what not to do
May 24, 2023
The King's Speech: try this trick
May 17, 2023
Our Best Advice: story form + resonance
May 10, 2023
Gatsby: who's the protagonist?
May 03, 2023
When Harry Met Sally: quasi antiplot huh?
Apr 26, 2023
Star Wars Ep7: the face plant
Apr 19, 2023
Wayne's World: party on, story nerds!
Apr 12, 2023
Aliens: writing a series
Apr 05, 2023
Nashville: writing multiple POVs
Mar 29, 2023
The Shape of Water: kooky and clever
Mar 22, 2023
The Accidental Tourist: oh, so this is miniplot!
Mar 15, 2023
Lego Batman: holy product placement, batman
Mar 08, 2023
Men in Black: invasion lit is a thing?
Mar 01, 2023
Story 101: Read Like a Writer
Feb 26, 2023
Best Advice: middles + subtext
Feb 22, 2023
The Devil Wears Prada: simply solid storytelling
Feb 15, 2023
Story 101 : start your story right
Feb 14, 2023
Four Weddings and a Funeral: saggy middles?
Feb 08, 2023
Announcing Story 101!
Feb 05, 2023
La La Land: novelists make this mistake too
Feb 01, 2023
Groundhog Day: groundhog day groundhog day
Jan 25, 2023
Skyfall: m is for mother?
Jan 18, 2023
Back to the Future: plot holes, schmot holes
Jan 11, 2023
Storm Boy: hugh jackman v. the pelicans
Jan 04, 2023
Whiplash: why the villain has a point
Dec 28, 2022
Coraline: a horror story?
Dec 21, 2022
Home Alone: wanna bend the rules?
Dec 14, 2022
Our Best Advice: beginnings/endings + sequences
Dec 07, 2022
Lost in Translation: wtaf?
Nov 30, 2022
Toy Story: soooooo good, but why?
Nov 23, 2022
The Water Horse: keep subplots at bay
Nov 16, 2022
Guardians of the Galaxy: great script or great music?
Nov 09, 2022
Good Will Hunting: miniplots and subplots
Nov 02, 2022
The Blair Witch Project: power of the imagination
Oct 26, 2022
Sliding Doors: innovation or gimmick?
Oct 19, 2022
Sense and Sensibility: ship your work
Oct 12, 2022
The Bourne Identity: build tension, raise stakes
Oct 05, 2022
Tootsie: finally, sequences!
Sep 28, 2022
Our Best Advice: hero's gift + antagonism
Sep 21, 2022
Wild: stories need conflict
Sep 14, 2022
A Few Good Men: this is how you handle exposition
Sep 07, 2022
Booksmart: an unfortunate train wreck
Aug 31, 2022
Death on the Nile: the moustache mystery
Aug 24, 2022
Promising Young Woman: when society is the villain
Aug 17, 2022
The Matrix: give your story away
Aug 10, 2022
Captain Marvel: the alter ego is key
Aug 03, 2022
The Invisible Man: thriller or horror?
Jul 27, 2022
Bend It Like Beckham
Jul 20, 2022
Legally Blonde
Jul 13, 2022
Genres: best advice for authors
Jul 06, 2022
Dune: spectacle v. story
Jun 29, 2022
The Power of the Dog: the epitome of a blended genre story
Jun 22, 2022
Rogue One: worldbuilding 101
Jun 15, 2022
Knives Out: mastering the whodunnit
Jun 08, 2022
Being the Ricardos: masterful writing, but does it work?
Jun 01, 2022
Turning Red: home run, or swing and miss?
May 25, 2022
The Courier: when is a spy story not a spy story?
May 18, 2022
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri: what the heck is the genre?
May 11, 2022
West Side Story: innovative or cliché?
May 04, 2022
Late Night: a story is about one thing
Apr 27, 2022
Calling All Story Nerds!
Apr 01, 2022