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)
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 35 minutes
- Episodes
- 198
- Years Active
- 2022 - 2025
Shirley: when endings fail
I think the filmmakers had good intentions when they made SHIRLEY, unfortunately, they failed to stick to the essentials of storytelling. In this episode, Melanie does a fantastic job of illustrating…
Mother's Instinct: keeps you guessing
The antagonist owned the progressive complications in this movie. Celine shows her best friend Alice what a fate worse than death could be. Valerie explains how the Core Event is linked to its genre …
Greenbook: when society is the antagonist
If you're writing a character-driven story, or a story where society is the antagonist, or a story with broad societal issues, add Greenbook to your list of films to study. I know all about the contr…
Anyone But You: yeah nah
First of all I have to let you know that it’s a miracle that no podcasters were harmed during the making of this episode.
Bloody hell! What have I done? The cringe factor in this movie is off the char…
The Bank of Dave: def leppard steals the show
It's a brand new season and that means two brand new story theory principles to discuss! This time around, I'm studying the core event (aka a story's climax) and Melanie is studying progressive compl…
Becoming a Bestselling Author, with Brian Proctor
In this special bonus episode, I interview Brian Proctor, a bestselling author in the field of personal development. This might seem like an odd fit for the show until you realize that it's not our t…
Pretty Woman: a masterclass in the fundamentals (archive)
While Melanie and I continue to beaver away in the background, we thought we'd pull PRETTY WOMAN from the archives for you. This movie is a fan favourite and here's the thing, it gets all the storyte…
The Dry: an intro to outback noir (archive)
While Melanie and I cook up something extra special for you, we're highlighting some past episodes that you might have missed. THE DRY is an Outback Noir that we studied back in season 9. We talk abo…
Whiplash: why the villain has a point (archive)
Behind the scenes, Melanie and I are cooking up something very special for you! While we work on that, for the next few weeks we'll be replaying some of our best episodes for you. This week it's WHIP…
What Went Right: paddington
What makes the Paddington franchise so popular with audiences? That's exactly what Melanie and I set out to discover as we take a deep dive into the first film in the trilogy in this brand new What W…
What Went Wrong: green lantern
It's our second "what went wrong" episode and this time we're taking a deep dive into the 2011 film, GREEN LANTERN. Even Ryan Reynolds says this one is a dud, so where did the storytelling go wrong? …
Our Best Advice: tension + 4SQ
That's a wrap on Season 13! Over the past eight episodes Melanie took a deep dive into one of the most important concepts in storytelling: tension. In this episode, she reviews the concepts of high a…
Sleepless in Seattle: relies on star power?
Valerie and I take a scalpel to some well loved movies this season. First there was the Nightmare Before Christmas and now Sleepless in Seattle. I’m not a believer in ‘magic love’ so I find the premi…
Gifted: nowhere to hide
Writers of quiet, character-driven or "literary" stories often ask me if all this story theory stuff applies to them, or if it's only for "commercial" fiction. Believe me when I say that it's even mo…
The Secret of Roan Inish: sweet but weak
Frustration follows flaws! Can you create tension and conflict if the 4 Story questions haven’t been answered? The simple answer is “no”. I desperately wanted to love this movie because I’m writing a…
Judy: why object of desire is essential
Melanie and I talk about Object of Desire all the time and boy, oh boy, this movie really drives home why it's so important. The writers didn't go for the obvious choice here and it makes the movie, …
Crazy Stupid Love: passive tension?
I love it when Valerie and I study different theories and come to different conclusions about the movie. Crazy, Stupid, Love has great examples of slow/low tension and high/intense tension - it’s a g…
Fatal Attraction: who's the villain? (archive)
In this archive episode, we revisit our study of FATAL ATTRACTION which first aired as episode 5 of season 7. I was studying character revelation and Melanie was studying worldbuilding, but what I fi…
10 Things I Hate About You: what not to do (archive)
While I'm teaching my kids to surf during our summer beach holiday, and Valerie is shovelling out from a winter storm, we're bringing you a throwback episode from season 6 where we studied stakes and…
The Nightmare Before Christmas: razzle dazzle
The Nightmare Before Christmas is a favourite with both our families, and given that this is a Tim Burton film we expected that the storytelling would be rock solid. This is a great example of writer…