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
Nocturnal Animals: pretty, but no story
We visit the joys of multiplot stories this week. Valerie discovers (again) the issues with multiplot stories in movies, and I investigate how the different timelines impact the narrative drive. We b…
The Help: put this on your list
If you're writing a story with multiple protagonists/POVs, or if you're tackling a big social issue in your story, then you'll want to study The Help. As it happens, it's also a cracking example of C…
A Simple Favor: seriously, an evil twin?
This week one of mystery writing’s deadly sins makes a guest appearance. Valerie and I discuss if the appearance is welcome or not. A Simple Favour has good examples of how Narrative Drive works - gr…
Belfast: active v passive protagonist
In BELFAST, Kenneth Branagh does something that most, if not all, new writers do. In a movie, it's kind of hard to spot because filmmakers have access to tools (like costume design, cinematography, a…
What Lies Beneath: play the "let me guess" game
Sometimes we learn more from our mistakes than our successes - that’s my story and I’m sticking to it this week! Narrative drive is an important storytelling principle to learn and this week’s movie …
Doubt: a "quiet story" masterpiece
It's a brand new season and that means Melanie and I are studying two new topics: narrative drive and conflict triangles. Conflict and page-turners are usually associated with action stories, thrille…
Our Best Advice: female characters + setups and payoffs
We've reached the end of another season and so we're wrapping up our best advice and a-ha moments just for you. Tune in to hear what we have to say about writing female characters and using female ar…
Hanna - women aren't small men
I have been looking forward to this episode since the start of the season. I specifically selected Hanna so we could study fight scenes and weapons handling with female characters - Hanna doesn’t dis…
Where'd You Go, Bernadette: deus ex machina
Quite often, stories that don't work have more to teach us than the stories that do. Maybe Maria Semple's novel (upon which this film is based), is simply one that's challenging to adapt to the scree…
The Genius of Novellas
Novellas are the ace up your writerly sleeve! They enable you to practice all of the principles of storytelling in a shorter, more manageable form. That's going to make you a much better novelist bec…
Crazy Rich Asians: when the antagonist is more compelling than the protagonist
Crazy Rich Asians pitches two female leads against each other - sounds excellent right? Not so fast… This should set up an epic battle of wills as one fights against traditions she doesn’t understand…
Yentil: the heroine's journey
This movie was way ahead of its time. It's a brilliant example of the heroine's journey and Melanie walks us through all 10 phases as outlined in Maureen Murdock's THE HEROINE'S JOURNEY: A WOMAN'S QU…
Red Joan: meeting reader expectations
The marketing for this film highlights Judi Dench, but she's barely in it at all. As fans of hers, Melanie and I were disappointed. The movie is ok but it wasn't what we expected and that soured our …
Dirty Dancing: the heroine's journey
Does the nickname "baby" bother us? Why yes, yes it does. But we've got to admit, Dirty Dancing is an excellent example of the heroine's journey, as well as female archetypes and how women are presen…
Zero Dark Thirty: women in war zones
War stories are often the domain of ‘dick lit’ male protagonists, but is this a true representation of history and does the experience of women in war differ? In this episode, I reference historical …
Moonstruck: writing female characters
We're kicking off a brand new season with two new story concepts. Melanie will be studying female characters and how women are presented in modern stories (her work in this episode is reeeeally inter…
What do agents do?
This bonus episode was prompted by a chat I saw on Threads. It started with the question, what excites you most about having an agent? Offline, Melanie and I began to literary agents and what they do…
Our Best Advice: left-brained stories
Left-brained stories (mysteries, crime thrillers, spy stories) are among the highest selling books on the market today. Readers can't get enough of them, and that means the bar for authors is really …
The Sixth Sense: the art of the gotcha ending
Are you planning to use a twist at the end of your story? Have you ever wondered how M. Night Shyamalan pulled off this famous gotcha ending? If so, this episode is for you! Melanie does a deep dive …
Breakout Books v. Words on a Page
To be a career author, you must have a breakout book. And, a breakout book is one that contains a story that works. In this episode, I tell you the story of an author who didn't know the difference b…