Story Nerd
Episodes
Groundhog Day: groundhog day groundhog day
25 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Valerie and Melanie are both happily surprised (relieved?) to discover that there's much more to this movie than meets the eye. How did Harold Remis h...
Skyfall: m is for mother?
18 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Melanie's study of subtext has revealed something odd (and slightly uncomfortable). It seems that, according to Skyfall at least, M s...
Back to the Future: plot holes, schmot holes
11 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Back to the Future has plot holes. There, we said it. Does it matter? Nope. We've watched this film dozens (hundreds?) of times and only saw the holes...
Storm Boy: hugh jackman v. the pelicans
04 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Australian film, Storm Boy, uses a very complex story structure. It's nonlinear, with a framing story and flashbacks...definitely not for the fain...
Whiplash: why the villain has a point
28 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There are plenty of great reasons to study this film and chief among them is that it's a terrific example of why the antagonist in a story must have a...
Coraline: a horror story?
21 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Neil Gaiman is a master storyteller and his novel, Coraline, has been a favourite with young readers for two decades. The film version is a dazzling d...
Home Alone: wanna bend the rules?
14 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We're kicking off a brand new season with a holiday classic. Home Alone might feature a 10-year-old in the starring role, but the writing in this film...
Our Best Advice: beginnings/endings + sequences
07 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
To wrap up Season 3, we're doing a rundown of everything we've learned in the past ten episodes about the beginnings and endings of stories (and how t...
Lost in Translation: wtaf?
30 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This is one strange movie. While we can understand it from an intellectual level, and we can deconstruct it (and yes, it won lots of awards), Lost in ...
Toy Story: soooooo good, but why?
23 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There are a handful of stories that theorists use as great examples of the craft, and Toy Story is one of them. (Chinatown is another, but sheesh, eno...
The Water Horse: keep subplots at bay
16 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's not uncommon for a subplot, or secondary character, to take over a story - especially when a writer is still learning the ropes. So, how do you k...
Guardians of the Galaxy: great script or great music?
09 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When fans talk about this movie, they usually mention the music. But an amazing soundtrack can't save a story that doesn't work. More importantly, for...
Good Will Hunting: miniplots and subplots
02 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Melanie and Valerie fell into a discussion about whether Good Will Hunting is a miniplot story, or an archplot story with a couple of subpl...
The Blair Witch Project: power of the imagination
26 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Filmmakers have special effects, costuming, casting and music to help them tell their stories. As novelists, we've got 26 characters, a handful of pun...
Sliding Doors: innovation or gimmick?
19 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If you're writing a story with multiple protagonists, or multiple storylines, this episode is for you. This is a tricky kind of story structure to pul...
Sense and Sensibility: ship your work
12 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Well, this was an interesting experience. Mercury was retrograde and it led to all kinds of technical issues and re-recording. In the end, to improve ...
The Bourne Identity: build tension, raise stakes
05 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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, ...
Tootsie: finally, sequences!
28 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Valerie and Melanie are kicking off a brand new season of the Story Nerd podcast with a high level look at both sequences, and the beginnings and endi...
Our Best Advice: hero's gift + antagonism
21 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
To wind up the season, Valerie and Melanie summarize what they've learned about the hero's gift expressed and forces of antagonism, and they offer the...
Wild: stories need conflict
14 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
It's hard to know quite where this film went off the rails, but certainly, one of the main problems is that there isn't any real conflict or tension. ...
A Few Good Men: this is how you handle exposition
07 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If you've ever been told to "show, don't tell" then you'll want to listen to this episode because the truth is that exposition (i.e., "tell") is an ef...
Booksmart: an unfortunate train wreck
31 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Well, the good news is that as writers we often learn more from the stories that don't work, than from the stories that do work. Booksmart is a great ...
Death on the Nile: the moustache mystery
24 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This might be one of Agatha Christie's best known mysteries, but does it work for a modern audience? This week, Valerie and Melanie analyze Sir Kennet...
Promising Young Woman: when society is the villain
17 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
The writing in this film is nothing short of masterful. Among the many reasons to study it is the way it develops Society as a force of antagonism. Th...
The Matrix: give your story away
10 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In the first 10 pages of your story, you need to give the ending away. Sounds crazy, right? But, it's true. Why on earth would we do that? It would ru...
Captain Marvel: the alter ego is key
03 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Did you know that if the alter ego doesn't have a gift to express, the superhero doesn't have a superpower? In this episode Valerie and Melanie discus...
The Invisible Man: thriller or horror?
27 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week's episode is a bit of a throwback to season one, as Valerie and Melanie debate the genre and whether the antagonist is a monster, or a man w...
Bend It Like Beckham
20 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
You can't go wrong with a performance story; it's a crowd-pleaser every time. With this genre, the opponent is usually the sole antagonist. But this f...
Legally Blonde
13 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We're kicking off a new season with a focus on two new storytelling principles! In Season 2, Valerie is studying The Hero's Gift Expressed and Melanie...
Genres: best advice for authors
06 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Valerie and Melanie review their key takeaways from the ten films they studied this season. Tune in to learn their best advice for au...
Dune: spectacle v. story
29 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Dune is a true feast for the eyes, and it's got the Oscars to prove it. However, none of the awards (or nominations) were for the writing and there's ...
The Power of the Dog: the epitome of a blended genre story
22 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If you plan to blend genres in your novel, then do yourself a favour and tune in to this week's episode of Story Nerd. Maybe it's a western and maybe ...
Rogue One: worldbuilding 101
15 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Oh dear. The scales have fallen from Melanie's eyes this week as she analyzed one of her favourite films. The "spectacle" of film sure does make the m...
Knives Out: mastering the whodunnit
08 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
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...
Being the Ricardos: masterful writing, but does it work?
01 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
There's no question that Aaron Sorkin is a master storyteller, and the craft on display here is next level stuff. But, it doesn't necessarily mean the...
Turning Red: home run, or swing and miss?
25 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
While this film may not be listed among Pixar's Top 10, there's still plenty to love about Turning Red and we need more stories that explore these the...
The Courier: when is a spy story not a spy story?
18 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Melanie takes us on a deep dive of spy stories, their conventions and subgenres. It turns out that what we usually think of as spy st...
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri: what the heck is the genre?
11 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
If you're interested in character development, this award-winning film is one you want to study. However, if you're interested in studying examples of...
West Side Story: innovative or cliché?
04 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
West Side Story (2021) has been lauded for its depiction of race and racial tension, but how has it handled the love story? In his retelling of this a...
Late Night: a story is about one thing
27 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A story makes one point. If your story is about everything, then it's about nothing. Understanding genre is a vital skill for writers because everythi...
Calling All Story Nerds!
01 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Join literary editors and writers, Valerie Francis and Melanie Hill, as they analyze a film a week as an example of a storytelling principle. If you w...