Story Nerd Melanie Hill, Valerie Francis
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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)
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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 disappoint. I consider aspects of female fight scenes and firing pistols. Valerie wasn’t so lucky this week. Hanna is light on story because the action scenes take up a lot of space. However she did find a strong example of another story telling principle…join us to find out what it was. - M.
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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 screen. Whatever the case, this move has missed the mark on some basic storytelling principles (it has too many backstory info dumps, a Deus Ex Machina, and weak narrative drive). If you want to understand the impact these things have on a story, and on the reader/viewer, this episode is for you! - V.
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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 because your story will be focused and you won't get lost in your manuscript. And oh, the best part? Novellas are on the rise. - V.
*Script note: In the episode, I mention that Jenna Bush recommended two novellas in her March 2024 bookclub. That is incorrect. She recommended one — THE HOUSE ON MANGO STREET (Sandra Cisneros) -
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 while the other fights to retain order and tradition. This week, I find out what happens when the protagonist doesn’t plausibly match, then surpass, the antagonist. Valerie discusses how superficial innovation doesn’t hide questionable male characters or Asian stereotypes.
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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 QUEST FOR WHOLENESS. Thanks to its excellent use of setups and payoffs, it also has an ending that is both surprising and inevitable.
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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 experience of the story. Melanie still did a study of female archetypes and I still studied setups and payoffs, but the real lesson this week is what happens when a story doesn't meet audience (or reader) expectations. -V.