Story Nerd
Melanie Hill, Valerie Francis, Kathleen Foxx
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S18E1806 Notting Hill: why we love it
This week I practised writing a premise for each of the characters in Notting Hill and I experimented with the ending to see if this tool helps writers evaluate writing ideas. Valerie studied the…
S18E1805 Is this a mystery?
What happens when a story is pitched in the query letter as a mystery, but doesn't read like one in the opening pages? Where did the confusion creep in and how can you avoid a genre mismatch? We…
S18E1804 Mrs.Harris Goes to Paris: toothless antagonists
Of all the types of protagonists, audiences/readers love the underdog the most, and our discussion of this beloved archetype led us down all kinds of interesting story theory roads including tension,…
S18E1803 Sicario: not what we expected
Sicario presented us with a few surprises this week. Valerie thought she’d be analysing a hero, but Kate is an underdog. She’s not presented as a typical underdog, nor does she have the typical…
S18E1802 Killer Opening Lines
Can you write a killer opening line? Can you define what a killer opening line is? In this week's episode, we give our professional advice on the opening pages of a story described as upmarket with…
S18E1801 Murder She Said: sex or murder?
What type of protagonist does your story feature? There are 4 types, each of them can be a constant character or a change character, and each one evokes a different emotion from your reader/viewer.…
S17E1713 What Went Right: anora
Poles apart - and not the dancing kind! Anora won the 2024 Palme d’Or at Cannes and five out of six categories at the 2025 Academy awards including Best Original Screen Play and Best Film. Plus, it…
S17E1712 The best time to send a query
It's AMA time! When is the best time to query an agent? When is the best time to go out on submission? How on earth does a writer choose comp titles? Literary agent, Kathleen Foxx, answers these…
S17E1711 What Went Wrong: 80 for Brady
I'm convinced that the screenplay for this film was generated by AI. Of course, I have no proof for that, but 80 for Brady is so completely bizarre that if AI wasn't involved, I'd like to know what…
S17E1710 Best Advice: heroes and villains
In the season roundup, we share all our best advice about the speech in praise of the villain (what it is, how to craft it, and why it's important), and constant characters (they're waaaaaay more…
S17E1709 AI in Writing and Publishing
This is the first episode of our brand new HOOK YOUR READER series! In these episodes, literary editor Kathleen Foxx and I review query letters and first ten pages writing samples from you, our…
S17 We have news! And it benefits you.
What if you could get professional advice on your query letter and first ten pages writing sample BEFORE you started to send it off to agents? Well my friends, you're going to love this! Starting…
S17E1708 Thunderbolts: 2 surprising twists
In a twist that no one saw coming, not even us, the villains in this movie are Val and Mel! Despite this, I thought Thunderbolts would be better. :( However, the constant characters in this movie…
S17 Men In Black (archive)
Season 5 kicks off with Men in Black. Valerie is studying plot structure, and Melanie is studying resonance. Now, admittedly, plot structure doesn't sound very sexy but it's one of the first…
S17 The Devil Wears Prada (archive)
Sometimes, studying a story that you love can be a bit scary. What if it turns out that the story is rubbish, and what you really like is the soundtrack, or the actor, or the costumes? Well, you can…
S17 Dirty Dancing (archive)
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…
S17E1707 Conclave: a masterclass in nuanced characters
Wowzers! This is a terrific movie. If you're writing a thriller (any sub-genre), or a story with nuanced and complex characters, this episode is for you. In fact, CONCLAVE is one of the movies we…
S17 Do this to Hook an Agent - Interview with Kathleen Foxx
What does a literary agent look for in the sample writing pages of a query? In this special bonus episode, I speak with agent Kathleen Foxx (The Rights Factory) about the 4 criteria she uses to…
S17E1706 Mulholland Drive: trippy
Valerie asked me, “How are you going to explain this?” Trippy. It’s David Lynch and it’s trippy. It’s also an antiplot story with characters who have two identities. Where is the speech in praise…
S17E1705 Darkest Hour: darkest villain
Calling historical fiction writers, memoirists, and anyone writing a "David and Goliath" style story! In this episode, I do a deep dive into the Speech in Praise of the Villain and I show how the…
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Story Nerd has published 245 episodes since April 2022, covering topics in Arts, Books.
Story Nerd is currently highly active with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 35m.
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