Story Nerd

The movie had both me and Valerie on the edge of our seats. When we come across a masterful movie we pull out as much as we can for you. This episode is chock-a-block full of info about point of view, narrative drive, clues, and liars. We also examine how the twist in The Good Liar is set up and pulled off. I continue to track the clues and motives this week...or should we say I track the lies. Va...

A comedic take on a murder mystery had so much potential, but unfortunately, the creators of SEE HOW THEY RUN wasted it with what can only be described as lazy writing and lazy editing. This is what happens when the writers of murder mysteries aren't also superfans of the genre, or when they try to cut corners. This week, Valerie discusses the unfortunate skinny wrist reveal, and Melanie walks us...

It's a long episode this week because there's a whole lot to talk about in this excellent adaptation of John le Carre's bestselling novel. Melanie gives her top tips for writing mysteries and Valerie discusses the type of protagonist we usually find in left-brained stories. One question lingered for them both: When did George Smiley discover who the mole was? "Your opinion of George Smiley will ch...

By the time we get to the end of our manuscript, we can feel drained creatively. The temptation to phone it in looms large. But be careful. No matter how good the rest of your story is, if the ending is weak, the novel/film will fail to impress. This is just one of the lessons that Valerie and Melanie learned this week. "What I mean by a left-brained story is basically a story that appeals to our...

This week Valerie and Melanie continue their study of left-brained stories. They step into the outback to discover how Australian crime writers create an atmosphere of isolation by combining plot and setting. Melanie is tracking clues, motives, and murderers' actions to discover the techniques used to raise questions and divert attention in the story – and there are many! Valerie investigates the...

It's time for a brand new season of the show and this time around, Valerie and Melanie are studying the same topic: left-brained stories. Never heard of it before? Don't worry. Valerie made up the term to describe any story that has a puzzle of some kind and invites the reader/audience to try to solve the puzzle before the author reveals the solution. Left-brained stories tend to be mysteries/crim...

For the past two seasons Valerie has been talking about character dimension and cast design. The key to understanding both concepts is to recognize that a person isn't a uniform, constant creature. A person's behaviour changes depending on the situation she finds herself in and the people she finds herself interacting with. In this brief bonus episode, Valerie's daughter Avery (a theatre student a...

This week Valerie and Melanie round up their a-ha moments and the lessons they've learned over the past ten episodes. What are their key takeaways wrt creating conflict in a story? How can you design a cast that supports both the main character's development and the plot? Tune in to find out! For access to writing templates and worksheets, and more than 70 hours of training (all for free), subscri...

The one thing Valerie and Melanie agree on this week is that the execution of this film isn't as good as it could, or should, have been. They disagreed on just about everything else and they each have a strong case for why they've come to the conclusions they've come to. The main points of disagreement? The protagonist's object of desire (want) and whether the protagonist was empathetic or not. Wh...

If you're writing a character-driven story with a female protagonist, or a female POV character, this episode is a must for you. With only one viewing it's easy to miss the storytelling goodness of Lady Bird because it doesn't offer up the kind of story Hollywood has trained us to expect (i.e., external action, male protagonist, hero's journey-style stories). What it does give is a nuanced, comple...

If you're writing a character-driven story, or if your protagonist has an arc, this episode is for you. This week, Melanie and Valerie continue their studies of conflict and cast design, and the connection between these topics and character development is a real eye-opener. For access to writing templates and worksheets, and more than 70 hours of training (all for free), subscribe to Valerie's Inn...

Never has there been a better example of why world building is so important. Fans of Sex and the City love to live vicariously through Carrie Bradshaw so it's no surprise that audiences gave this film a 77% Rotten Tomatoes score. However, film critics gave it a 50%, and Valerie and Melanie tend to agree. What is they see that fans don't? Tune in to this week's episode so that you can emulate the g...

Sometimes the best way to understand a concept is to have a simple, but clear, example. In this episode, Melanie explains why The Gentlemen is such a great example of conflict, especially external conflict. This film isn't such a great example of cast design though, so this week Valerie takes a detour and focuses instead on Narrative Device (which is not the same as Narrative Drive!). For access t...

There's no question that Little Women is a classic that is beloved by generations, but why? What is it about this story that resonates with so many readers and viewers? This week, Valerie and Melanie ponder just that and their study takes them to past episodes about world building and story shapes, they discuss the appeal of Jo March and they discover an interesting link to Pride and Prejudice. Fo...

In this week's episode, Melanie introduces the concept of conflict triangles and honestly, if you use them in your work, your story will improve immediately. In terms of cast design, while usually the plot supports the development of the characters in this case, the characters support the development of the plot. If you don't know which option best serves your story, you'd better tune in. For acce...

Valerie and Melanie both approached this week's episode with some trepidation. The Full Monty is a favourite film and sometimes those can be the most challenging to study because it's hard to be objective. But thankfully, there was no need to worry; the structure of The Full Monty is solid and a deep study revealed some fascinating lessons on how to write comedic characters. For access to writing...

Creating multiple storylines is a popular approach for novelists and for writers who know what they're doing, the end result is nothing short of masterful. However, multiple storylines is an advanced writing technique and it can quickly and easily go off the rails. Unfortunately, that's what happened with The Woman King. Now, there's lots to admire about this film too, but there's also lots to lea...

It's time for a brand new season and this time around, Valerie is studying cast design (a concept which revolutionized her writing) and Melanie is studying conflict. August: Osage County is a brilliant example of both - in fact, it's a brilliant example of a whole lot of storytelling principles, so this is one movie you'll want to add to your repertoire. For access to writing templates and workshe...

We've reached the end of another season and that means it's time for us to round up our a-ha moments and best lessons learned about how to develop characters and build fictional worlds. You'll want to bookmark this episode! For access to writing templates and worksheets, and more than 70 hours of training (all for free), subscribe to Valerie's Inner Circle: www.valeriefrancis.ca/innercircle For in...

This movie is all about the inner turmoil of Louis Wain. You may not recognize his name, but you'll recognize his art (it's worth Googling). If you have a pet cat, it's because of Louis Wain. Communicating a character's inner thoughts or mental state is a tricky thing for film to do. It can be tricky for novelists too because it often leads to long passages of exposition. But externalizing the int...

This movie is so light and joyful that it's easy to dismiss it as fluff, but nothing could be further from the truth. Pretty Woman is a masterclass in the fundamentals of storytelling. The plot isn't fancy (it isn't even original), but it's rock solid and the presentation of the characters is spot on. Yes, we're discussing character development and worldbuilding again, but the real beauty here is...

Nanowrimo starts tomorrow and if you're going to win, you've got to have a strategy. It's no small task to write an entire draft of a novel in thirty days! Luckily, in this bonus episode Valerie is here with three proven strategies that to help you do just that. You don't need to follow all three, just pick one that works and go for it. Good luck! For access to writing templates and worksheets, an...

By popular request! So many of you have messaged Valerie about this movie, that she's finally decided to tackle it head on. All the questions you've sent in boil down to one thing...you didn't like the movie, but you can't put your finger on why. In this bonus episode, Valerie shares her insights. Given the star-power attached to this project, her answer might surprise you. For access to writing t...

Anyone writing historical fiction needs to pay particular attention to how they build the world for the reader/viewer. In this week's episode, Melanie explains how to construct a fictional world around three main setting types. It's fascinating stuff! And Valerie explores what happens when the most interesting character in the story is NOT the protagonist. Does it spell trouble for the narrative,...

It's one thing to write a dramatic character, but what if you want to write a comedic one? Do the same storytelling principles apply, or not? And what about the setting? It's yet another story set in New York so how did the writers distinguish it from the NYC we saw in FATAL ATTRACTION and CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? All this and much more in this week's episode. For access to writing templates and w...