Podcast Episodes

Our Best Advice: villain's monologue + turning points

Season 15 Episode 1509

We've come to the end of another season and that means it's time for our best advice about the villain's monologue (what it is, and why it's essential you have one in your story) and turning points (…

Published on 7 hours ago

Black Bag: IYKYK

Season 15 Episode 1508

I think BLACK BAG misses the mark but it's one of Melanie's favourites. So what happens when we disagree on whether, from a craft perspective, a story is working or not? Well, you'll have to tune in …

Published on 1 week ago

Primal Fear: masterful writing

Season 15 Episode 1507

Primal Fear is a superb film. The novel, by William Diehl, is even better. This is a story to add to your short list of go-to stories to study for absolutely any aspect of the craft. Enjoy! - V.

Get …

Published on 2 weeks ago

Legally Blonde (archive)

Season 15

This week we're throwing it back to season 2. Valerie is studying The Hero's Gift Expressed and Melanie is studying Forces of Antagonism. Legally Blonde is a beautiful example of both!

Get The Fundam…

Published on 3 weeks ago

No Way Out: conflict triangles (archive)

Season 15

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 th…

Published on 4 weeks ago

Moonstruck: writing female characters (archive)

Season 15

In this episode, Melanie is studying female characters and how women are presented in modern stories (her work in this episode is reeeeally interesting!), and I investigate something I learned from S…

Published on 1 month ago

The Bourne Identity: build tension, raise stakes (archive)

Season 15

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, The Bourne Identity is a terrific example to stud…

Published on 1 month, 1 week ago

Knives Out: mastering the whodunit (archive)

Season 15

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, we promise!

Get The Fundamentals of Storytellin…

Published on 1 month, 2 weeks ago

Foe: offers lots of writing lessons

Season 15 Episode 1506

Ummm … I don’t know what to say to introduce this week’s episode. Perhaps I should start with a simple question, ‘What makes a story un-watchable/un-readable?’ Part of the answer is chickens. If you’…

Published on 1 month, 3 weeks ago

The Miracle Club: when the hero is also the villain

Season 15 Episode 1505

THE MIRACLE CLUB is a multiple protagonist, miniplot, story. That means that each protagonist is also an antagonist. Sounds cool, right? But how the heck do you pull it off? Well one of the ways is t…

Published on 2 months ago