Podcast Episodes

What Went Wrong: stayin' alive

Season 15 Episode 1510

STAYIN' ALIVE has a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (I didn't even know that was possible!) so Melanie and I wanted to see if we could figure out where …

6 months, 2 weeks ago

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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 essentia…

6 months, 3 weeks ago

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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 stor…

6 months, 4 weeks ago

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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 ab…

7 months ago

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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 Blo…

7 months, 1 week ago

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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 imme…

7 months, 2 weeks ago

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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 interesti…

7 months, 3 weeks ago

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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,…

8 months ago

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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 sho…

8 months, 1 week ago

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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-…

8 months, 2 weeks ago

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