Podcast Episodes
Back to SearchAll the President's Men: masterful exposition
Season 12 Episode 1207
This movie is almost entirely exposition, and while this isn't an approach I'd recommend for novelists, I can't imagine telling this particular story…
1 year, 5 months ago
Gone Baby Gone: writing a static protagonist
Season 12 Episode 1206
Most stories are about change. However, there is also a place for stories when the protagonist doesn’t change. The outcomes can still be positive - j…
1 year, 5 months ago
Little Miss Sunshine: who's the protagonist?
Season 12 Episode 1205
As Melanie and I prepared for this episode one question kept coming up ... Who is the protagonist? Melanie argues that the entire family is the prota…
1 year, 5 months ago
Far From Heaven: what your character doesn't want
Season 12 Episode 1204
This season, I am focused on stories with negative or neutral character arcs. Sometimes, finding out what a character doesn’t want is the first step …
1 year, 5 months ago
I, Tonya: don't try this at home
Season 12 Episode 1203
Wowzers! I, TONYA is absolutely chock-full of exposition. It's a documentary-style film so at first blush it doesn't seem to offer up many story less…
1 year, 6 months ago
Dorian Gray: what mick jagger said
Season 12 Episode 1202
The Rolling Stone’s song ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want,’ is my earworm this season. This week, I started to pick apart how wants, needs and arc…
1 year, 6 months ago
The Social Network: pacing, pacing, pacing
Season 12 Episode 1201
It's a brand new season and this time Melanie is studying character arcs through 5 key questions: Where do the characters start, where do they finish…
1 year, 6 months ago
Best Advice: Narrative Drive + Conflict Triangles
Season 11 Episode 1109
Whoa. This season has been a heavy season. Narrative Drive and Conflict Triangles are two major concepts that can - and will - transform your writing…
1 year, 6 months ago
Eye in the Sky: wonderfully nuanced storytelling
Season 11 Episode 1108
Eye in the Sky reminds me of the ‘greater good’ questions I discussed in class during high school - there’s no right or wrong answer but there are al…
1 year, 7 months ago
NYAD: writing unlikeable characters
Season 11 Episode 1107
Your reader doesn't have to like the protagonist but she does have to empathize with him because if empathy is absent, your story is in trouble. In t…
1 year, 7 months ago