Nate Listrom
I’m a UX professional investigating the intersection of story theory, neuroscience, and design. Join me as I pursue the art and science of crafting compelling, deeply satisfying stories.
Start here
- 👉 Discover the neuroscience behind emotional payoffs with a 12-part series on peak aesthetic experiences.
- 👉 Examine story structure beyond frameworks like the Hero’s Journey and Snyder’s beat sheet with essays on story structure primitives.
- 👉 Consider fresh perspectives on familiar topics like scenes and sequels, the MICE quotient, red herrings, Deus ex Machina, and more.
Featured
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The map and the mountain: Fifteen core beats of story structure Story structure frameworks are like maps. They need interpretation. In this note, I briefly cover the framework I use and introduce a series on how it works.7 min
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The three underlying functions of inciting incidents When story theorists talk about inciting incidents, they’re often referring to one or more of three distinct story functions: the tipping of the apple cart, the call to adventure, or the decision to cross the threshold.10 min
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Shinichi Suzuki and the three domains of mastery An exploration of the interaction between talent, education, and skill.5 min
Latest
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Jul 7
Don’t pull your punches: Critiquing Tim Grahl’s ‘No Doubt’ (Part 3) Tim’s character introduction lacks key details. This results in confusion later on. I suggest alternatives.6 min
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Jun 2
Orient your audience: Critiquing Tim Grahl’s ‘No Doubt’ (Part 2) Being clear means your audience experiences your story in the way you intend. We look at how Tim Grahl grounds us in a scene.9 min
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May 5
Critiquing Tim Grahl’s ‘No Doubt’ (Part 1) Tim’s invited feedback. Let’s take him up on it.4 min
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Apr 7
Work with the grain To improve your story crafting process, learn what works for you, get help from experts, seek good sources of feedback, and set realistic expectations.6 min
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Mar 3
Clear, believable, engaging, affecting, meaningful Stories communicate through experience, and the quality of that experience depends on five key factors.10 min
Level-up your storytelling
Understand how stories work. Spend less time wrangling your stories into shape and more time writing them.