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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Feb 3
Put your audience on the hill Story’s superpower is that it immerses your audience. The tradeoff is that it takes time, is open to interpretation, and may not be received depending on culture and context.10 min
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Jan 6
Story is a material for the mind Every material has unique advantages and disadvantages, which affect purpose, process, and experience. Thinking about story as a material gives you insight into how to improve your storytelling.5 min
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Dec 2
Framing narrative drive as debt lends insight about credibility To keep your audience engaged, don’t make a huge promise and then require your audience to sit through your whole story to get to the payoff. Instead, build credibility by paying off open loops all along the way.3 min
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Nov 4
Use purposeful repetition to create meaning You can strategically pair repetition and variation to illustrate character change and escalation of stakes.5 min
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Oct 7
A turning point’s distinctives should reinforce its function To build a unified story, use elements like characters, setting, action, dialogue, symbolism, and theme to reinforce the function of your turning points.8 min
Level-up your storytelling
Understand how stories work. Spend less time wrangling your stories into shape and more time writing them.