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EPISODE · Dec 6, 2025 · 26 MIN

Why We Love Stories (story structure breakdown)

from SPLANCHNICS: The Society for the Preservation of Literature, the Arts, Numinosity, Culture, Humor, Nerdiness, Inspiration, Creativity & Storytelling · host Clare Walker & Hannah Kubiak

Story structure is what makes us love stories in the first place. We love a nice set of bookends. We root for characters who save cats. A hero's journey "there and back again" resonates with the human psyche. In this episode, Clare and Hannah talk about several kinds of story structures, including Three-Act, Five-Act, Chiastic, Save the Cat, and the Hero's Journey. Some of the books we mention in this episode: The Heroine’s Journey by Gail Carriger Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder Screenplay by Syd Field The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell You can pick up these books and many more at our Bookshop.org affiliate link. You can support your favorite nerdy mother-daughter podcast, get a discount on your purchase, plus support independent bookstores everywhere! Thank you! We’d love to hear your thoughts! Click here to send us a text message! Support the show We provide links and other resources to help you find and enjoy the things we talked about on this episode! Note that some of these may include “affiliate” links to books and other products. When you click through and purchase, the price of the item is the same for you. In fact, most of the time you’ll get a discount! But the company gives us a little somethin’ somethin’ to say “thanks” for sending you their way! This helps you enjoy the website and the podcast EVEN MORE by eliminating intrusive advertisements. Thanks for clicking! Theme music: “Splanchnics Riff” composed and performed by Clare T. Walker Clare is an independent author who would love it if you checked out her books! If you like exciting thrillers featuring an “everyman” hero who rises to his or her full potential in the face of peril—-you might enjoy The Keys of Death. It’s a veterinary medical thriller about a small-town animal doctor who gets tangled up in a whistle-blowing scheme against a big biotech company. Or, if you prefer shorter fiction, try Startling Figures, a collection of three paranormal urban fantasy stories.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Dec 6, 2025

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Story structure is what makes us love stories in the first place. We love a nice set of bookends. We root for characters who save cats. A hero's journey "there and back again" resonates with the human psyche. In this episode, Clare and Hannah talk about several kinds of story structures, including Three-Act, Five-Act, Chiastic, Save the Cat, and the Hero's Journey. Some of the books we mention in this episode: The Heroine’s Journey by Gail Carriger Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder Screenpl...

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Why We Love Stories (story structure breakdown)

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This episode is 26 minutes long.

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This episode was published on December 6, 2025.

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