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

The three underlying functions of inciting incidents
Jul 23, 2021 | 10 min

Essay
An idea I’m proud of. Although my writing here may still have rough bits and need occasional pruning, these are the ones I feel have “stood the test of time.”
(See digital gardening.)

| Story Craft Story structure Structure Featured
Shinichi Suzuki and the three domains of mastery
Jan 23, 2015 | 5 min

Essay
An idea I’m proud of. Although my writing here may still have rough bits and need occasional pruning, these are the ones I feel have “stood the test of time.”
(See digital gardening.)

| Craft Learning Mastery Featured

Latest

Rss: feed://natelistrom.com/feed.xml

Four observations in response to Nathan Baugh on story twists
Jun 3, 2025 | 6 min

Scribble
An idea I'm just playing around with. I probably haven’t invested much time in it, and I'm not yet confident in my conclusions.
(See digital gardening.)

| Payoff Story structure Story Craft
Use one scene-sequel cycle each act
May 6, 2025 | 10 min

Note
More mature than a scribble, but not yet what digital gardener Maggie Appleton calls an “evergreen” idea. A note may have taken a fair amount of time to develop. I think the idea has merit.
(See digital gardening.)

| Scene-sequel Story map Structure Story structure Story Craft Star Wars
The map and the mountain: Fifteen core beats of story structure
Apr 3, 2025 | 7 min

Note
More mature than a scribble, but not yet what digital gardener Maggie Appleton calls an “evergreen” idea. A note may have taken a fair amount of time to develop. I think the idea has merit.
(See digital gardening.)

| Story map Structure Story structure Story Craft
Naming is hard: The making of ‘The Mirror of Tantalus’ (part five)
Mar 4, 2025 | 4 min

Scribble
An idea I'm just playing around with. I probably haven’t invested much time in it, and I'm not yet confident in my conclusions.
(See digital gardening.)

| The Mirror of Tantalus Making of Story
Working with an editor: The making of ‘The Mirror of Tantalus’ (part four)
Feb 4, 2025 | 5 min

Scribble
An idea I'm just playing around with. I probably haven’t invested much time in it, and I'm not yet confident in my conclusions.
(See digital gardening.)

| The Mirror of Tantalus Making of Story

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Connect with me

Random bits on Twitter
Writing also on Medium
Portfolio of older work on Behance
Professional info on LinkedIn

Nate Listrom

Start here

Featured

The three underlying functions of inciting incidents

Shinichi Suzuki and the three domains of mastery

Latest

Four observations in response to Nathan Baugh on story twists

Use one scene-sequel cycle each act

The map and the mountain: Fifteen core beats of story structure

Naming is hard: The making of ‘The Mirror of Tantalus’ (part five)

Working with an editor: The making of ‘The Mirror of Tantalus’ (part four)

Level-up your storytelling

Connect with me