Readers are on a need to know basis. That means that, as storytellers, we only tell them what they need to know, and only when they need to know it. In this adaptation of John le Carre's novel, the filmmakers could have told us everything we needed to know about Issa in the first few minutes. Instead, they sprinkled the details a little bit at a time, and as a result, the audience's curiosity goes into overdrive.

Melanie and I still think the book is better (shocker, right?), but this is a great episode to discover how to control the flow of information in a story. -V

"It's really tempting to say that, 'Well, I have to start my novel or my memoir with three chapters of backstory'." - Valerie Francis

Related Story Nerd Episodes

See How They Run  (Season 9, Episode 5)

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