The 22 rules of storytelling, according to Pixar
Storyboard artist Emma Coats has compiled nuggets of narrative wisdom she’s received working for the animation studio over the years. It’s some sage stuff, although there’s nothing here about defending yourself from your childhood toys when they inevitably come to life with murder in their hearts.
Simplify
Combine characters
- Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle
- Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect
- Make a list of what would NOT happen next
- Pull apart stories you like
- Put it on paper to start fixing it
Exercise #20: Take the building blocks of a movie you dislike and rearrange them into what you DO like.
You gotta identify with your situation/characters. What would make YOU act that way?
Don’t discount the 1st thing that comes to mind
Give your characters opinions
- Why must you tell THIS story?
- Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations
- What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character
- Stack the odds against
No work is ever wasted
If it’s not working, let go and move on – it’ll come back around to be useful later
- You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing
- Story is testing, not refining
- Coincidences to get characters in trouble are great, but getting them out of it is cheating
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