🎬pixar's 22 rules of storytelling, the 18 I actually use

Emma Coats's 2011 tweetstorm. dropped the story-template line and a couple of pure exercises, kept what you can apply mid-draft

You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.

(still true), the one I think about mid-edit

You gotta keep in mind what's interesting to you as an audience, not what's fun to do as a writer.

Trying for theme is important, but you won't see what the story is actually about til you're at the end of it. Now rewrite.

Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You'll feel like you're losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.

pin this above the desk, the one I forget most

What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?

Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.

the one nobody follows and it shows

Finish your story, let go even if it's not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on.

Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you've got to recognize it before you can use it.

the recognizing part is the actual hard part

Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you'll never share it with anyone.

Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.

basically brainstorming with extra steps, but it works

Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it's poison to the audience.

this rule alone fixed more of my drafts than any book on my shelf

Why must you tell THIS story? What's the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of?

If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.

What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don't succeed? Stack the odds against.

You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best and fussing. Story is testing, not refining.

(still true)

Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.

explains why so many endings feel cheap

You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can't just write 'cool'. What would make YOU act that way?

What's the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.

pin this above the desk too, wrote it on a post-it actually

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