<\/b>These rules were originally tweeted by Emma Coats, Pixar\u2019s story artist.<\/span><\/p>\n

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1. You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.<\/span><\/li>\n
2. Keep in mind what\u2019s interesting to you as an audience, not what\u2019s fun to do as a writer. They can be very different.<\/span><\/li>\n
3. Trying for theme is important, but you won\u2019t see what the story is actually about until you\u2019re at the end of it. Now rewrite.<\/span><\/li>\n
4. Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.<\/span><\/li>\n
5. Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You\u2019ll feel like you\u2019re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.<\/span><\/li>\n
6. What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?<\/span><\/li>\n
7. Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.<\/span><\/li>\n
8. Finish your story, let go even if it\u2019s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.<\/span><\/li>\n
9. When you\u2019re stuck, make a list of what wouldn\u2019t happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.<\/span><\/li>\n
10. Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you\u2019ve got to recognize it before you can use it.<\/span><\/li>\n
11. Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you\u2019ll never share it with anyone.<\/span><\/li>\n
12. Discount the first thing that comes to mind\u2014and the second, third, fourth and fifth. Get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.<\/span><\/li>\n
13. Give your characters opinions. Passive\/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it\u2019s poison to the audience.<\/span><\/li>\n
14. Why must you tell this story? What\u2019s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That\u2019s the heart of it.<\/span><\/li>\n
15. If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.<\/span><\/li>\n
16. What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don\u2019t succeed? Stack the odds against.<\/span><\/li>\n
17. No work is ever wasted. If it\u2019s not working, let go and move on. It\u2019ll come back around to be useful later.<\/span><\/li>\n
18. You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best and fussing. Story is testing, not refining.<\/span><\/li>\n
19. Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.<\/span><\/li>\n
20. Exercise: Take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How do you rearrange them into what you do like?<\/span><\/li>\n
21. You must identify with your situation and\/or characters; you can\u2019t just write \u201ccool.\u201d What would make you act that way?<\/span><\/li>\n
22. What\u2019s the essence of your story? The most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    These rules were originally tweeted by Emma Coats, Pixar\u2019s story artist. You admire a character for trying more than for their successes. Keep in mind what\u2019s interesting to you as an audience, not what\u2019s fun to do as a writer. They can be very different. Trying for theme is important, but you won\u2019t see what… Read More »Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12025,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","_ti_tpc_template_sync":false,"_ti_tpc_template_id":""},"categories":[915],"tags":[548,17,36,327,21,885],"yoast_head":"\n