WRONG ONE

Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling

These rules were originally tweeted by Emma Coates, Pixar’s Story Artist. Number 9 on the list - When you’re stuck, make a list of what wouldn’t happen next – is a great one and can apply to writers in all genres.

  1. You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.
  2. You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be very different.
  3. 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.
  4. Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.
  5. Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.
  6. What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?
  7. Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.
  8. Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.
  9. When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.
  10. 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.
  11. 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.
  12. Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.
  13. Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.
  14. Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.
  15. If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.
  16. What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.
  17. No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on – it’ll come back around to be useful later.
  18. You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.
  19. Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.
  20. Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d’you rearrange them into what you DO like?
  21. You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can’t just write ‘cool’. What would make YOU act that way?
  22. What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.

Down (540 minutes)

Long-awaited sequel to 2009’s Up in superb counterpoint to its predecessor.

After the once Edenic ‘Paradise Falls’ falls to money-grubbing developers, Carl Fredericksen decides once again that the only way is up, and inflates his last hidden store of thin, latex balloons.

In anguish, Carl, his house and (regrettably) several hundred dogs, are silently dragged to the heavens, towards the cold, dark void of space. That is until forty minutes in, when the balloons begin to over-expand at around 90,000ft, allowing Pixar’s latest creation – understood to be the last of the franchise – to freefall towards its somewhat atypical conclusion.

One of the real strengths of the film is its appeal to a family audience. Carl’s stoic ambition has been called a lesson in perseverance from which both adults and children can learn. Some parents will enjoy the film’s dark, dark humour. And for the children there are loads and loads of dogs.

“It seemed like they were falling forever,” said one child. “I don’t really understand what happened at the end.” A Disney spokeman concurred: “We expect the kids will be mostly oblivious to the obvious oblivion.”

Critics at the première had mixed reviews. While “definitely not uplifting” – with Carl described as a “drunk, self-destructive Icarus” – reviewers unanimously agreed that Down “falls with style”. Disney officials present at the screening were active in using any means necessary to make sure that every sobbing child was crying ‘tears of joy’.

Later at the reception, a toddler was praised for her mature understanding, after claiming that it would be impossible at her age “to ascertain the gravity of his situation”. Director David Lynch made no comment.

Grateful Student Defiled

An undergraduate has been found after more than a week, after getting herself trapped in a lever-arch file. The first year sociology student found herself ringbound, after accidentally closing the lever through her friendship bracelet – understood to have been given to her by another first year – and finding that she was trapped between the covers.

“I was trying to absorb some notes, but I think they absorbed me,” recounted the fresher, who will not be named. “I began to get delirious by the third day. It was very dark. And cold. After reading it several times, I started eating Durkheim. Then the Rousseau.” 

She added: “The worst thing was all the fibre. It really caused me some problems later on.”

The student is not planning to file a complaint to the university. “I’m just scared it would happen again. My advice is: be careful what you accept from strangers at fresher’s week. Makes you think, doesn’t it? Luckily I do sociology, so I didn’t actually miss any lectures, or seminars, or anything. Plus, I’ve done all my autumn reading now, so I suppose it worked out for the best.”

The student is understood to have showered, and is now a little fresher.