“22 story basics from Pixar”: #1–4

By now I’m pretty sure nearly everyone has seen this list — “22 storybasics I’ve picked up in my time at Pixar” — aggregated by Emma Coats, a storyboard artist at the studio. As opposed to just printing them out, tacking them up, then forgetting about them, I thought we could break down the list and analyze it this week in the hope that some of these insights might actually stick with us. So each day let’s look at 4–5 of these concepts about narrative.

#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 v. 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 ___.

I have lots of thoughts about this list, but in lieu of my pontificating, let’s hear from you first. Which ones of these hit home the most with you? Why? What takeaway do you get from these ideas?

Tomorrow: More story basics from Pixar.

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