NANOWRIMO: Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling? With pictures!

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Original posting 1 Nov 2013

Just in time to save us from the rigors of nanowrimo (on your keyboards! Write, write, write! No, don't look up, just keep writing!) here's Pixar's 22 rules of storytelling.

http://twistedsifter.com/2013/09/pixars-22-rules-of-storytelling-as-image-macros/

As explained in the blog posting, in 2011 -- two years ago! That's like ancient history on the Internet! -- Emma Coats who was then a storyboard artist at Pixar took to her Twitter and tweeted 22 rules of storytelling for creating appealing stories that she had learned at Pixar. They have now been combined with images!

So for example, the first one is "You admire a character for trying more than for their successes."

Now what would that mean? Well, especially in terms of stories, we often see characters trying and failing repeatedly. Cinderella certainly isn't a success at the beginning, now is she? Think about almost any protagonist -- something kicks them out of their rut, and there's that goal hanging out there in front somewhere, but along the way, they try this, and fail, they try that, and fail. The trying, the persistence in the face of adversity, that's what makes us admire that protagonist. Then when they bet it all, take one more chance and put it all on the line... We're ready to cheer if they make it.

All right? Are you getting those words rolling? Remember, it's nanowrimo, national novel writing month, nutty November when words drip from the skies and writers everywhere stuff them into stories. So start collecting your words now!

NANOWRIMO: Pixar's second rule of storytelling is...

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Original Posting 2 Nov 2013

"#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 different."

What's fun to do as a writer? Well, trying to describe every little step in the action, and making sure that I've included all of it, that really seems like it would be fun to me? What do you mean the audience is bored silly? Don't they know how important this is? Oh, right, they don't. Well, all right, what if I use a broad brush and just one or two little details to help lay it out? That's better...

Get the audience's attention. Make sure they are engaged, that they feel like this is their story and they know where they are in it. And then pay off! If you've been talking about a wedding for four chapters, don't skip it. Oh, you can have the main characters elope, strange and wonderful things may interfere or enhance the wedding, but make sure you got that wedding in there. You promised!

All right? Keep those words rolling, and think about what the audience is going to enjoy. Admittedly, this is one of those things that you can tighten up and polish in revision, and you don't want to get too carried away trying to figure out the audience at this point, but... If you've got a choice, and you're trying to figure out which option to take, go for the one that the audience will enjoy. It may be a lot more work for you as a writer, but remember you want to keep your reader on the edge of their seat, turning pages (or flicking along on their chosen electronic reader?).

NANOWRIMO: Pixar #3: What's the theme?

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Original Posting 3 Nov 2013

"#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."

If you happen to know your theme at the beginning, that's great. But most of the time, the real theme of the story isn't evident until you've written the whole story. That's right, go ahead and do the first draft. Then see what you think the theme is. And at that point, you may very well want to revise and rewrite to strengthen the theme.

So if you don't know what the theme is, go ahead and write the story. Let the characters interact in the setting, give them goals and motivation, let them strive and run into problems and conflicts, and see what happens. See if a theme builds itself as you work through the story.

Write? No, right! WRITE! Keep those words coming, it's Nanowrimo (which could mean lots of little tiny words -- nano words, more please?)

NANOWRIMO: Pixar #4: a Mad Libs story?

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Original posting 4 Nov 2013

All you need to do is fill in the blanks! Here you go:

"#4: Once upon a time there was ______.
Every day, _____. One day ______.
Because of that, _____. Because of that, _____.
Until finally ______."

A mad Queen, a poor peasant, a pig in a poke, an alligator in a vest – where do you want to start?

And what happens every day?

Then one day... There is a knock at the door? A package arrives? The tree falls? What happens?

Then follow the logic. When that happens, what does it cause? And in turn, what does that cause? Watch the little dominoes falling!

And finally, what happens?

Just fill in the blanks, and see what kind of a story you come up with.

A scene, a story, a tale for the day. All it takes is a few words, and POOF! There it is!

Now get those words out for Nanowrimo! Take each sentence in the Mad Lib tale, and make that a scene! Yes. Character, setting, inciting incident, complications, complications, and climax. Or ... fill in the blanks and see what happens.

NANOWRIMO: Pixar #5: Put your story on a diet?

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Original posting 5 Nov 2013

I suspect this one really isn't much help for nanowrimo. Anyway, the advice is

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

Admittedly, you may need to remind yourself where you're going even during nanowrimo, but don't forget, keep those words coming! This is probably better advice for revision, trimming things down and making that second draft really shine.

During nanowrimo? If you want to complicate things, write a scene from three different directions, introduce extra characters, and take those long scenic detours... It certainly helps to add words to the word count. Remember, you can always clean it up later.

It's kind of an interesting question. Do you try to apply this advice during your initial writing, when you're still probably exploring ideas and trying to get the voice right? Or do you let yourself go during this first draft, introducing complications and characters and wandering here and there? As always, it's your choice, but the goal of nanowrimo – 50,000 words in 30 days – probably means it's better to hold off on this advice. Plan to take advantage of it for revision. But for now, just let the ideas and words tumble out. You really don't need to restrict yourself yet.