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

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

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?).