I came across this article in the Wall Street Journal this weekend and fell in love.
First off, it's in tweets - which I think most good ideas should be able to be expressed in 140 characters or less. (Reread: Keep it simple)
Second off, it's about storytelling. Whether you're an art director or copywriter or just a writer, you need to know how to tell a good story - whether it turns into a TV script, radio script, banner ad or manifesto, your job is to weave wonderful stories.
This article is chock full of tips, advice and ideas to help make your stories better.
Now get to work.
Tweets From Pixar's School of Plotting
Emma Coats, a storyboard artist on the movie "Brave," on bringing Princess Merida and other animated characters to life.
For
the past five years, Pixar has served as my film school. As a storyboard
artist, working mainly on "Brave" but more recently on other
projects, I had the privilege to collaborate with an incredible creative team.
As we hashed out the details of our
narrative, I learned a lot about the basics of storytelling, and I have used
Twitter to share them with others. Here's some of what I've road-tested from my
work trying to bring Princess Merida, other Pixar characters and my own
creations to life.
2. Remember that
what's interesting to an audience can be very different from what's fun to do
as a writer.
3. Theme is
important, but you won't see what the story is actually about until 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 are your
characters 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.
9.When you're
stuck, make a list of what wouldn't happen next. Often the material to get you
unstuck will show up.
10. Pull apart
the stories you like. You've got to recognize what you like in them before you
can learn from them.
11. Putting an
idea on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, you'll never
share it with anyone.
12. Discount the
first thing that comes to mind. And the second, third and fourth—get the
obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.
13. Give your
characters opinions. Passive, malleable characters might seem likable to you as
you write, but they are poison to the audience.
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 a reason to root for your characters. What happens if they
don't succeed? Stack the odds against.
17. No idea is
ever wasted. If it's not working, let go and move on—it will come back around
to be useful later.
19. Coincidences
to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it
are cheating.
20. What's the
essence of your story and the most economical way of telling it? If you know
that, you can build out from there.
—Ms.
Coats recently left Pixar and now works independently doing storyboard for
animation as well as writing and directing live-action films. Follow her @lawnrocket
on Twitter.
