Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling for Business

By Onur Ibrahim.

Native Indian tribes believe in the power of story. It is even said that those who tell the best stories rule the world! To some extent we can see this to be true. Take a look at the news, at the education system, even at governments and how politicians convince their peers to an idea. All of this is shared through story. The greatest stories produce the greatest results. But, what is the best way to tell a story? Where do we begin? If we are already experts, how can we get better?

Back in 2011 I learned a set of 22 story telling secrets that would change my life. The 22 rules of story telling were invented by Pixar. For those of you that don’t know of them, Pixar is the animation house that makes most of Disneys blockbuster animated films such as Toy Story and Monsters University. I learnt of them them due to a Twitter share by Emma Coats @lawnrocket who, tweeted them to the world in her “story basics” series in 2011. Emma was taught these secrets by her seniors at Pixar as part of the induction training she was given whilst working there.

As most of you will already know, I am a story junkie. These 22 rules really resonated with me. Reading them got me so excited that they became a guide for my own writing and presentations. I wanted to add my contribution to these 22 secrets and decided to write the series you are now reading. This series is my personal interpretation and is presented as my way of expanding on each of the tips. Starting today I will release one post per day (Monday-Friday) and add my own commentary on what the tip means and how you can use it to create, tell and spread great stories to enrich your own life.

Pixar's 22 rules.

The full list of Pixar’s 22 secrets on “How to write a great story”:

#1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.

#2: You have got to 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 ___.

#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 with it?

#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 them.

#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 would you rearrange them into what you DO like?

#21: You have got to identify with your situation/characters. You cannot just write ‘cool’. What would make YOU act that way?

#22: What’s the essence of your story? How would you perform the most economical telling of it? Once you know that, you can build out from there.

Six of the rules, applied to business.

Rule 1: we admire characters for trying.

It is easy to like a hero, it is even easier to hate a villain, but you cannot have a great villain without the reluctant hero. The reluctant hero or ‘anti-hero’ has always been a Hollywood favorite and “The Home town boy makes good” idea is a popular script. Why does this actually work and what is the motivation for us to like it?

As humans we are programmed to succeed. Millions of years of evolution have proved that we can succeed and thrive in any environment where there is food, water and shelter. Work, sports, play, education, and communication these are all factors created by people so that we can develop and thrive even further. However we cannot succeed at any of these without first starting and putting in the required effort to complete the challenge. In any journey of adversity it is the ‘will’ to continue and the ‘heart to carry on’ that makes these stories so compelling.

Any story of a journey that takes us on an emotional roller coaster where we join in the struggle will make us push our imaginations to put us in the picture side-by-side, shoulder to shoulder. Facing enemy and triumphing over the same adversity along with that “anti-hero” that we have grown to love.

One of our favorite hometown boys make good are the likes of Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa. The Rocky story started with a boxer from nowhere who became the greatest boxer in the world, these stories take us on that journey where we train with him, and feel every blow. We share his sorrow and his success and want to watch it again and again.

Other of my favorite anti-hero stories are the story of a father looking for his lost son in ‘Finding Nemo’. Marlin and his sidekick Dory go on a quest to find the missing angel fish baby ‘Nemo’ and discover a great friendship in the process…. but that’s, for another post

These stories teach us that the goal is always achievable, we know that the hero with triumph. The end of the story is just that, it is the end. The real pleasure and satisfaction comes from the journey, it is the journey that captures our imagination and what drives us. This is the real reason we like story and why we follow it to the end. We love adversity and challenge. We want to share the experience of how hard the characters have to ‘try’. That is what grips us and makes us want to make it to the end.

Perhaps with enough stories we can all gain more experience and become better ourselves.

Rule 2: write what interests your audience.

Story telling is fun, making up stories is even more fun. As a writer is it often easy to get caught up in making up something that you enjoy, that you understand personally. You must control this habit, always remember that the reader comes first. One of writers’ biggest strains is getting overly caught up in the detail and personal expression through the tale. The audience will look at it from their own perspective. In most cases unless the audience has the same interests and background as the writer they will find it difficult to get immersed if the writer overly complicates things.

Stepping aside, and thinking from the audience perspective makes the writer think differently about the presentation of the material. The same context and themes can be delivered in a way that is compelling and interesting to a reader, viewer or participant. By putting the needs and historical knowledge of the audience first the writer has to think more about how the story will be understood and interpreted. It is in the interpretation that the writer has a chance to weave elements that generate emotion and make the audience think more deeply. We all enjoy filling in the blanks and our brains are developed to help us visualise what should be there but isn’t. It is this “filling in” that makes the audience connect and feel stronger emotions whilst engrossed.

This is a fun game that illustrates this point to a small degree. How many Faces do you see in the image below?

This image is an exercise in controlling your perspective. depending on how you are initially set up you can either see half a face head on or to the side. Where is your reader starting from? what is their trained perspective?

It is this same effect that the audience experiences when you write with them in mind. They will remember parts of the story that have already passed and use the combination of those and the new elements to further the story in their own mind. In a digital and multi-media world, the reader might have been given background information or clues in a completely separate place to the main story. The computer games industry does this very well. In the gaming world there are back stories shared via online video and user groups, there might be fan created missions and levels that further an existing story or past versions of the same game. For the avid reader (participant) these are all part of the same story that they are acting out. For the author they are additions that must be considered. It is because of this effect that the author must above all else filter what is relevant and interesting to the audience. This ensures that the initial set up and on-going discourse will allow the audience to easily understand and connect with the story. It is when they can easily connect that a good writer has done their job.

The moral of this secret is to always be concise and connected. Give the reader what they need and nothing more, allow them to piece the story together themselves. Our brains are designed to “fill in the gaps” using all available media. Allow your reader to create their own variation of the story. They will feel more fulfilled and truly thank you for it.

Rule 3: you find the theme at the end.

Writing anything needs to start with a loose plan. As with any exploratory medium your plan will adapt and change depending on the landscape, circumstances and timing. In the aspects of change, Story telling is no different than mountaineering. You might often find you are hitting a dead end and have to track back to find a way round. Or you might need to revisit an old camp site for the night if you can go no further under the current conditions. when writing many people mutter ‘writers block……’ What is writers block? My definition is ‘the stubbornness of a writer to carry on down a track with no inspiration’. If that happens you just have to change.

What has this got to do with themes? You might ask that but think about it for a moment.

If a story changes and moves with the audiences attention, it becomes more organic, more compelling. The writer will constantly develop and change elements to create this organic feel. When a story that changes in this way how can you possibly know what the final themes will be?

Many times in my own writing the end product is a deviation from what I started out to achieve. This happens because as I write I find inspiration to flow into other areas. This changes the theme and build an initial draft. Once the initial draft is ready the most powerful themes come out and allow me to understand where the powerful points are. I then re-write the story based on these and see what happens.

This third rule is all about that. Write, read, understand and then re-write its like an old mantra for essay writing. Have a loose plan to start with but don’t be precious about smaller ideas. These come and go like the wind and rain.

Rule 4: the once upon a time structure.

Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.

The classic start to children’s bedtime stories. My understanding of this is more about structure. Having a clear beginning and set up is important.
The writer needs to set the stage and then introduce the characters. This introduction will normally start with the hero or the subject but then the story has to be set. One day…. Our hero went walking in the woods and found a trail of breadcrumbs that led them to a house made of sweets. The typical story starts with the normal or mundane and leads the audience into something out of the ordinary, usually fantastical or magical. A more amazing or impossible challenge will make our hero more believable and their journey real and more emotional.

Because of…… This happened, Because of……that,. The cycles of cause and effect create and develop our story. The beginning is not important anymore but the memory of what it created becomes our new starting point. This memory is what we build on throughout our story and use to drive it forward The story has now begun so we must lead our hero’s through a series of tasks or challenges set out as cause and effect. These cycles build the personality of the hero and other characters and introduce us to landscapes, new characters, tasks, puzzles, rewards and all of the other elements that make a story interesting. By using them in the right sequence and using in the context created at the initial set up our themes will develop and grow. Each step leading the main characters and the hero closer to the goal.

Until finally…… There must be a clear ending to the story that shows a transition and development of the characters. They have to change during the story, but once they reach the end they then go back to a new normal life and this is usually the beginning of the next story.

Rule 5: simplify, focus and combine.

This is another tease that we must think write and then rewrite. A famous quote attributed to many literary experts says something like “I wanted to send a short letter but he didn’t have enough time.”

One of the benefits of understanding the themes and story as a whole before rewriting is that it becomes vividly clear how certain themes and characters affect the story. This understanding is paramount to clarity and creating the best story possible. The cost of simplification is the trimming of unwanted words and topics. However, in order to simplify you must first complete.

After finishing a story you really understand the main themes and where they join together. Completion allows you to loose the more difficult to follow sections that are likely to confuse or make the audience work to understand them. A good story must ebb and flow taking the reader on a journey that they can not escape from. How can you reveal the detours and short-cuts without first finishing the work and experiencing it for yourself?

Its like driving to work everyday. When you travel the same route everyday it is inevitable that you will find little short-cuts and simplifications that make your travel a little quicker, a little more comfortable, a little more pleasant. Story telling is just like this. As the creator you must traverse the tightrope with one foot between compelling and overkill and the other between just enough detail and boring the audience with stats.

Once you finish the story, just hop over the difficult parts, create your own short-cuts and and simplify the complex so that it is easy to read and understand. Certain characters do not add significance or benefit anything considerably. These can be omitted or their minor roles combined to make another character more interesting. Anywhere you feel that you can save a word or two or make something clearer, don’t be afraid to leave the “fluff” on the cutting room floor.

Rule 7: work out your ending first.

A journey of a 1000 miles starts with a single step. I don’t know about you but personally I am not likely to start a 1000 mile journey or even a 5 mile journey without at least a vague idea of where I am going. Endings are similar to this, the hardest part of any writing is figuring out the ending. When you have written the start and developed your character introductions, the middle bit will change, but unless you have a clear ending planned you will end up writing a few completely different stories. Always begin with the end in mind and allow the twists in the story to come out themselves naturally.

The ending can be quite simple but as the ideas for it arrive in your mind you should just let them flow and add them as you see fit. These ideas might be granted a few tweaks and generosities but the essence of the ending will remain. This is the target that will mould your telling of it and will keep you on track with a solid target to aim for.

Follow Onur Ibrahim on LinkedIn for more thoughts on brand strategy and communications.

Read next: How to Understand What Your Customers Really Want and How to Write Clear Headlines That Get Read.

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