Emma Coats is a former story artist at Pixar. Yes, that Pixar who brings us fantastically written, universally relatable stories like Up, Toy Story 1, 2, and 3, WALL-E, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, et cetera. Awesome stories. Great characters. Total Kleenex soakers (as in tears, guys. MINDS OUT OF GUTTER).
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| WALL-E. At its core, it is a love story. And my favorite ever. |
In 2011 Coats tweeted a series of basics that every story needs to appeal to its audience. (This has made its rounds, but I feel it's appropriate to bring it back into circulation.) The foundation of a film is, of course, its screenplay, a collection of words far sparser than what is found in a novel but packed with a punch just as powerful. The vehicle may be different, but the goal is the same: compel the reader/viewer to read/view the next scene and on and on until the credits roll/last page is turned. Engage them. Suck them in like you have tenterhooks embedded in their eyeballs. Never let go. Take them to the end and then drop them in a pillow of awesome they will never forget. Make them want a cigarette after watching/reading your story. Breathless, pacing the room to try to understand the greatness he/she has just witnessed.
Here's a head start. Thanks to Emma Coats for sharing her brain cells with the Interwebz. (The Lego images included are by Alex Eylar of ICanLegoThat.)
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#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 very different.
#3: Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is
actually about till 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?
#7: Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle.
Seriously. Endings are hard; get yours working up front.
#8:
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| Image by Alex Eylar |
#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.
#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:
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| Image by Alex Eylar |
#20: Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie [book] you dislike. How
do you rearrange them into what you DO like?
#21: You gotta identify with your situation/characters. Can’t just write
"cool." What would make YOU act that way?
#22:
What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If
you know that, you can build out from there.
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Use these as a checklist when you're writing. When you think you're done with a story, go through these questions one at a time and ask yourself -- answering honestly and candidly -- if your story hits these beats. Ask the tough questions. Stop sending half-baked work into the world and then whining about your rejection rate on Twitter. YES, I can say this because I am one of those people. After 23 rejections, I rewrote the whole book. And then I rewrote it again. And again. Finally, I think our relationship is solid enough that we can start tasting wedding cakes, but only because we did the work. An assload of work. It ain't enough to shit 'n shine, folks.
Best of luck. Remember, make 'em feel something. Go to it.
Find Emma:
Xs and Os, my lovelies ...
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