<ol><li>What are the stakes? Reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.</li><li>No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on – it’ll be useful later.</li><li>Know yourself: Story is testing, not refining.</li><li>Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; but to get them out of it are cheating.</li><li>Take a movie you dislike. Rearrange elements into what you like?</li><li>You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can’t just write ‘cool’. What would make YOU act that way?</li><li>What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it?</li></ol>

Last 7 Rules

<ol><li>You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.</li><li>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.</li><li>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.</li><li>Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.</li><li>Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.</li></ol>

Pixar's 5 Storytelling Rules

<ol><li>What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?</li><li>Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.</li><li>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.</li><li>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.</li><li>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.</li></ol>

5 More Storytelling Rules

<ol><li>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.</li><li>Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.</li><li>Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.</li><li>Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of?</li><li>If you're your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.</li></ol>

Pixar's 5 Storytelling Rules

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Rules of storytelling, according to Pixar