When you filter out all the Star Trek posts and viewing guides, one of my most visited posts was about Javier Grillo-Marxuach’s “11 Laws of Showrunning.”
Showrunners are invariably writer-producers, and while some of the laws definitely get into writing (e.g. #6: Write and Rewrite Quickly), it’s more into management. I mean, per my reading, a huge motivation for writing the “11 Laws” was Grillo-Marxuach wanting to give leadership principles he wished he’d been given when he was first being a showrunner – and one’s he refined over 20 years of being a television writer-producer (including being a showrunner).
But the craft of writing and the principles to hold as a north star as you craft your story are always interesting to me, so when the algorithm gods served up Emma Coats’ “22 Rules of Storytelling,” I took a deep look.
In truth, this might not be new to many of you. Emma Coats cultivated these while serving as a storyboard artist at Pixar and my understanding is they don’t necessarily have one singular person’s inspiration, but came out of organic codification by the creative brain-trust. In any case, the rules appear to have spread like wildfire across the Interwebs around 2011, often as “Pixar’s 22 Rules for Storytelling.”
So you can see an un-annotated list from a CUNY website (PDF link) as well as various folks giving their thoughts on it (e.g. Kendra Turner and Nathan Baugh and Jeannie Ruesch for a few). You don’t need to be here to get the lowdown on the 22 Rules any more than you need me to remind you that both the 22 Rules and the 11 Laws are probably more like guidelines that actual rules or immutable laws… but you’re here.
So what am I gonna do? I’m gonna give you my thoughts.
1. You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.
It’s the struggle that makes us admire a character. In many cases, their struggle, fueled by conviction and principle, is what defines the character, isn’t it?
I remember some screenwriters pointing out that Indiana Jones comes up short repeatedly in Raiders of the Lost Ark. And who doesn’t admire pre-super-serum Steve Rogers stating he can do this all day?
If anything, I gotta make sure my characters fail more.
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.
I’m pretty sure this is one of the thoughts behind “write what you want to see/hear/read” because it’s putting you in the audience seat and making sure you’re delivering. I really need to do a dedicated post about “payoff,” but after decades of absorbing so many stories, I simply can’t imagine ignoring that as a writer. Whether I can keep it interesting? Well, that’s another challenge.
I think a lot about Hitchcock’s notion of always trying to be aware of what the audience knows, but the characters don’t, and what the audience doesn’t know and what questions they’re asking. For me, finding that balance is at the heart of keeping a story interesting.
3. Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about until you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.
I find this one related to guideline # 2 above. I may want to write for a particular theme and there’s certainly “things I want to say” in scripts, but (a) the story has its own ideas about what it’s about, and (b) you have your own ideas about what you want to say that you didn’t admit to yourself and may not have even fully realized until they’re words staring you back from the page. I think the rewriting is often sculpting what you discover further because, let’s face it, your subconscious isn’t always the most clear and succinct.
4. Once upon a time there was _____. Every day, _____. One day, _____. Because of that, _____. Because of that, _____. Until finally _____.
This is so classic and so guaranteed to deliver audience payoff if executed well, I completely understand why this is deemed a Pixar “rule.”
My favorite part of this? Like Baugh also notes: the second “Because of that.” Gotta raise stakes… and probably put your characters through Hell. This also connects to guideline #14 for me below.
5. Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.
This is definitely where TV or film (or audio fiction) may differ from, say a novel, which may meander with moments and dozens of characters. I still think of how the film Black Hawk Dawn condensed about 100 real people into a still huge, but manageable set of characters from the book. This is an area where I feel you need to be honest with yourself that you won’t say everything you want to say in one work… in fact, consider this: maybe by saying a few things with clarity and specificity you wind up saying more.
6. What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?
I need to do more of this, because I think this relates to pulling out backstory, motivation, and strong emotions from characters. Also leads back to guideline #1 above and ensuing the characters struggle.
7. Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.
Yes! YES! I don’t understand the writers I talk with who just “want to see where the story goes” aka the 100% “pantser.” Besides, you can always alter the ending if that’s not where the story wants to go (see #3 above).
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.
Done is good… and done can be built upon. This is something I always need to remind myself when I feel stuck (also relates to #11 below).
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.
I love this and hadn’t heard about this technique until this list. Hopefully, this will keep me from being stuck at key moments.
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.
Several of my stories are completely like this and, if I’m being honest, also some stories that are generally revered that didn’t do it for me. In both cases, there are things that resonate with people and it’s important to know why.
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.
I think of my dad talking about the theoretical physicists and the experimental physicists a lot with this one.
In short: ideas ought to be tested in the lab.
12. Discount the first thing that comes to mind. And the second, third, fourth, fifth – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.
I’ve sometimes heard of writers advocating you need to go with “door # 3” and this feels like an extension of that.
Basically, we want lots of doors is what I’m saying. Like several Overlook Hotels’ worth of doors.
13. Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.
Going back to guideline # 10 above, some of what I’ve noticed regarding stories I like are the imperfect –sometimes very imperfect– characters… and some of their hangups and attitudes. Is there a better moment of audience agony when you see a character you’ve grown to love about to make a boneheaded decision because of their opinions and view of the world?
It also reminds of the trap of actors wanting to not have their character be objectionable in anyway, when moments of selfishness or ego or cowardice can be great.
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.
I think of this in two ways. The first is the obvious why do YOU need to tell this story? What is is about your perspective that is going to fuel the writing and rewriting process?
The second is: why must you tell THIS story in particular? My dad would say a good film would answer “Why we were seeing these moments in particular?” In fact, he’d sum it up as “Why is this night different from all other nights?” which I feel he got from somewhere…
15. If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.
This is something I keep coming back to as emotions and reactions that ring true help me get through, well, some very made up worlds.
16. What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.
This is something I feel I will forever be working on, but the “what happens if they don’t succeed” can be fuel back to guideline # 1 and characters struggling.
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.
I think of this back to the thoughts of theme and whatnot and that the story knows what it wants to be and sometimes it doesn’t want to be out in the world.
18. You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best and fussing. Story is testing, not refining.
I always read over my drafts and I always have folks read over them and… if I waited until everything worked for everyone, I wouldn’t finish a lot of work that a lot of people like (yet still may have issues).
19. Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.
I suppose if you want to artfully hang a lantern on it, you can get one coincidence to get characters out of jam, but I would suggest it’s just one… and used very infrequently.
20. Exercise: Take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How do you rearrange them into what you DO like?
My wife has often commented on my patience with less than stellar films and TV series and it’s precisely for this reason: I like the premise (or I’m in a ‘completionist’ mood regarding the actors, writer, or director) and I want to see what about the execution I do like and what I might be able to pick up and carve into my story (see guideline # 17 above).
21. You gotta identify with your situation/characters, you can’t just write “cool.” What would make YOU act that way?
For me this echoes guideline # 15 above and being truthful.
22. What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.
Having watched hundreds of short films as a film festival judge, boy howdy do some filmmakers need to embrace this, but it’s also good for feature films and more than a few TV shows. In a sense, it reminds me of making sure your story delights the audience. That’s often a more elegant, economical story solution… and maybe you’re thinking to much as the writer versus the audience (see #2 above).
So there it is: 22 guidelines, some of which you’ll want as rules, some as laws, some merely as reminders of what to focus on as you go back through your story.