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The answer to this question lies in the emotional heart of their stories. What is it about Pixar movies that affect people like this? Just try to watch the first 10 minutes of Up without shedding a tear. It’s near impossible to find someone who hasn’t been moved by a Pixar movie. As Pete points out “Al Capone isn’t someone you’d likely want to live with, but wouldn’t you love to have had dinner with him?” Step 5: Find Your Story’s Emotional Heart Audiences will gladly root for a flawed hero if they’re written well. Remember, your characters don’t need to be kind or likable, but they need to be interesting and relatable. Combine the personalities of different friends and family members to create someone unique. While there is no fail-safe way to write compelling characters, your research and brainstorming in the previous step should give you a place to start. We’ve evolved to relate and care about others.
#PIXAR STORYWRITING TIPS HOW TO#
Whether it’s a “space ranger” that doesn’t know he’s a toy, a pair of professional monsters that clock in and out of work, or a love-stricken trash robot, Pixar knows how to create memorable characters.ĭocter believes characters and their relationships connect people to your story.

Step 4: Establish Character & Relationship Follow your curiosity and see where it takes you. Or plug your ideas into your Google search bar. If not, hit the shelves of your local library. Your Rolodex might not be as large as Pixar’s, but there are likely people in your life you can collaborate with. For Soul they talked to gurus and experts from the world’s major religions to get their thoughts on souls and the meaning of life. For Inside Out, they interviewed dozens of psychologists and clinical researchers to learn about human emotions. You must also push past your knowledge and seek out new information and fresh perspectives.īefore production, Pete Docter and his team conduct extensive research on the subjects they’re writing about. Writing “what you know” fills a story with your unique style, personality, and experiences. You’ve probably heard the storytelling cliche: “write what you know.” This isn’t poor advice. For instance, if you’re writing about Vampires, you might ask things like: Do vampires have a specific blood type they prefer? What does that preference say about their personality? What if there was a vampire who hated the taste of blood? Step 3: Look Beyond What You Know Simply list everything that comes to mind when you think of a subject.
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If you’re having trouble linking ideas, try free association. Others require more creativity to connect.
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Docter says for a movie like Monsters Inc., that involves scary creatures, he knew he’d have to deal with themes like fear and anxiety. Find ways to stretch it out and connect it with other subjects. It may be a theme you’d like to explore, a funny bit you want to perform, or a specific experience you wish to share. If you’ve completed step 1, you’re now armed with an idea to work with. Find one you’ll be eager to work on for the long haul. You don’t know what they’ll grow into until you take the time to develop them. Remember, at this stage, your ideas are still seedlings. Instead of chasing the elusive “perfect idea”, look for one that excites you.
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“Finding ideas is like digging for buried treasure: you might find a coin or two on the top, but usually the chest full of doubloons is buried deeper.”ĭuring this process, it’s tempting to apply labels like “good” or “bad” to your ideas. You often need to produce many crummy ones to find one you like. An intriguing idea rarely comes on your first go around. To tell a captivating story, you need an idea or ideas if we’re being more accurate.

Everything from childhood fables like the Tortoise and The Hare to cinematic epics like The Godfather begins as ideas in their creator’s heads. Ideas like this are the seeds from which stories grow.

The film Toy Story became Pixar’s first mega-hit, but it started as a simple idea: What if toys came alive when you stopped playing with them? Here are their 7 steps for discovering a story, and some tips to use them on your own work. Pete and Pixar may have a team of talented animators and writers at their disposal, but anyone can copy their creative process. With Pete himself directing many of their most celebrated movies: Monsters Inc, Up, Inside Out, and most recently Soul. Over the past few decades, they’ve enjoyed a near flawless track record. This is a process Pixar has mastered as good as any in the business. When Pixar hired him at 21, he learned what looked like a flash of inspiration was a painstaking process. How are stories made? Pixar’s Pete Docter - the director of such Pixar hits as Monsters, Inc., Up, and Inside Out, says a “story isn’t made, it’s discovered.”Īs a young animator, Docter believed Walt Disney woke up with fully formed stories in his head.
