Pixar's StoryTelling Rules

Emma Coats, a story artist for Pixar, lists a set of guidelines she has learned from her senior colleagues about what makes for a good story.
(A note to all the “screenwriters” in Hollywood: Ditch your script now if it violates any of these rules.)

• You admire a character for trying more than for their successes. 
• 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 v. different. 
• 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. 
• Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___. 
• Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free. 
• What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal? 
• Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front. 
• 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. 
• 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. 
• 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. 
• 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. 
• Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself. 
• Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience. 
• 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. 
• If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations. 
• What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against. 
• No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on – it’ll come back around to be useful later. 
• You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining. 
• Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating. 
• Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d’you rearrange them into what you DO like? 
• You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can’t just write ‘cool’. What would make YOU act that way? 
• What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.