Pixar’s Emma Coats has been tweeting story guidelines she’s picked up in her time at Pixar. Sure are concise and useful.
#5: Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.
#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.
#22: What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.
