Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling: Rule # 3--Allow Theme to Develop Itself

#3: 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.

This rule strikes me as a complicated one with lots of “if”s, “and”s, and “but”s. A few “however”s should probably also be applied. The principle is a sound one, though. Forcing theme on a story makes it didactic and preachy, or at the very least, heavy-handed. At its core, theme is just an idea like justice or forgiveness or the trials of becoming independent. Theme becomes impacting and gains its depth when it is explored realistically through a character’s experiences, because then we’re experiencing it too. But here’s the rub: theme arises most naturally out of how the character handles the experiences. Forming the character’s actions around what you want the theme to say often results in heavy-handed ideas that aren’t organic to the story.

For me, characters take shape as I write. Characters gain an edge or a soft spot. I figure out things they would never, ever do, and realize what they could possibly do under pressure. Most importantly, I learn how they think. As how they handle their situation takes shape, theme follows along behind and develops as they handle and process what I throw at them. The interesting part is that the characters often get their biggest moments at the end of the novel- the do or die moments tell us who they really are and how they’ve changed. That’s hugely important for developing theme. I don’t always know how my characters are going to handle those moments until I’m writing it. In those final moments, theme becomes the strongest, whether it comes full circle or stays open-ended. Letting the story and characters play out naturally and then pulling on the ideas that arise from thorough world and character development is the best way I’ve found for working with theme.

In my WIP, a new theme practically fell into my lap as I wrote Johnny’s storyline: the high cost of loving severely flawed people. This wasn’t any element of the story before I wrote him into his situation, but now it’s there and it fits perfectly. I didn’t see it before, but it absolutely should be part of his story. When I’m done with this draft, I’ll go back and strengthen that element and see where else it can be developed and what subplots it might impact.

Theme takes careful, intentional development, and a heavy-handed one can turn off readers quicker than just about anything. The difference is the guiding force. Are the themes shaping the experiences, or are the experiences shaping the themes?

How do you develop theme when you write? How do you find it when you read? Tell me what you think!

Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling: Rule #2-Flings vs. Soulmates

#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 v. different.

These rules were originally sent out on Twitter, so for those of you who don’t use Twitter, it has a 140-character limit. The “v” means “very.”

I don’t read much crime fiction. Sherlock Holmes is about the extent of my reading in that area. Writing crime fiction has an appeal, though- it might be fun. It might be fun to do a novel in verse, too, but I’m just not much of a poet. I’ve also thought it would be interesting to write something truly tragic, one of those novels that breaks your heart that you can’t ever forget.

With all the things I could do, it’s tempting to randomly pick one and just go with it. I’ve tried that before, actually, and one of two things happens: I love it for about 10 days and then discover the concept now bores me so I quit, or I love it for 10 days, get bored, and revamp and muscle through, desperately trying to keep the story interesting. Even when it’s finished, it’s just not something I love. It’s not what I hoped it would be.
So much about writing can be compared to relationships. Some of my ideas are exciting and I’m certain they’d be fantastic long-term… until I spend a few days getting to know them. They could be great to goof around with and I could enjoy seeing what’s out there. Most likely I’d even learn from trying it. But if I expect it to be something it’s not, making that commitment and watching it fail can be painful and depressing.

When writing a manuscript and seeing it through to the end is such a huge commitment and takes so much determination, it helps to be certain this concept is one I can stick with, that it’s right for me.
But how do you know? It’s important to stretch yourself as a writer, try new things, build new skills. Through doing all that, you might even discover you’re crazy good at something new. Do whatever you want, however you want, just for fun. Staying in your comfort zone as a writer is a good way to stagnate.

HOWEVER.

There’s always a “however.” Like with most relationships, you’re more likely to build something stable and lasting if you know who you are first. Get to know yourself as an audience. What do you like to read? To what sort of concepts are you magnetically attracted? What ideas keep coming back to you, outliving the flash-in-the-pan inspiration? What makes you pick up a book in the book store? Pay attention to what you consume and why you made those choices, and it will likely tell you a lot about what you’re truly passionate about writing. Stories that the writer muscled through and wasn’t really invested in long-term are likely going to lack the quality, polish, and charm of a story about which the writer was passionate. What you consume the most, what consistently entertains you and sparks your imagination the most, is probably also the area you know best.

So, when you’re writing, ask yourself if the concept (or the style, the voice, even the characters) is a fling with that oh-so-charming man you just met, or if it has potential to be a long-term, soul-mate kind of deal.
Because, really, it takes more than passing interest or a fun idea to create a story that will impact other people. It takes passion. Get to know yourself as an audience, and you’ll develop yourself as a writer, too.

http://katebrauning.com/blog/page/2/

Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling: Rule #1-Character Struggle

In 2012, a Pixar storyboard artist (Emma Coast) began tweeting 22 rules of storytelling in 140-character tweets. Though these aren't 'official' rules within Pixar, they are very helpful.

Recently, Kate Brauning (writer, teacher, intern at a literary agency and astute reviewer) began posting these individual rules with her thoughts on them. I have been reading her posts, and find them very useful, so I'd like to share them with you here:

#1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.


I love that this is rule 1, because I love, love, love it. Character struggle is at the core of so many riveting, impacting stories. In The Hunger Games, Katniss’s struggles are endless and we’re never quite sure if she’s going to win. She struggles to feed and protect her family. She struggles to hide her practical personality and her hatred of the materialism around her in order to become an engaging tribute people will support– which is part of her struggle to survive. She struggles in a dozen other ways, too- surviving her burns and dehydration. Figuring out how she feels about Peeta.  Readers become involved in her struggles and care about what happens long before they find out if she fails or succeeds. In fact, we admire her for getting back up and trying again. Hard things happen to everyone, but it takes someone special to get back up and keep trying.

In the early seasons of The Vampire Diaries, noble vampire Stefan just lacks something. He’s not nearly as interesting as his brother Damon, and even though they know he’s the morally better character, many viewers (dare I say the majority?) root for Damon. Why? Damon struggles with his nature, while Stefan has already beaten it. Stefan really doesn’t have much of anything to struggle over in those first seasons. Later on, his character becomes more complex, but it takes a while. Damon is the one who is torn between his evil vampire nature and wanting to be a better man than he is. In season 2, we see one of the most impacting moments of his struggle in the middle of the road, as he’s trying to decide whether or not to kill the young woman who stopped to help him. This moment is, in my opinion, one of the best scenes of the show. Stefan lacks a significant struggle. He’s got it figured out, and since he’s so noble and always does the right thing, we prefer his far more interesting brother.

Character struggle taps into two very important things: 1) forward motion in the plot, and 2) human nature. Plots need things to happen. We all know that. Some specific goal needs to be present. The character has to WANT something- finding her self-identity, escaping the kidnapper, winning the election, putting his marriage back together. So all the things that happen, the events, need to build toward that goal- even if she doesn’t get what she wants in the end. But it has to be difficult to get there. If characters got what they wanted without hardly trying, stories would be much shorter and much less interesting. If Katniss so impressed the Capitol by volunteering to be a tribute that they granted her and her family an exemption from the games, the book would hardly be worth reading. The difficulties along the way, the struggles thrown at the characters to keep them working hard for what they want, maps out an obstacle course that tests them to the max. Struggle provides something for the characters to do, something to fight against, and an instigator of character change. Struggle moves the plot forward.

Struggle is also a fantastic way of connecting with the audience. It’s one of the things that makes readers care about the character. Interestingly enough, it’s also a significant character development tool, because it does (or should) change the characters.  Struggle, it seems, is intricately connected to human nature. We identify with someone who struggles because we know what fighting for or against something is like– even if it’s just yourself. Perhaps especially if it’s fighting against yourself. We can relate to it. It’s not the winning or losing that we’re after when we follow a character around for 300 pages. If the winning was easy, we’d barely care if the character succeeded. The emotion of the situation is all tied up in the character’s struggle.

So yes, we admire characters more for trying than for succeeding. Writers, use this idea when you write to boost conflict, deepen the struggle, and change the characters. Readers, look for the character’s struggle when you read, because identifying that is a fantastic means of accessing theme and really understanding the characters.

http://katebrauning.com/blog/page/2/

Amazon’s Goodreads Acquisition Triggers Backlash

By Greg Bensinger and Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg

A screenshot of the Goodreads app, one of the most prominent book review and recommendation sites

Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -1.63%’s announcement of a deal to acquire Goodreads has set off a backlash among some fans of the popular site who treasured its independence.

Users of Goodreads–one of the most prominent book review and recommendation sites–can record what books they have read and see what their friends are reading. They can ultimately buy books through the service from various Internet retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble Inc. BKS -1.05%

Hundreds of Goodreads fans flocked to Twitter and other online outlets to complain about the purchase by Amazon announced last Thursday. Some of them expressed concerns that the Seattle-based online retail giant could mine data about their reading habits from Goodreads to seek to influence their book purchases.

In some cases, users vowed to cancel their accounts on the free service. “I wasn’t happy doing it,” said Michele Filgate, an events coordinator at Community Bookstore in Brooklyn, N.Y. But she said called the prospect of Amazon knowing what books she buys and also what she reads as “just too much.”

Amazon hasn’t spelled out any details of how it may exploit Goodreads or any information generated by its users, which Goodreads said number more than 16 million. But an Amazon spokesman pointed to other cases where the company has let other acquired subsidiaries–such as Zappos.com–operate with few changes.

“Goodreads is enjoyed by readers of books in any format and on any platform, and we expect to keep it that way,” the Amazon spokesman said.

Goodreads Chief Executive Otis Chandler said in an emailed statement the company saw more people sign up for new accounts in the three days after the Amazon announcement than in any other three-day period in its 6-year history.

“Change always brings uncertainty and makes people nervous – we totally get that,” said Mr. Chandler. “Our job is to prove to our members over the coming weeks and months that we are still the Goodreads they know and love.”

The deal, expected to close in the coming weeks, will cost Amazon as much as $200 million, depending on whether Goodreads meets certain performance targets, according to two people with knowledge of the structure. The terms include $160 million to $170 million in cash upfront, these people said.

One of the people said Amazon will also create a more connected experience on its Kindle e-readers by integrating Goodreads’ social network into those devices.

While impossible to track precisely, opposition to the Goodreads deal seems to have taken root largely among those worried about Amazon’s broader impact on publishing and small bookstores. Many outlets have gone out of business since the Seattle-based company and other online and chain-store rivals emerged in the 1990s.

Katie Locke of Asheville, N.C., for example, said she takes pains to avoid buying books through Amazon because she preferred independent booksellers and is opening a bookstore of her own. She said she hoped to make “a statement” by closing the Goodreads account she has used to keep track of her reading list for the past five years.

Melissa Chadburn, a Los Angeles-based fiction writer, said she closed her account to ensure that Amazon didn’t have access to her book reading data. “It is really heartbreaking to have Amazon take over Goodreads,” she said. “It was great to have other readers recommending me books, but I don’t need Amazon using my information to sell me books.”

Not all Goodreads users were upset by the news. Rohit Bhargava, the author of self-help book “Likeonomics,” said he was hopeful Amazon would improve its social networking services with the acquisition and, ultimately, help him sell more books through the site. “The community aspect of Amazon is pretty dormant,” Mr. Bhargava said.

At least one fledgling book site expects to gain some Goodreads users in coming weeks. “It’s phenomenal for us,” said Joe Regal, chief executive of Zola Books, an independent e-books retailer that expects to officially launch this summer with a significant social media component. “There is a lot of concern about Amazon’s growing power and influence.”

Some, though, say a broad consumer backlash is unlikely over a new corporate parent.

“If the average consumer continues to enjoy Goodreads, they’ll continue to use it,” said Jamie Raab, publisher of Grand Central Publishing, an imprint of Lagardere SCA’s Hachette Book Group. “Authors and publishers may care, but this is a consumer driven site. If they get what they are looking for when they go on, the vast majority will continue to use Goodreads as a source to find out more about books.”

The Wall Street Journal.

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/04/03/amazons-goodreads-acquisition-triggers-backlash/

U.S. EDITION 
Wednesday, April 3, 2013 As of 2:54 PM PDT