Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.
The above paragraph is referred to as Pixar’s Rule #4. A Pixar storyboard artist, Emma Coats, @lawnrocket, compiled a list story wisdom she received over the years while working at Pixar. These nuggets of sage advice have been coined the 22 RULES OF PIXAR.
They are a fantastic list of advice for writers. Some may apply to you and some may not, but what’s important is for you to look at them and give them some serious thought. There are countless links on the Internet, so search away. I’m fond of this list because it has brief explanations: http://www.mikelmurphy.com/pixars22rulesofstorytelling/.
What I wanted to talk about today was only one of the rules. Can you guess which one? Here, I’ll put my hand behind my back and stick out some fingers; guess how many . . . right, it’s 4. I’m going to talk about Pixar Rule #4, and here it is?
Once upon a time there was ___________________.
Every day, ___________________.
One day, ___________________.
Because of that, ___________________.
Because of that, ___________________.
Until finally ___________________.
This might seem kinda strange, because if you do this with every story you write, wouldn’t they all seem the same? NO. The thing that will make each story seem different is the characters, and the character arc, and the problems your protagonist is dealing with, and how you handle the Dark Night of the Soul (mini-lesson coming), and . . . There are countless ways in which your story will be different from your previous one.
If you’ve watched my video on plot design, https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2795&v=cAMxKddznHQ, you’d know that I approach plot construction the same way for every story. It follows the standard 3-act structure originally proposed by Aristotle in his book Poetics, written a few years ago, in 355 BCE. But I don’t think my books all seem to be duplicates of each other. Each of my books deals with a different kind of internal conflict, different themes, different challenges . . . So using Pixar Rule #4 still gives you tons of freedom to make each story different and unique.
Here’s an example of Rule #4. This is from the website: https://hcandelar8.wordpress.com/2013/05/19/a-look-at-finding-nemo-using-pixars-rules-of-storytelling/.
Once upon a time there was a young fish named Nemo. Nemo was a special fish in that he was the only one of his brothers and sisters to survive an attack while he was still a fish egg.
Every day he would stay at home under the protection of his father.
One day Nemo went to school with the other children.
Because of that Nemo decided to exercise his independence and swim into the open water, leading to Nemo being captured by a scuba diver and taken away from his home and his father.
Because of that Nemo’s father, Marlin, needed to face his fears and travel the sea in search of his son.
Until finally, Nemo and his fish tank friends form a plan to escape from the fish tank and return to the ocean and reunite with his father.
If I had this much detail to a story before I started writing it, they would be much easier to write. I think this can be a powerful tool for young writers.
As an ex-teacher, I can imagine many different lessons using Rule #4. A valuable exercise would be for students to fill out Rule #4 for a film or book they know well, with an eye for the characters, what they are afraid of, what motivates them, and what they need. Doing this with multiple stories/movies, I think, will make it easier for the young writer to develop their own Rule #4 outline.
Let’s see if I can do Rule #4 for Star Wars: Episode 4 (the best Star Wars!!!)
Once upon a time there was a boy named Luke Skywalker. He lived on a desolate planet called Tatooine where he lived with his Uncle and Aunt.
One day, a pair of robots enter his life and lead him on an adventure into the desert where he meets a Jedi knight by the name of Obi Wan Kenobi. From Obi Wan, Luke learns his father was a great Jedi. While with Obi Wan, his Aunt and Uncle are killed by Imperial Stormtroopers
Because of that, Luke agrees to go with Obi Wan and learn the ways of the Force like his father, as well as help Princess Leia
Because of that, Luke and Obi Wan meet Han Solo and fly to Alderaan, but find it destroyed.
Because of that, they end up on the Death Star and rescue Princess Leia while Obi Wan is battling with Darth Vadar.
Because of that, Luke, Han and Leia escape and go to the Rebel base with the plans to the Death Star.
Until finally they use the Death Star plans to form a battle plan and destroy it, saving the Rebellion.
Right now, I’m working on my 25th novel, called The Giant’s Giant, I think. I’ve been trying to get the writing going, but have had difficulty. I’d write a couple of chapters, then realize it was all wrong. After throwing that away, I’d start again, and just like before, I’d hit a wall and have no clear idea what to do next. That led me to think about the story’s Concept and Premise, another Writing Tip from Mark that could be helpful if you’re in a similar situation. I worked out the premise for The Giant’s Giant, but still needed a little more. So I applied Pixar’s Rule #4 and filled it in for that story. THIS WAS INCREDIBLY HELPFUL and really gave my writing engine a huge JOLT of creative power.
Working out Rule #4 can help a young writer to think about events in a story and how the propel the story to the next part. Thinking of plot as specific events can be a very useful way of looking at plot design.
I hope this is helpful.
Mark
So, I decided to take the challenge at the end of the story, so I created my out outline of a story I’m writing:
Once upon a time, then was a boy named Ian. Ian had a heart attack a few weeks ago, which was slowly killing him.
Every day, Ian’s body was slowing down, and he knew it himself, that he was slowly dying.
One day, Ian’s family moved in with their grandparents.
Because of that, Ian found out that their were little people living inside the walls of the house. He met one of them, a girl named Ivy.
Because of that, Ivy’s dad accidentally shrunk Ian down to the size of a little person, forcing Ian to join Ivy in an adventure to get to the top of the house, where they can reverse the curse.
Because of that, Ian gets Ivy captured by another human.
Because of that, Ian has to go save Ivy from that human.
Until finally, Ian and Ivy make it to the top of the house and Ian breaks free of the curse.
If you could, tell me what I did and didn’t do right so I can improve.
Thanks!
I meant video, not story at the top.
Whoops
🙂
Hi! This is an outline of the first book in a series I’m planning to write.
Once upon a time, there was a boy named Asher. He lived a normal life and he was currently in the Serengeti plains with his family.
Every day, his parents would plan new trips because they were scientists.
One day, he falls asleep on a bus stop and has a dream about him taking a weird object out of a tree and wakes up with the object in his pocket. The same day he sees two people who want to hunt all animals unnecessary to human survival to extinction after finding something called the Lysonian Wayfinder. He saves a cheetah from them and it understands him when he says to be quiet.
Because of that, Asher decides he needs to assemble this mysterious object known as the Lysonian Wayfinder, which he learned about in another dream to have three parts, which need to be united to find the heart of a great, ancient nation called Lysonia. He sets off on a journey to collect all three pieces. It turns out the mysterious object he found in his dream is one piece. The quest takes a very long time.
Until finally, he assembles all three pieces, then, he realizes he needs to collect all six Erigeons, which are symbols of each tribe of Lysonia, which the six groups of vertebrates are named after. Mammal, Reptile, Fish, Amphibian, and Bird.
I’m planning to have Asher find one Erigeon in each book. Please let me know what you think!
I think this is awesome. I love how things appear in his pocket from his dream. You should write up this story and then send it to me in an Email. I’ll post it to the Fan Fiction page.
Mark