Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling: Your Blueprint for Crafting Powerful Stories
From Toy Story to Up to Inside Out, Pixar’s storytelling formula has a knack for digging straight into our emotions, making us laugh, cry, and even contemplate our existence.
And while Pixar makes it look effortless, they’ve honed their storytelling craft over decades. But here’s the kicker—you don’t have to be Pixar to tell great stories. Their 22 Rules of Storytelling can be your blueprint for building narratives that resonate and stick.
I’ve sifted through Pixar’s 22 Rules and made them actionable—so you can elevate your writing, no matter what kind of story you’re telling.
Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling
1. You Admire a Character for Trying More Than for Their Success
Actionable Tip: Create characters who struggle. Their journey—full of setbacks and small wins—will hook your readers. Show the grind, not just the glory.
Example: Think of Woody in Toy Story. We don’t love him just because he’s the leader of the toys—we love him because he’s constantly trying to protect Andy, even when it’s not easy.
2. Keep in Mind What’s Interesting to You as an Audience, Not What’s Fun to Do as a Writer
Actionable Tip: Always ask, "Would this scene interest me if I wasn’t writing it?" Be ruthless. If it’s self-indulgent or doesn't serve the story, cut it.
Example: In Finding Nemo, it would’ve been fun to explore more of the underwater world, but the story focuses on Marlin’s mission to find Nemo, keeping the stakes high.
3. Trying for Theme is Important, but You Won’t See What the Story is Actually About Until You’re at the End of It
Actionable Tip: Write first. Worry about the theme later. Let your story evolve organically, and don’t stress about nailing the “message” upfront. It’ll reveal itself.
Example: Inside Out didn’t start as a film about emotional intelligence. It became one through development as the creators dug deeper into Riley’s struggle with growing up.
4. Once Upon a Time… Every Day… One Day… Because of That… Until Finally…
Actionable Tip: Use this classic structure to simplify your plot. It’s a framework that keeps things moving. Every action should have a reaction, pushing your story forward.
Example: Monsters, Inc. starts with the monsters' routine of scaring kids (Once Upon a Time), but when Boo shows up (One Day), everything changes. The cause-and-effect chain keeps the tension rising.
5. Simplify, Focus. Combine Characters. Hop Over Detours. You’ll Feel Like You’re Losing Valuable Stuff but It Sets You Free.
Actionable Tip: Don’t overcomplicate things. Streamline your story by trimming excess characters, subplots, and scenes. Clarity is key.
Example: Toy Story doesn’t waste time with unnecessary characters. Everyone has a purpose, and every scene moves the plot forward. Less is more.
6. What is Your Character Good At, Comfortable With? Throw the Polar Opposite at Them. Challenge Them. How Do They Deal?
Actionable Tip: Make life hard for your character. Put them in uncomfortable situations and force them to grow. Conflict is the essence of storytelling.
Example: Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story is a space ranger, confident and invincible—until he realizes he’s just a toy. Watching him grapple with this truth makes him relatable and complex.
7. Come Up With Your Ending Before You Figure Out Your Middle. Seriously. Endings are Hard, Get Yours Working Upfront.
Actionable Tip: Know where you’re headed. A clear ending will help you shape the middle and keep your story on track.
Example: The creators of Coco knew they wanted Miguel to reconnect with his family by the end. This gave the story its emotional anchor, allowing them to craft the journey with that payoff in mind.
8. 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.
Actionable Tip: Don’t aim for perfection. Aim for progress. Finish your draft and revise, but don’t obsess over every detail. Perfection is the enemy of done.
Example: Pixar’s first drafts are famously rough, but they focus on finishing the story first. Every story goes through layers of refinement, but you can’t polish something that isn’t there.
9. 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.
Actionable Tip: Writer’s block? List out everything that wouldn’t happen in the next scene. This reverse brainstorming will often spark ideas.
Example: In Finding Nemo, what wouldn’t happen? Marlin wouldn’t just give up. So, what’s next? He pushes forward into the unknown—facing sharks, jellyfish, and more. The unexpected keeps the story alive.
10. Pull Apart the Stories You Like. What You Like in Them is a Part of You. Recognize it Before You Use it.
Actionable Tip: Deconstruct your favorite stories. What grabs you? Is it the character arc? The dialogue? Recognize the elements that resonate with you, then incorporate them into your own work.
Example: Pixar creators often cite classic animated films as influences. They break them down, figuring out what made those stories timeless, and then use those lessons in their own work.
11. Putting it on Paper Lets You Start Fixing it. If it Stays in Your Head, It’s Perfect but You’ll Never Share it With Anyone.
Actionable Tip: Get it out of your head and onto the page. Your story might be a mess at first, but that’s better than keeping it locked in your brain, where it never grows.
Example: The first draft of Ratatouille was a disaster. But by putting the story on paper, the team was able to see what worked and what didn’t. The rest is history.
12. Discount the First Thing That Comes to Mind. And the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth—Get the Obvious Out of the Way. Surprise Yourself.
Actionable Tip: Don’t settle for the obvious solution. Dig deeper. Push past clichés and find the twist that will surprise your audience—and you.
Example: In Up, the idea of Carl living a quiet life in his house wasn’t enough. But tying thousands of balloons to it and flying off to South America? That’s the twist no one saw coming.
13. Give Your Characters Opinions. Passive Characters Might Seem Likeable at First but It’s the Strong Voices That Hook You.
Actionable Tip: Don’t shy away from giving your characters strong opinions. Characters with clear voices and convictions—whether right or wrong—will grab your audience.
Example: Look at Remy in Ratatouille. He’s opinionated, stubborn, and determined to cook, despite all the odds against him. That’s what makes us root for him.
14. Why Must You Tell This Story? What’s the Belief Burning Within You That Your Story Feeds Off Of?
Actionable Tip: Identify the core belief driving your story. Why does it matter? If you can’t answer that, your audience won’t feel the urgency either.
Example: Inside Out tackles the complex nature of emotions—something deeply personal to all of us. It’s this emotional core that makes the story resonate on such a profound level.
15. If You Were Your Character, in This Situation, How Would You Feel? Honesty Lends Credibility to Unreal Situations.
Actionable Tip: Put yourself in your character’s shoes. How would you feel? Writing from that place of honesty will make even the most fantastical story relatable.
Example: In WALL-E, the loneliness and longing of the little robot feels real because the creators infused him with the same emotions we all feel—despite the sci-fi setting.
16. What Are the Stakes? Give Us Reason to Root for the Character. What Happens if They Don’t Succeed? Stack the Odds Against.
Actionable Tip: Raise the stakes! The higher the stakes, the more we care. What does your character stand to lose? What’s at risk? Make sure your reader knows what’s on the line from the start.
Example: In Toy Story 3, the stakes are life and death when the toys face incineration at the dump. We’re deeply invested because we know what’s at risk—the end of their lives as they know it.
17. No Work is Ever Wasted. If It’s Not Working, Let Go and Move On—It’ll Come Back Around to Be Useful Later.
Actionable Tip: Don’t cling to ideas that aren’t working. Cut it loose, and trust that it’ll resurface in a way that fits better later on. Keep the creative process fluid.
Example: When developing Monsters, Inc., early drafts had a completely different tone. The original ideas were scrapped, but some of the emotional depth that was cut found its way back into the final story.
18. You Have to Know Yourself: The Difference Between Doing Your Best & Fussing. Story Is Testing, Not Refining.
Actionable Tip: Perfectionism kills momentum. Focus on getting the story out there—don’t get bogged down in the details until the bigger picture is clear. Storytelling is about testing ideas, not fussing over every word.
Example: Pixar’s storyboarding process is all about testing—rough, quick sketches to get the story flowing. They don’t worry about polish until they’re sure the bones of the story work.
19. Coincidences to Get Characters into Trouble Are Great; Coincidences to Get Them Out of It Are Cheating.
Actionable Tip: Use coincidences to drive your characters deeper into the plot’s problems, but avoid using them to magically solve those problems. Your characters need to earn their way out.
Example: In Finding Nemo, Nemo’s capture is a coincidence—he just happens to be caught by a diver. But Marlin’s journey to find him isn’t solved by coincidence; it’s a result of grit, courage, and determination.
20. Exercise: Take the Building Blocks of a Movie You Dislike. How Would You Rearrange Them Into Something You Do Like?
Actionable Tip: Reimagine failed stories. Taking something that doesn’t work and turning it into something better is a fantastic exercise for any storyteller. How could you make it resonate more?
Example: If you didn’t like the plot twist in The Last Jedi, how would you rewrite it to make the story more engaging? Exercises like this can teach you how to better structure your own narratives.
21. You Gotta Identify with Your Situation/Characters. You Can’t Just Write ‘Cool.’ What Would Make You Act that Way?
Actionable Tip: Authenticity is key. Cool settings and flashy dialogue won’t carry your story unless the characters feel real. Write from a place of empathy—how would you behave in your character’s shoes?
Example: WALL-E is a robot, but his loneliness is universally relatable. Pixar succeeds because they make us feel exactly what WALL-E is feeling, and that’s where the magic lies.
22. What’s the Essence of Your Story? Most Economical Way of Telling It? If You Know That, You Can Build Out From There.
Actionable Tip: Strip your story down to its core. What’s it really about? Start there, and build outward. This helps avoid unnecessary clutter and ensures every scene supports the main narrative.
Example: Up is about grief, love, and letting go. That’s the heart of the story, even with all the balloons, talking dogs, and exotic birds. Everything else supports this emotional center.
Make Pixar’s Rules Work for You
Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling aren’t meant to be rigid commandments—they’re a toolkit. Apply them, twist them, break them, but most importantly, use them.
These rules have shaped some of the most beloved stories in modern cinema, and they can help you craft a narrative that’s memorable, impactful, and worth telling. Now it’s your turn—go tell your story.