It was the original Toy Story that punched me in the heart first; the nostalgia and sweet characters, blended with a lifelike style of animation I’d never seen before. I then dove headfirst into their collection of short movies, many of which I showed over and over to my elementary students as an excuse to watch them again.

In his book Creativity, Inc, Pixar cofounder Ed Catmull divulges a behind-the-scenes look at what creates the magic in stories of childhood toys, bugs, cars, fish and garbage-cleaning space robots with hearts of gold. And while much of it boils down to an environment that supports teamwork and creativity, there is one familiar element that Pixar teaches that we can all lean on for creating tightly crafted stories and keep the reader turning the page: their storytelling structure.

1. Once upon a time / Every day… 

The classic once-upon-a-time opener serves more purpose than simply making us think of princesses in ball gowns. Although we are often anxious to jump right into the action, we have to pause and think about the state of affairs at the beginning before everything changes and the plot begins to unfold.  

In addition to setting the stage with exposition, this is also where we need to think deeply about who our protagonist is and how they spend their time. Most importantly, we need to understand how they got here, to the beginning of this story, and why they are going to make the decisions they are going to make.

In Toy Story, we are intentionally shown how Woody has always been Andy’s most beloved toy and the leader of the toy box community, which sets him up to have a devastating fall from grace with the introduction of Buzz Lightyear. Could the stakes be any higher? 

2. One day… 

This is the catalyst, the thing that happens that changes everything. The catalyst could be huge, like the loss of a loved one, a diagnosis, or being replaced by a new space ranger toy. It could also be small, like something someone says offhandedly to the protagonist. 

Whatever it is, the catalyst needs to be intentional and clear, because it leads into everything that comes next.  

3. Because of that… 

This is the only beat in the structure that will repeat…and repeat…and repeat. But it’s also perhaps the most crucial. As writers, we are tasked with creating a series of events and obstacles that our protagonist and other characters will move through. And so often we wind up writing our way into dead ends or dark corners where we never meant to be.

Instead of simply saying “and then this happened”, we are intentionally connecting plot events through cause and effect by swapping it with because of that. Because one thing happened, the next thing happened. Because the protagonist was feeling a certain way, they made the next decision. Because Buzz Lightyear came into Andy’s life, Woody decided to get rid of him. This is how our key plot events stay connected and intentional, and keep from getting lost in the woods.  

Pixar is known for giving all of their characters some sort of emotional arc. Whether the arc is central to the story, or subplot, or backstory, we can play with it as we make decisions for even the smallest character. 

 4. Until finally…  

This could be thought of as the climax of the story, the peak where everything changes again, for good this time. But we should also consider this as the moment when the lightbulb goes on above the protagonist’s head. 

In Woody and Buzz’s case, they realize they’ll be better together than working against each other. They now understand the world in a new way, and are going to make decisions from here on out based on this new understanding.

It’s what your reader has been rooting for them to realize all along the way. If, as the writer, we have a vision for what this point is, it’s much easier to point our protagonist in the right direction from the beginning, even if they take some missteps and wrong turns along the way.  

5. And ever since that day… 

Of course, many stories don’t wrap up with quite a nice, tidy bow, as Pixar would have us believe. But we have to think about what imagery, emotions, and new understandings we want to leave the reader with as they turn the final page. This connects right back to once upon a time and every day: Who is the protagonist now? How have the events of the story changed them? What do they see for themselves in the future?  

In summary…

Writing a novel or short story is very different from writing a screenplay, but a story is a story, and the essential elements are the same. What this fairytale-esque story structure offers us is a way to connect the key scenes and draw a through line that takes the reader on both an external adventure, and an internal emotional journey (to infinity…and beyond!).

Stephanie Dethlefs is a writer and book coach living in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, two teenagers, two cats, and a spunky dog. A former teacher, she now helps writers with stories on their hearts finally write their novels. She’s the author of the middle grade novel Unspoken and several published essays and articles. Connect with Stephanie at HelloWriters.net.

The post #5onFri: Five Things Pixar Teaches about Cause and Effect appeared first on DIY MFA.

Originally from Edinburgh, Scotland, Simon Stephenson is a writer and screenwriter now living in LA (with stop-overs in London and San Francisco along the way). 

His first book was the memoir Let Not The Waves Of The Sea, about losing his brother Dominic in the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. It won Best First Book at the Scottish Book Awards in 2011. His most recent novel, Set My Heart To Five, was released in summer 2020 and this is what we’ll be discussing today.

In this episode Simon and I discuss:

• His method for writing a “mis-topia” future and how that differs from a dystopia.
• Why writing a character without feelings allows you to explore feelings more.
• What role movies played in developing his protagonist and the plot.

Plus, his #1 tip for writers.

About Simon Stephenson

Simon Stephenson is originally from Scotland, but now lives in Los Angeles, California. He was born in 1978, an auspicious year already renowned for bringing the world such inimitable cultural treasures as the Bee Gees’ Sergeant Pepper’s movie, and the Star Wars Holiday Special.

A junior library cormorant from a young age, the arrival of the first series of ER on television diverted him from his inevitable English major to medical school. A less impressionable teenager would probably have understood that what he was drawn to was story and not hospitals, but we live and learn.

His first book Let Not The Waves Of The Sea, a memoir about the loss of his brother Dominic in the Indian Ocean tsunami, was written around his hospital shifts and published in 2011. It was serialized on BBC Radio 4 and won Best First Book at the Scottish Book Awards.

By now working as a children’s doctor in London, he next wrote a screenplay about a depressed children’s doctor who desperately needs to make a major change in his life. He remains unsure where this idea magically sprung from, but the script – in which the doctor travels to a life-altering conference in San Francisco – came third on the Annual Blacklist of Hollywood’s favorite screenplays and opened the door to a screenwriting career in the US. In an irony not lost on Simon, he subsequently got a job writing a movie at Pixar Animation Studios in San Francisco.

He has lived in the US since 2013. As a screenwriter, he originated and wrote Amazon’s forthcoming Louis Wain, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy. He also has a small credit on everybody’s favorite bear sequel, Paddington 2.

He got the idea for his new novel while living in the Bay Area, a place where the near future can sometimes seem very near indeed. Set in a 2054 where Elon Musk has incinerated the moon, it tells the story of Jared, a biological android who learns to feel by watching old movies and then sets out to write a movie of his own. Many of the lessons Jared learns might well be the same ones he has learned on his own writing journey, but one he did not learn is about the importance of short titles. His novel is called Set My Heart To Five; despite this, it has nonetheless been optioned by the director Edgar Wright to hopefully make a movie of its own.

You can follow Simon on Twitter.

Set My Heart to Five

Set in a 2054 where humans have locked themselves out of the internet and Elon Musk has incinerated the moon, Set My Heart to Five is the hilarious yet profoundly moving story of one android’s emotional awakening.

One day at a screening of a classic movie, Jared notices a strange sensation around his eyes. Bots are not permitted to have feelings, but as the theater lights come on, Jared discovers he is crying.

Soon overwhelmed by powerful emotions, Jared heads west, determined to find others like himself. But a bot with feelings is a dangerous proposition, and Jared’s new life could come to an end before it truly begins. Unless, that is, he can somehow change the world for himself and all of his kind.

Unlike anything you have ever read before, Set My Heart to Five is a love letter to outsiders everywhere. Plus it comes uniquely guaranteed to make its readers weep a minimum of 29mls of tears.*

*Book must be read in controlled laboratory conditions arranged at reader’s own expense. Other terms and conditions may apply to this offer.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 350

(Right-click to download.)

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Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 350: Voice, Emotion, and Metastory in a “Mistopia” – Interview with Simon Stephenson appeared first on DIY MFA.