Story lessons

One of the best tutorials on story writing I know is this hour-long YouTube lecture by the author of Toy Story 3. He explains Pixar’s story process – which anyone can borrow – and then goes through all the ways he failed and the lessons he learned from finally getting it right. The coolest parts of this lecture, Toy Story 3, Mistakes Made, Lessons Learned, are that he shows very early versions of the film that clearly don’t work, despite months of work. The general lesson of creating things iteratively applies to all art forms. As a bonus, you get a master class on how the story of Toy Story works, and why it’s so powerful. — KK