Certainly story telling is an art and it can’t exactly be boiled down to a basic of set of rules like a paint-by-number painting.  But the folks at Disney’s Pixar have done just that. They’ve come up with to 22 “rules” to write by. Maybe it’s more like the Pirate’s Code: “Dems just guidelines.” But they sum it up pretty well.

My favorite is #12: Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th — get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.

I like #9 too: When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN”T happen next. Lots of time the material to get you unstuck will show up.

Of course this is geared toward fiction writing, but there are some that could be applied pretty well to business and life planning as well.

Photo from Disney’s Pixar