Pixar’s 22 Rules for Storytelling #1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes. VIDEO

Yes, I am going to make a video for each of the Pixar’s 22 Rules for Storytelling. Be sure to subscribe to this channel to not miss any of the forthcoming videos. I plan to release one/week.

Rule # 1 is You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.

Success is defined as a pass/fail dichotomy. There’s no gray area, meaning there’s no room for humanity. Humanity is a gray area,  constantly redefined by context.  And narrative relies on a “gray area” approach to be successful.

We, as readers, rarely accept winning v. losing as a satisfying climax to a  narrative series of events. Rather, we care more about the characters that shape those series of events.

Sports fans don’t just care who wins or loses; sports fans watch ESPN for hours every day to learn about the statistics and human interest stories behind their favorite teams, and more appropriately, their favorite players.

Watch. Learn.