“Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.”
So goes one of Pixar’s 22 excellent writing tips and guidance on how to tell a good story (full list available online). It is a resource much loved by writers, and it’s easy to see why. They are lessons learned by some of the masters of storytelling: Pixar, after all, has been consistently creating world-class movies with gripping narratives since 1995, when it released the masterful Toy Story.
Writers can now look to gain even more insight and advice from the creative studio, which is now offering a free course through Khan Academy that can help you find the kind of stories you want to tell – and help you tell them better.
The “Art of Storytelling” is the latest instalment in a series of free courses from the studio called “Pixar in a Box.” It discusses ways to build worlds and characters, how to make sure your stories reflect your unique perspective, along with other relevant advice.
Pixar’s older courses are also still available on the educational website if you want to learn more about animation, colours in films and environment and character modelling. Of course, if you’d rather learn about something else, you merely need to browse other areas of Khan Academy. The famous online education platform has an enormous catalogue of lessons and is available as an Android and an iOS app.
nothing in the rulebook 