# Making stories - If you want to tell great stories, you should probably write them down so you can work on them and rewrite - Strategically withhold information - Time dilation - slow motion when you get to the answers to drag it out - [[Kill your darlings]] ## Characters - You admire characters more for trying than for their success - Characters should be spiky, opinionated - Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating - Don't say they are e.g. "cool", describe the things they do and are so audience understands they are cool. # Delivery - Time dilation. When you finally get to the answers you drag it out, almost going slow motion with every detail taking great space - Vocal rhythm matters, tone, speed, volume, using silence - To get great rhythm, feel the emotion that your story should communicate as you tell it - Feel like you have a huge smile while talking - Relive the feelings you have for each idea before speaking. [Example](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbSmCuVnsZ0). [^1][^2] [^1]: “How to Tell a Great Story.” n.d. Accessed December 2, 2025. [https://www.julian.com/blog/storytelling](https://www.julian.com/blog/storytelling). [[HowTellGreat|Annotations]] [^2]: Studio, Aerogramme Writers’. 2013. “Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling.” _Aerogramme Writers’ Studio_, March 7. [https://www.aerogrammestudio.com/2013/03/07/pixars-22-rules-of-storytelling/](https://www.aerogrammestudio.com/2013/03/07/pixars-22-rules-of-storytelling/). [[studioPixars22Rules2013|Annotations]]