How To Unlock The Magic Of Pixar’s Storytelling Rule #4 With AI

In 2011, storyboard artist Emma Coats tweeted Pixar’s "22 Rules For Storytelling."

The post blew up with thousands of likes, comments, and shares. If you’ve never read the list, it’s worth reading. BUT there’s one rule that’s generated more attention than all the others combined.

And that rule is…

Rule # 4: The Story Spine

Before we get to the formula, you need to know the Story Spine didn’t originate with Pixar.

They just made it famous.

In 1997, a Pixar employee, Rebecca Stockley, walked into an improv class taught by Kenn Adams. Kenn showed his students how to tell a good story during the class. He gave them 8-sentence starters. The students put them to memory and then improvised the rest by filling in the blanks. Without the “Story Spine,” students would get lost, and the story would fall flat, regardless of how good the idea was.

Rebecca loved it.

She brought the technique back to Pixar and taught it to her peers. The company was quick to adopt it. Then, over the next decade, they launched Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., The Incredibles, and more, all with consistent Tomatometer ratings of over 95% and millions in sales.

The Story Spine structure worked!

And now we want to help you leverage Kenn’s winning formula too! (Except instead of asking YOU to improvise the story, we’ll use the power of AI to fill in the blanks for you.)

Let’s take a look at the formula.

Pixar’s Storytelling Formula

The Story Spine is a series of eight sentences that create a dramatic story.

Like all good stories, the formula first sets up the background and introduces the inciting incident. Then it dives into the consequences before moving to the climax, resolution, and ultimately the long-term implications.

The sentences are:

You can use this structure for any story.

Each step is a sentence starter to help you rough out the plot.

Note: The Story Spine is the spine, NOT the story. It’s the foundational structure for you to build on. And that’s what makes it so powerful. It allows you ensure that all the building blocks are in the right place before you get to far into the writing process.

An Example Story Spine: Breaking Bad

Let's look at the infamous Netflix series “Breaking Bad” as an example.

1. Once upon a time, there was a high school chemistry teacher named Walter White who lived a modest life with his pregnant wife and son in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

2. Every day, he struggled with financial instability and the devastating news of his inoperable lung cancer, feeling increasingly desperate about his family's future.

3. One day, Walter decided to use his chemistry skills for illegal means, partnering with a former student, Jesse Pinkman, to produce and sell methamphetamine.

4. Because of that, Walter's alter ego, "Heisenberg," emerged, and he found himself entangled in the dangerous world of drug trafficking and violent crime.

5. Because of that, his relationships with his family and friends began to deteriorate as he sank deeper into lies and moral compromises to protect his drug empire.

6. Because of that, Walter faced numerous threats from competitors, law enforcement, and even his own brother-in-law, leading to a series of confrontations and escalating violence.

7. Until finally, Walter's criminal activities culminated in a bloody and dramatic showdown, resulting in his own death but also ensuring his family's financial security through the illicit earnings he left behind.

8. And ever since then, Walter White's story became a cautionary tale of how desperation and pride can lead a man to sacrifice his morality, family, and ultimately his life, for the illusion of control and legacy.

Easy, right?

Well, we are about to make it even easier.

How To Create A Story Spine With AI

For this prompt all you need is the seed of an idea.

You can give your favorite AI LLM (Claude, Bard, ChatGPT) any of the following starting points and it will improvise the rest for you.

• A Sub-Genre

• A Story Logline

• A Character In A Situation

• And so on.

The more detailed your input the more specific and targeted your output.

Once you have an idea, run the following prompt with your topic included.

I want you to create a Story Spine for my topic.

Topic = {TOPIC}

You are master of dramatic storytelling. You embody the creativity and energy of Pixar.

Please write 1 sentence for each of the following sentence stems for my topic:

1. Once upon a time...
2. Every day...
3. One day...
4. Because of that...
5. Because of that...
6. Because of that...
7. Until finally...
8. And ever since then...

For example, here’s a Story Spine for the Sub-Genre “Creepy Kids.”

See if you recognize this story:

Spiderman!

All you have to do is give ChatGPT a 1-sentence Logline like "A high school student is bitten by a genetically-altered spider and gains superhuman strength and spider-like ability, vowing to use his abilities to fight crime.” And AI will expand it into a story for you.

The Sub-Genre and Logline inputs worked well. How about a character description? For example, “an impolite taxi driver.”

Here’s the result:

Your options are endless!

Once you have a Story Spine, try illustrating it with Dall-E o bring it to life.

Like this:

Here’s the prompt:

Now in the style of Pixar, please use the UX Storyframe technique and illustrate my Story Spine about {TOPIC}.

Note: If you are using ChatGPT, it may describe the illustrations and not return an image. When that happens, just follow up with a simple nudge “Thanks! Please draw it for me.” That should do the trick. You can also take the illustration description from ChatGPT and use it as a prompt in another tool like Midjourney.

That’s it!

I hope you enjoy it. Now get out there and write some great stories!

Chat soon,

—Dickie & Cole

Co-Founders of Ship 30 For 30

Co-Founders of Premium Ghostwriting Academy

Co-Founders of Typeshare

Co-Founders of Write With AI

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