[ recap ]

Last week we looked at Gordon Pask's Musicolour (a machine that stopped responding in the same way when its performer became repetitive).

[ thoughts ]

In 2011, Pixar story artist Emma Coats began posting things she learned about storytelling. Twenty-two observations were collected and named Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling.

One reads:
"When you're stuck, make a list of what WOULDN'T happen next."

Coats is describing something to try when you do not know what should happen next, rather than a principle to apply throughout the writing process.

She compiled the list from her own observations and things learned from other members of Pixar's story team.

Braintrust grew out of the group that worked together on Toy Story and became a recurring meeting where directors could show unfinished films to other experienced storytellers.

Ed Catmull described it as bringing smart, passionate people together to identify problems candidly.

The Braintrust could identify a problem, but it could not order the director to adopt its solution. Catmull found that removing that authority made it easier for directors to listen without having to defend the work.

Catmull explains the process in more detail in this Stanford talk.

[ creativity ]

Walt Disney's studio developed its own ways of separating, testing and rearranging ideas.

In a 1949 interview, Disney described stories moving from an initial idea into visual sequences and then into story conferences, where people removed material, suggested replacements and rebuilt the sequence.

Storyboards made that process physical. Drawings could be pinned up, moved and replaced while a film was still taking shape, allowing a team to inspect the sequence before committing it to production. The Walt Disney Family Museum traces the studio's development of storyboarding during the 1930s.

Decades later, Robert Dilts analysed Disney's working style through three recurring roles: the Dreamer, the Realist and the Critic (the spoiler).

Dreamers develop possibilities. Realists ask how they might be made. Critics look for weaknesses.

Each position becomes useful at a different point in the work.

Criticism can improve an idea, but the same criticism while an idea is still forming can close it prematurely. Dreaming can generate alternatives, but it becomes less useful when a project needs a decision.

Coats's list, the Braintrust and the Disney model are often grouped under the heading of "creative methods."

One offers moves for story problems. One changes how feedback is given. One separates kinds of thinking that can interfere with each other.

Treating any of them as a complete creative process removes the reason it was useful in the first place.

[ making ]

I've been working on Ways of Making from a similar starting point: there is no single creative process that works for every situation.

I've been collecting different approaches people use to begin, develop and reconsider their work.

I've put together Twelve Ways as a preview. You can explore them at waysofmaking.com/twelve-ways.

Next Sunday marks the fifty-second edition of this newsletter and one year since I started publishing it. I'll also be releasing the full Ways of Making collection, which subscribers will receive for free as a thank-you for reading.

[ EXPLORE TWELVE WAYS ]

[ sign off ]

Stay the one doing the seeing.

Thanks for taking the time to read.

See you next Sunday.