8. Summary -- Toy Story 3: Mistakes Made, Lessons Learned

Summary

The speaker reflects on lessons learned during the creation of Toy Story 3, emphasizing the complexities of good storytelling. Key takeaways include making character expectations vivid and specific, crafting inciting incidents as unforeseen and visceral events, and ensuring the protagonist has a clear, active quest. The speaker also highlights the importance of obstacles at the midpoint, failure across various stakes in the second act, and a meaningful epiphany at the climax. Ultimately, great storytelling requires redefining life’s themes in deeper, more poetic ways, making storytelling both challenging and rewarding.

Takeaways

• 😀 Humility is key: Writing 'Toy Story 3' taught the importance of humility, realizing that knowing good storytelling doesn't prevent getting lost in the process.
• 🔮 Clear expectations: A character's expectations for the future must be vivid and specific, making the disruption from the inciting incident more impactful.
• ⚡ Inciting incidents: They should be a bolt from the blue—unforeseen, visceral, and often the best or worst possible thing for the hero, which leads to reverse-engineering the story.
• 🎯 Active heroes: The hero must have a clear, compelling global goal and a defined plan to achieve it, making the audience root for them.
• ⏳ Ticking clock: The second act goal often appears humble but must come with a ticking clock and visceral negative consequences if the hero fails.
• 🚪 Midpoint reversals: Every new direction in the story introduces new obstacles, with midpoint reversals happening close together without filler or treading water.
• 💥 Second act break: There must be failures in the external, internal, and philosophical stakes for the story to truly evolve.
• 🔄 Villain’s view: The hero often shares the villain’s point of view, and though the villain’s perspective is valid, it’s shallow, requiring the hero to develop a deeper, more generous view.
• 🔍 Flipping the meaning: Stories like 'Up' and 'It’s a Wonderful Life' flip the meaning of concepts like adventure or wealth, revealing deeper truths.
• ✍️ Storytelling is hard: Good storytelling is difficult, takes time, involves trial and error, and requires perseverance, but these ideas can guide writers through the process.

Q & A

What was the main lesson learned by the speaker while writing 'Toy Story 3'?

The main lesson learned was humility. Despite thinking they knew what good storytelling was, the speaker realized they could still get lost and go in circles, which happened over the three years it took to write the script.

Why are a character's expectations important in storytelling?

A character's expectations for the future need to be clear, specific, and vivid. The more detailed and sympathetic these expectations are, the stronger the impact will be when the inciting incident disrupts them.

What makes a good inciting incident in a story?

A good inciting incident should be unexpected, visceral, and can either be the best or worst possible thing for the protagonist. It often requires making the worst possible thing happen and then reverse engineering the story to make narrative and emotional sense.

How should the hero's goal be presented in a story?

The hero’s goal should be a sympathetic and compelling global goal, with a specific and clearly defined plan to achieve it. The hero should be active, not passive, and the plan should be a black-and-white, pass-or-fail objective.