Emma Coats, a former story artist at Pixar Animation Studios, tweeted a series of “story basics” a while back which not only illustrates the kind of talent that Pixar employs, but serves as a fantastic guide for aspiring screenwriters to learn some very basic and essential tenants of storytelling.

Pixar’s overwhelming success is easily demonstrated by the numbers: seven of the 14 Pixar films have been nominated for Best Screenplay at the Oscars, and the company won the Animated Feature Academy Award seven times. They have 14 consecutive box-office toppers and two Best Picture nominations.

If that’s not proof of their genius, then we don’t know what is.

Steve Jobs purchased the studio in 1986 for $10 million. It was originally a hardware company with only one animator on its staff. Now it’s widely reputed to be one of the best film studios on the planet. Here’s a quote on Deadline from the producer of the Pixar hit Brave, which debuted at number 1 at the Box Office upon release, going on to gross over $500 million internationally. They attribute their phenomenal success to the basic wisdom that story trumps all.

It was not easy. The biggest challenges at Pixar are always the stories. We want really original stories that come from the hearts and minds of our filmmakers. We take years in crafting the story and improving it and changing it; throwing things out that aren’t working and adding things that do work. All of that is just the jumping off point for the technology and how we are going to make this happen.

Without further ado, here are 22 pointers from a former Pixar story artist for creating a compelling story and building a mega-successful franchise. And while you’re at it, don’t forget to learn more about our animation and screenwriting curriculum.