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The Storyboard – a Writer’s Tool

Say the word storyboard and most people who are familiar with the term immediately think of movies and films.

Storyboards are a series of images that illustrate the movement of scenes in a film or documentary. They are usually hand-drawn, original images that put into small capsules the main action or drama for the major scenes and pivotal moments.

The purpose of the storyboard is to give everyone involved in the creative process an idea of what they are, literally, shooting for.

The idea of using the storyboard technique in the writing process is gaining increasing popularity outside of the movie industry. Writers are also finding this an excellent tool for developing plot, story line and characters.

But what if you aren’t a visual artist? How to make a storyboard if drawing and painting aren’t your strong suites?

You can use words, and self-adhesive note pads, to make a storyboard for your written work. And the nice thing about this method is that the self adhesive note paper can be repositioned over and over. Don’t like the way a scene is coming together? Having trouble with the chronology of events? Shift the sticky notes around.

What should those notes say? How about one key phrase that defines the moment they represent. You can start with the bigger elements and work your way down to the smallest details. What are the major events that take place in the story? Then, how will these be divided into chapters? Finally, what actions, events and surprises will each chapter contain?

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The same method is suitable for non-fiction works. For example, if you are writing the chronology of a political movement, you would address the key points; the origin of the movement, its founder or founders, how they came into power, the pivotal points in their struggle, and finally, the outcomes. Beneath these headings you could get more specific, outlining the events, meetings, rallies, personalities and observations that shaped the main characters and their objectives.

The storyboard is a tool of discovery. In the process of creating one, you will inevitably encounter fresh perspectives, new questions, and potential problems. It is also a tool that you can customize to suit your needs. Nothing says it has to be boring or minimized to words.

In the process of writing The Wisdom Walkers, a story about civilizations that existed prior to the eruption of the Toba volcano, I used several storyboard techniques, from the simple act of making lists, to enacting pivotal scenes from the story before the eye of a camera. There were two reasons I did this; it kept me focused on days when the actual writing process was cumbersome and awkward, and it allowed me to examine and discover how an epic journey across continents and oceans would actually be made.

In a time frame of 74,000 years before the present, the main characters had language and primitive skills, as well as more advanced technologies such as ocean-going vessels and semi-domesticated animals. But they also had a daunting task before them. How, for instance, would they travel some three thousand miles with a herd of half-wild horses? How would they feed themselves, navigate, and protect themselves while crossing territory that was new to them? What would they bring and how would they carry it?

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I worked out many of these problems in miniature, using and creating models of the tools and water craft they would have used to complete their voyages. Along with research, there was another layer of creative process at work as I learned how to make vessels out of gourds and functional sails from a single width of fabric.

The task of creating a storyboard allowed me to realize the issues that would be central to any traveler; fresh water and shelter, the availability of food and the ability to mobilize in an organized fashion. It pushed me to understand the complexities of making such monumental journeys that we, in the age of trains, planes and automobiles, never face in our daily lives.

As a tool of discovery, the storyboard proved over and over to be an invaluable asset in the writing arsenal. Some scenes, despite the labor that went into creating them visually, proved to have little significance in the final story. Others bore an uncanny resemblance to the final manuscript, down to the way the clouds moved across the sky and the light changed with every moment.

Whether simple or complex, written or illustrated, made with photographs or images salvaged from magazines, the storyboard is a tool any writer can use to help them navigate their written works. It can be adapted to fit any topic, writing style or display space. It can be as rigid or as fluid as the writer pleases. As a creative tool, it is immensely flexible.

It may have its origins in the film industry, but the storyboard is one tool that doesn’t require a Hollywood budget to be utilized.

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