Shannon Smiley's Blog
November 9, 2015
Storyboarding 101
Full Definition of STORYBOARD
: a panel or series of panels on which a set of sketches is arranged depicting consecutively the important changes of scene and action in a series of shots (as for a film, television show, or commercial)
— storyboard transitive verb
*(Merriam-Webster)
This definition is great, but…it leaves out one very important medium. Novels. Novels! Storyboarding plays a gigantic role in my writing. It’s hands-down the most fun, get-to-know my characters, get-to-know my scenery, get-to-know exactly what kind of story I want to share, tool I could ever use. It’s one-hundred-percent visual, and for someone who spends so much time in their head, it’s an absolute necessary step in the process of putting words onto page.
At least for me.
I suppose everyone has their own definition of the word, “storyboarding,” and how they use it in their writing. My number one rule is to enjoy the discovery phase, to allow myself to take an idea and run with it, then surf the internet for images, info, nuggets of facts, and build on top of it. My favorite way to do this? Pinterest!
Yep, I build a “board,” which I can now keep conveniently private—thanks Pinterest for adding the new privacy option—and I name it the working title of my book. To this board, I pin anything and everything relevant to my novel in progress. Whether it’s a photo of my main character and one of her love interest; Celebrity sites are becoming way too addictive to scour through. Or maybe it’s a website leading to the visitor’s center of whatever town my setting is in. I pin all the things I must research—how to pick a lock, build an engine, the rules of youth kickboxing tournaments, what happens to a body when it goes into shock. I give myself homework. Happily.
And then I sit back and revisit. Revisit. Revisit. And that’s when the real fun begins. Connecting the dots.
: a panel or series of panels on which a set of sketches is arranged depicting consecutively the important changes of scene and action in a series of shots (as for a film, television show, or commercial)
— storyboard transitive verb
*(Merriam-Webster)
This definition is great, but…it leaves out one very important medium. Novels. Novels! Storyboarding plays a gigantic role in my writing. It’s hands-down the most fun, get-to-know my characters, get-to-know my scenery, get-to-know exactly what kind of story I want to share, tool I could ever use. It’s one-hundred-percent visual, and for someone who spends so much time in their head, it’s an absolute necessary step in the process of putting words onto page.
At least for me.
I suppose everyone has their own definition of the word, “storyboarding,” and how they use it in their writing. My number one rule is to enjoy the discovery phase, to allow myself to take an idea and run with it, then surf the internet for images, info, nuggets of facts, and build on top of it. My favorite way to do this? Pinterest!
Yep, I build a “board,” which I can now keep conveniently private—thanks Pinterest for adding the new privacy option—and I name it the working title of my book. To this board, I pin anything and everything relevant to my novel in progress. Whether it’s a photo of my main character and one of her love interest; Celebrity sites are becoming way too addictive to scour through. Or maybe it’s a website leading to the visitor’s center of whatever town my setting is in. I pin all the things I must research—how to pick a lock, build an engine, the rules of youth kickboxing tournaments, what happens to a body when it goes into shock. I give myself homework. Happily.
And then I sit back and revisit. Revisit. Revisit. And that’s when the real fun begins. Connecting the dots.
