CREATIVE WRITER SHORT WRITING LESSON OF THE WEEK
The Story Board
You've taken your notepad and a pencil around with you for months. You’ve jotted ideas down here and there, and a few times you actually woke up from a sound sleep and wrote this (nearly unreadable) perfectly marvelous incredible idea down, and now you have this story eating at your brain cells. So what do you do now? Well, there are several options, depending on the complexity of the story, but we aren’t going to cover them ALL today. We’re only going to cover ONE, because, after all, this is the SHORT Writing Lesson of the week, and we all know how long winded I can get.
I want to say everyone here has read a comic book, (I'm going to seriously date myself) but with the prices of comic books these days, the actual reality of it is probably pretty slim unless you happen to be a friend of a friend who is passing one of those new fangled comic novels around. But comic books are a completed STORY BOARD. It’s the best picture of a Story Board I can give to you without having to draw one myself. Each frame has a specific happening. Each page has a specific event, each few pages has a specific plot that unfolds then moves onto another specific event.
Comic books are a great example. Play Writes also use story boards in order to make sure the sequences set are set to the time available in the programming you watch on the television. Their story boards look very similar to a comic book, with the exception they are generally posted to a board on a wall or they are drawn on large presentation type boards to take into meetings.
I am currently working on a story board for a novel I am beginning to write. The story started as a short story, but had too many necessary elements to keep as a short story. Even elements are complicated. I wanted a story board to work out the outline and sequencing of the novel - but I wanted something that I could carry with me and play with when time is available. I went to the store to look around and found this
I bought some sticky notes, found that I needed SMALLER sticky notes, but this is perfect for what I am trying to achieve.
I started with my story's beginning and end. Then started filling in the centre with the elements necessary to carry the plot. I found the ability to move the sticky notes around and replace them to other places make the work of cutting and pasting hassle free. Notes for the characters are also included. They have to DO certain things to move the plot, so there are certain characteristics of the characters that I will have to incorporate to keep them believable. There are no absolutes in a story board. It is a tool to help you, the writer visualize and keep track of what is important in your story. It is an organizational tool. You can draw pictures if it helps, or (as in my case) use just notes and words. What ever works for you. My story board has helped me answer some very necessary questions, work out a seemingly impossible time line (heh, time fluxes in sci-fi are such a pain) and give a character a motive that was missing.
Ugh. This is being reposted due to . . . user error. **blushes furiously** - you are entitled to flog. - Bethanna
Its cost to make was a whopping whole three and a half bucks. It has proven to be a wonderful tool to really get me started in writing a seemingly daunting novel.
I hope this tool helps you as well.
Happy writing!
Bethanna
**Next Week: Writing Honest Fiction - The GRAND Oxymoron**
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