Earlier this week, Trish wrote about overcoming the dreaded writer’s inertia. This was a timely post for me because I haven’t been writing for the last few weeks. I know…GASP. (It may explain why I’m feeling a little out of sorts.)
But I told myself that after I got Sugar Crash
Yesterday, it was cold and miserable outside. The perfect day for copious amounts of tea and storyboarding.
I’ve talked about this before, but I’ve recently started using the methods (roughly) in Save the Cat
I sat down with some colored index cards, my notebook and a blank board and got to work. There was scribbling and ripping of cards. Some reorganizing and rewriting. BUT…I’m happy to say that I’m back on the board!
The cool thing about this board is that there is lots of room to add, expand and grow the story. Because that’s how I write. What I start with is not what I end with! It’s actually strange that I like the big old board, instead of the fancy electronic corkboard in my writing program. I mean I do live on my computer.
But there’s something about the physical act of writing out each scene or potential scene on an index card (colored of course) and putting it on the big board that sparks my creative juices. And hey, I like office supplies!
Some people say, “Oh, I can’t plan like that, I have to write what the characters tell me to.” And yes, I get that. I also have characters speaking to me and telling me what to do. But that’s the cool thing about the cork board. It’s not permanent. Move the cards around or heck, rip them up and throw them out. I’m actually not a plottser and I’m not a pantser. I’m definitely somewhere in between. I’ll start with what I have here but I can guarantee it’s going to look a lot different when I’m done. And THAT is the exciting part!
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So..have you tried story boarding? Does it work for you? What do you like or hate?
Leanne Shirtliffe (Ironic Mom)
Elena Aitken
Trish Loye Elliott
First, I adore Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat (any of the Save the Cat books…). Second, I can’t use electronic boards — I need the…physicality of holding the notecard/post-its in my hand, scribbling on them and affixing them to my realio-trulio board.
I also need the BIGNESS of it — electronic boards are limited by the size of my monitor!
Elena, I’d love to hear more about your process. Do you use the log line method first? What do each colors stand for? How do you flush out story ideas?
I love it…it looks like “home” to me!
Hey Natalie.
First…ya gotta get the book Save The Cat by Blake Synder. For real.
For me the colors stand for the different sections. Blue is the first act where we have the catalyst. Then…you switch to green when you ‘break into two’ and it’s all ‘fun and games’ Once you hit the ‘Mid point reversal’ we switch to purple and we go along with the ‘all is lost moment’ and the ‘dark night of the soul’, until we ‘break into three’ and have our ‘hazzah’ moment!
The yellow cards are for the opening image and the closing image, title and any other little details I want to make note of. Log lines etc…
I don’t start with a log line. It usually becomes clear to me as I’m writing the first act. Flushing out the story line totally comes for me while I’m story boarding or making notes in my journal. Just the physical act of writing causes ideas to jump into my head. Of course as I’m writing it changes. It ALWAYS changes.
hope that helps…
I am actually just finishing up Save the Cat and LOVED IT!! I have been pondering ways to use his technique on a longer scale – for a novel instead of a screen play and I can’t wait to try it out. I am off to buy my cork board this weekend and my index cards!
LOVE the color coding and I am definitely going to borrow your ideas…squee. Thanks for sharing. You have no idea how much I appreciate and how much it helps! 
Fascinating post, Elena. I use this for editing. color represents POV and/or the thread (romance, mystery, etc) This ensures I haven’t dropped any threads.
reminds me to drag out my board, because I’m editing righ t now.
Definitely time to get back on the board! I love this process. Save the Cat is golden. This post is a great reminder of how useful this process truly is. Okay, 1, 2, 3 go….!
I’m experimenting with Scrivener. Its ‘corkboard’ is like a storyboard. I plotted out 5 scenes of a short story on the corkboard and just finished writing scene 2. My previous plotting method was an Excel spreadsheet with multiple sheets with different types of information – character profiles, research notes, significant ‘dates’. It worked fairly well, but Scrivener makes it easier to switch back and forth.
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