Storyboards
are a fast and easy template to check the strength of a book's
structure. More and more writers use them. I hear about famous authors
who now "design" their books via a storyboard. It's a classy idea
whose time has come.
Filmmakers will be yawning here.
Storyboards are the basis of most films--they are like cartoon boxes
that show the scenes and can be rearranged to create the best flow.
But
book publishers use them too. Twenty years ago, I hired on every six
months to an all-day storyboarding session for a Midwestern small
press. Eight "experts" gathered in their conference room, bolstered by
coffee and snacks and catered lunch. A facilitator drew the empty
cartoon boxes of our blank storyboard on one wall, gave us our topic,
and off we'd go.
