How to Write a Book with Storyboard Software
Storyboards are most frequently used in film-making. A storyboard is a set of drawings in panels, much like a comic book, that illustrate key scenes or sequences in a movie. While storyboards are standard in movie production, novelists can take advantage of the visual aspect of storyboards to help develop the chapters of their books as well. With the number of storyboarding software products available, finding the right storyboard software to write your book is easy, and since you don't need to be an artist to storyboard, any writer can take advantage of this visual medium to develop a novel.
Instructions
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Choose the storyboard software you want to use to write your book. There are several programs available. If you use Microsoft Word, OpenOffice or any other word processor, you can create your own storyboards by creating a table with the appropriate number of rows and columns for the number of panels you desire. If you would rather use dedicated storyboard software, Storyboard Pro (free for Mac and PC) and Storyboard Quick are two options.
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Sketch key scenes of your book. You don't want to draw every scene. Think in terms of a comic book story and how each panel progresses the story. This is how you want to lay out your story. Use your storyboard scenes to help visualize scenes in your book before you write. Don't worry about being an artist. Draw stick figures and rough sketches. The storyboard is for your use.
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Scan your sketches to your computer. Save them in the same folder as your book manuscript so they are easy to locate and all of your related files are together. Save each sketch with a descriptive title that will tell you at a glance which chapter and scene of your book the sketch goes to.
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Open your storyboard software and set up your storyboard by creating a new storyboard and selecting the panel layout you prefer. Three panels across and four rows will give you twelve panels per page. If you want larger panels, do three panels across and three rows per page.
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Load your sketches into the appropriate panels by selecting the panel you want to work with and going to the Insert menu. Browse to the location of the sketch you want to insert and click the image to load it into the appropriate panel. Place the images in order of appearance in your book. You can drag and drop or cut panels later on if you need to rearrange the scenes.
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Print your storyboard and keep it tacked up in front of your work area as you write your book. Use it as a basis and inspiration as you write. Don't be so stuck on the storyboard that you don't allow yourself to change directions as you write, but let it be a useful visual guide.
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