Last
week, I posted these intriguing before and after images of uber-talented
nonfiction author Steve Sheinkin’s storyboard, which I
spotted on Twitter. Then I posed some questions about it and discussed the visual-tactile strategies I’ve developed to help me organize my books.
The
good news is Steve agreed to answer my questions and discuss his process. I’m
sure you’ll find his explanation as fascinating as I did.
Okay, the index cards? Very twentieth century, I know, but they work for me, and
I’ll never switch to using a computer for this part of the book-writing
process.
It started with my attempts, and failures, to outline the research I collected for
what became my nonfiction thriller, Bomb.
I was finding lots of great
stuff, “must-have” material as I call it—the makings of lots of great scenes.
But I couldn’t figure out how to fit it all together, how to turn these
different story lines into one cohesive page-turning plot.
I tried lots of conventional
outlining techniques, but things kept getting muddled. The notes spread over
many pages and I couldn’t see it—I literally couldn’t see the story.
I realize now that I’m a visual learner. I guess that term hadn’t been invented
when I was a kid, though it would have helped me understand my strengths and
weaknesses as a student.
Anyway,
I decided to try using the kind of storyboarding I’d learned about in a
screenwriting class. Break your story into scenes (about 40 for a typical movie
structure) and use one index card or sticky note to represent each scene. Then
stick everything on the wall and see how it looks. Sit back and watch it. See
how one scene flows into the next. See how the storylines interact. Check for
dull parts, unnecessary tangents, make sure your momentum is building.
With
Bomb, I knew I wanted to weave together three related storylines:
scientists racing to make the first atomic bomb, spies trying to steal the
secrets, and commandos assigned to sabotage Hitler’s bomb research. So I used
three different color index cards: one color each for scientists, spies, and
commandos. Simple, but it really worked for me.
On
each card I wrote a bullet point or two describing a distinct bit of action,
say, Robert Oppenheimer learning about fission and sketching a bomb on his
blackboard at Berkeley, or two spies meeting on a bridge in Santa Fe. Each card
represented about 400 words. Once I put all my best stuff on different color
cards, these became like pieces of a puzzle. Then came the fun part—putting it
together.
The image above shows part of my storyboard for an upcoming nonfiction book called Fallout—my
take on a Cold War thriller, with a lot of the science and spying and fast
cutting between storylines I tried for in Bomb.
The
white cards on the board simply represent chapters. I’m constantly changing
where chapters begin and end, right up until my final deadline.
One
change I’ve made over the years is to add an extra color for context/background
info. You always need a certain amount of “okay, here’s why we’re fighting the
Cold War” kind of stuff, or “here’s what else was going in the world at this
time,” and I’ve found it helpful to use a different color for that stuff—purple
in this example. That way, I can see right away where these sections fall, and
get a feel for where I may be slowing down to do too much explaining.
The
benefit of having all of this right in front of me as I write is that I can
look up and see where I am in the story. I can see what just happened, and what
happens next. I can watch the scene on one card in my head, then watch the next
one, and see if they work together.
I
can always reach out and move stuff around, or put something to the side in the
“cuts” area, a sad but necessary part of the process. I’ve even got a little
magnetic Lego Steve (made by my son) that moves along with me through the first
draft—it’s very satisfying to move “me” along as I finish one card and start
the next!
Steve Sheinkin’s nonfiction titles include The
Notorious Benedict Arnold, Bomb, The Port Chicago 50, Most
Dangerous, Undefeated, and Born to Fly. His books have
received a Newbery Honor, three National Book Award finalist honors, three
Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards for nonfiction, and a Sibert Medal. Steve’s
upcoming book, Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Unlikely Cold War Showdown
is due out in September.
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16 Responses
What an informative post. This would work for my fiction as well. Thank you for sharing.
I realized early on that I too am a visual learner. I also use sticky notes and index cards, but my storyboard never looks as nice and neat as yours…😉
Great informative post!
This is a great post! Thanks so much!
So interesting to see your process! Thanks for sharing how your brilliant mind works – it’s so insightful.
So fascinating–thanks for the visuals! Like you I use paper to plot my books. Can't wait to read your latest!
Visual learners, color coders unite! Thank you for sharing your process and making this author/illustrator smile.
This is fantastic. Thanks.
I am a visual learner also. Love the simplicity of the idea. I look forward to revising my workspace and reading these stories!
Great post! I love sticky notes and having some kind of wall space to play with them. The best tho – is the Lego Steve!!
Such a great and helpful post! I'm about to do color-coordinated notecards for my current WIP 🙂
Thanks for sharing this, Steve!
I think this would work really well for kinesthetic learners as well because you are using your hands to work with your material. I am a k-learner and always studied by making timelines, and the process of making a timeline by hand really worked for me. Thanks so much for sharing!
I absolutely love these insights, thanks for sharing! The visual color coding is a great idea.
This is really insightful. Iʻm old school, too, and have been struggling with using my computer to research and write my history stories. Like Steve, I need to SEE everything, too. Thanks, Steve and Melissa!
I actually think this method would work for kinesthetic learners as well because you are your hands to work with your material. Thanks so much for sharing!
I realized early on that I too am a visual learner. I also use sticky notes and index cards, but my storyboard never looked as nice and neat as yours…😉
Great informative post!