Ideas & planning · Tip 3 of 82 · 4 min read
Plan Your Story Like a Comic Strip
Draw your story in boxes first, and writing it becomes so much easier.
Film makers and cartoonists plan their stories with a storyboard: a row of boxes with a drawing in each one. It's a brilliant way to plan your story before you write it!
How to make a storyboard
- Draw six boxes on a piece of paper.
- In each box, draw one important moment from your story. Stick figures are fine!
- Under each box, write one sentence about what happens.
- Read your boxes in order. Does the story make sense?
A six-box story
Box 1: Nia gets a red balloon at the fair. Box 2: A gust of wind pulls it from her hand. Box 3: She chases it through the crowd. Box 4: It gets stuck at the top of the Ferris wheel. Box 5: She asks the ride operator for help. Box 6: Nia rides to the top and grabs it, waving at the whole fair.
Now that the plan is done, Nia's story just needs words and details. Each box could become a paragraph!
Why it helps
- You can see the whole story at once.
- It's easy to move boxes around or add new ones.
- You'll spot boring bits before you've written them.
- Drawing gives you ideas for details to describe.