Timelines and Storyboards

To outline or not to outline? Some do, some don't, but I am. I must! Organizing all the information I'm writing about in my novel is not something I can juggle loosely the way I would in a short story. Historically speaking, a lot was going on during the period of my novel's setting. So I have decided to give in and lay it all out in a visual manner that keeps it right in front of me while I'm writing. I've tried several storyboard programs designed to be used on the computer, but I need to be able to touch things.

Here's what I'm trying (thanks to tips from friends who know what they're doing!):

1. Timelines -- I need one enormous timeline to keep track of all the historical information that may or may not be needed while I'm writing. It's hard to know up front what I'll need, but I want a very long view of all the important events surrounding my story. Most of this will be background information, but I have to have a firm handle on it so that I fully understand the context into which I am placing my characters. To accomplish this, I'm doing a few things:

a. Research Binder -- As much as I hate to waste ink and paper, I'm printing out anything I think may be useful and organizing it in a giant binder divided by tabs: period calendars (I'm using a combination from Rocket Calendar and calenderwerks); state, county, city maps (google images and gov. websites); historical timelines found online; newspaper articles separated by topic (politics, religion, etc); photographs; miscellaneous.

b. Timeline in a Box -- As I gather information, I'm transferring what I think I'll use onto colored notecards: blue = historical events; yellow = character development; purple = relationships/love; green = description/setting; red = action/conflict; white = other. I will probably add more colors once I begin to tease things apart further. You can use the notecards in many ways, but I'm trying to think about all the threads that I will need to weave through my novel.

In front of the box, I have labeled notecard dividers with the month and year of the period I think my story will take place (Jan. 1955, Feb. '55, Mar. '55). I'm being generous with the dates, including the year before and after my story just to give myself wiggle room if I need it.

As I transfer historical information onto a blue notecard, I place it behind the corresponding tab in the box. As I flesh out my characters, I jot notes on yellow cards and place those where I think they will fit. If I'm not sure, I stand the cards on end until I know where they go, leaving the timeline in the front of the box neat and orderly. Using notecards in a box this way allows me to move things, toss things out, add things and still keep everything tidy. While I'm writing, I can bring out a few cards at a time and spread them out over my desk.

2. Storyboards -- Linda George has written the best little book I've seen on storyboarding. It's called Fill-in-the-Blank Plotting: A Guide to Outlining a Novel Using the Hero's Journey & Three-Act Structure. The title says it all. This book is wonderful because it's small and gets right to the point so you can get to it without reading a long book that mostly repeats what others have already said. The key to her approach, too, and this is very important to me, is that she marries the steps of the Hero's Journey, outlined by Joseph Campbell, with the three-act structure. I have been banging my head against the wall for years trying to do this. Get her book. She makes it super simple!

a. Storyboard 1: The Hero's Journey -- To explain briefly, there are twelve stages in the hero's journey (if you haven't read about Joseph Campbell, you should). After I create a corkboard with the 12 steps listed on the far left, I begin filling out cards for my own protagonist. Because my boards are only medium-sized (there are larger ones if you want to use larger cards), I am using old business cards on my boards. This may change if I feel the need for colored cards. I may cut standard-sized notecards in half, etc. Everything is flexible. It will probably change a lot as I go. For now, the smaller business cards are working.

b. Storyboard 2: Three-Act Structure -- Once I know roughly what my protagonist's journey looks like, I begin transferring cards from board 1 to board 2. Linda George outlines it all very well in her book, so grab a copy if you're interested in using this technique.

**Let me be clear**-- I don't have the whole story figured out yet. I've been knocking around on this book for a long time, and whenever I come back to it, as I am doing now after an interruption to finish my SSC, I'm lost again. I'm hoping that better organization will keep me on course as I re-enter and find my way through to the end. The binder, the box, the boards -- everything is work in progress. Notice the many gaps on my boards. Board 2 is completely empty. Some people are highly suspect of outlines, arguing that they stifle the creative process. I don't want to debate it here in this post. Instead, I want to share with you one writer's system for managing information during the unfolding process of writing the first draft. I would love to hear how you do it. Please chime in! I need all the help I can get. And good luck to you!