Okay so after years of rejecting the tool, I’ve discovered a love of the story board. I have Alexandra Sokoloff to thank for finally producing a product that I could work with and my long time CP Candace Irvin, who plots relentlessly and leaves me in awe of the work she does.
Anyway, if you haven’t read Sokoloff’s Screenwriting Tricks for Authors, you need to. Its a fantastic breakdown of story structure based on, what else, but screenwriting. This was a book where my ah ha lightbulbs were in serious, serious overdrive and I took her advice and went to, gasp, notecards. I say gasp bc if you know me, you know that I’ve been writing by the seat of my pants for years (and to much success, really. No, not really). Anyway, the whole plotting thing was really killing me. I thought if I plotted, I would lose the fun of writing, that I wouldn’t still have the discovery of what my characters wants.
I was so wrong. I can’t say this will work for everyone. I won’t tell you I’ve found the secret or the key to the magic kingdom. All I can say is that I’ve discovered something that fits for how my brain works and I love the idea of it and the actual feel of pushing a pin into the corkboard with an idea stuck to it.
So when I discovered the iPad app Corkulus, I was curious. I figured it wouldn’t be very good b/c of the limited screen size (I’m a spreader. every space I own has ‘stuff’ on it). My notecards overflowed my cork board in quick order but I honestly didn’t think I would enjoy my tiny virtual corkboard.
Oh but was I wrong. I love it. I have little white labels over different color virtual post it notes. I’ve got Acts I, II, III all broken down with different colors and labels. And the best part is that if something needs to change or move, I can move pieces or whole chunks without losing time moving the physical pushpins around. So all in all, this little app is a pleasant surprise. I really dig it. I’m not sure if I can export from the app to anything on my desktop and honestly, I’m not sure I’d want to. I like having the separate screen to look at for my note cards while I’m writing.
It makes me feel productive, like I’ve found the keys to the secret city. I’ll let you know how the story boarding turns out!