Storyboarding for Writers: How Sketching Can Strengthen Your Picture Book or Graphic Novel!
Bestselling author Joan Holub shares her expertise at storyboarding picture books and graphic novels, with both authors and illustrators.
When it comes to children’s books, I thought I’d written all the different kinds I was good at—board books, picture books, novelty books, early readers, chapter book series, middle grade series, and biographies. But…wait! Then along came graphic novels and superhero comics. They’re booming right now, and are often cited as a gateway to reading and learning for many kids.
Getting more kids to read? That idea appealed to me! And creating an illustrated graphic novel sounded like fun. So I embarked on writing one. I had no plans to be the illustrator of my graphic novel, but I knew I would be doing some drawing because I just can’t help myself. I’m a visual person.
(A couple of quick terms: Storyboarding is a planning tool for mapping out the main events and flow of your story in small sketches. It’s a starting point for making a Book Dummy, which shows layout and pacing, how your story unfolds across pages, and how your art and text will work together.)
It took me four months to finish that first graphic novel, which turned out to be a 140-page silly, superhero, sci-fi, school-based, friendship tale titled Fart Boy and Reeky Dog. I storyboarded it, then dummied it, complete with text and simple pictures, never intending to be its illustrator. (Cue sighs of relief from editors everywhere.) But the time I spent storyboarding and dummying was worthwhile.
Because when I showed my graphic novel dummy to my editor, it was understandable for her in a way that a text-only manuscript with notations could not have been. And just as importantly, making a dummy had helped me understand my story and get it right. My hard work paid off in the form of a two-book graphic novel deal with Penguin Random House for Fart Boy and Reeky Dog (pub date April 8, 2025), plus a sequel to come in 2026. Both books are illustrated by the amazing Rafael Rosado.
Everyone storyboards and dummies differently, but here's the nitty gritty of how I do it. First, I storyboard the basic high and low turning points of my story start to finish (about 15 pages). I do this numerous times, filling in more and more blanks, addressing questions, and causing the story length to expand. I begin to enlarge to bigger dummies, adding more words, action, and scenes requiring art positioned inside boxes, circles, and other shapes.
I begin to tighten everything. My stick figures get a little more understandable. I hone words and actions. Is all of this storyboarding and dummy-making labor intensive? Yes. But it can unlock and free your imagination. As you fill your story boxes with art and text, notice how simple your language becomes because much of your story action is told visually, with less and less narration needed. Eventually, if you give it your all, fingers crossed that your work will grow into a full-fledged graphic novel!
What’s that? You say you can’t draw? C’mon, you liked drawing when you were a kid, right? You can do it. Create your books on a graphics tablet or using pencil and paper—your choice. I hadn’t yet mastered working on a tablet with my first Fart Boy and Reeky Dog book, so the dummy I sold to Penguin/RandomHouse was a low-tech endeavor involving scissors, clear tape, #2 pencils, erasers, lots of 8½ x 11 inch white paper, tracing paper, a photocopier, determination, and some late nights. It worked.
If you do decide to storyboard and/or dummy, be aware that some illustrators won’t want to be influenced by your drawings, and so will prefer not to see them. In case you’re wondering, the ratio of illustrators who have appreciated my dummies as helpful jumping-off points vs. those who did not want to be influenced, has been about 50/50.
Either way is fine with me because every one of them has done a fantastic job! So my advice if an illustrator takes on your book, is to sit back and simply wait to see what amazing things your graphic novel or picture book manuscript can become in the hands of a truly talented artist!
I hope I have inspired you and that you’ll give some of these ideas a try. Best wishes for some great storyboarding outcomes!
Check out Joan Holub's Fart Boy and Reeky Dog here:
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