I'll just start at the end.

I’ve never worked forwards. I always come up with the final product at the start. School assignments made me go back and fill in all the missing bits that you’re meant to work out before you get to the end. I hated it.

Which is why now, at 28, I’m pulling my hair out trying to storyboard a picture/story/goblins spewed from the earth causing the Christchurch earthquake book. Part of the problem is that although it’s about goblins it’s from factual events. It’s also hindered by the fact that there is no story written. A friend is writing it from the characters I’ve created, which is fine, until you try to put it all together, figure out how each page is going to break and what scene will be on it. It’s not even like I’m planning on trying to get it published but I want to work within what I would get if I was to ever get to illustrate a MS. So I’ve been trudging around the internet trying to find out as much as I can about the how it all works. I’ve come across a lot of useful information, a lot of outdated information–don’t send any CDs or web links to you portfolio!–and at one point I found myself reading about conjoined twins. How? I have no idea.  But back to illustrating, turns out I’ve been doing everything backwards–what a shock!

First you’re meant to have a MS. Ideally someone else’s that is already edited and broken into pages. Then storyboard. Eventually after great consideration and planning you do the final work.

I’ve had twelve or so final scenes in my head for months and the characters rolling around for a year, now I’m storyboarding, cutting it into page breaks as I go and wondering if the MS will even fit what I’m coming up with. Backwards, I tell you, backwards.

One day I will work forwards… maybe… who knows it might even be easier. But then I wouldn’t find myself losing my mind and blogging at 5am after spending 15 hours trying to make sense of everything. I’d do that the much more sensible hour of 3am.