My Storyboard Illustration

I follow the breadcrumbs in my life.

I was feeling stuck last week after writing another chapter of my memoir.

Now what? Where do I go from here? What’s my theme? Will anybody care?

Fortunately, I had had a conversation with a friend last Sunday who mentioned a storyboard artist he has worked with.

“I need a storyboard artist,” I exclaimed. “Would you share his information?”

Ned* put me in touch with Fabricio, whom I met soon after at Starbucks on 5th and 35th. Let me just say that this was a leap of faith. Could I tell this 30-something young man from Uruguay my story and have him make visual sense of it?

I had done my own version of a storyboard illustrated above. When I saw a sample of Fabricio’s work, I knew it would help me visualize my timeline more clearly.

Fabricio’s Sample Illustrations

Fabricio listened attentively as I walked him through my stick-figure drawings. He asked questions about the cast of characters, the places where scenes took place and the order of events I was outlining. It was easy to talk to him, as he nodded, concurred and emphasized points I was making.

I felt a strong connection and was feeling great about having him work on this project with me. It helped that at the end of our meeting, Fabricio told me that I reminded him of his wife’s aunt. Before we’d met, I’d sent him a photo of me so we could find each other at a busy coffee house. He’d shown the image to his wife. “Does she look like anyone you know,” he asked her.

“My whole family,” she replied.

He then found an image of the relative on his phone, and I had to agree, there was a strong resemblance. Beyond the creative and human connection I’d already sensed, it was deepened by this unseen force acting in my life as well.

I flew out of that Starbucks and have been on a memoir high ever since.

*not his real name