It’s important to begin any storytelling project with intention. Before you start making things, you should have a clear sense of who you’re trying to reach, what you’re trying to say and the scope of your project on all platforms.

This project blueprint is designed to help. Fill it out at the beginning of the planning process when you have some idea about what you want to do. Once completed, it should serve as a “North Star” that will help you focus and prioritize throughout the creative process. Added bonus: It will also provide a framework for pitching your idea to other people.

We recommend grabbing some sticky notes, printing the blueprint and filling it out in paper form first — here’s a PDF. We also have a Google Docs version — go to “File -> Make a copy …” to save an editable copy on your own Drive.

This post was originally written by Eric Athas as a companion guide to a session at the 2016 Audio Storytelling Workshop in Washington, D.C. The Project Blueprint was updated for the 2017 Story Lab Workshop and again for the 2018 Story Lab Workshop.