When working on a new book, I would make a collage of snippets from magazine pictures to give me a quick visual of scenery and the different terrain in my stories. Anyone who’s read my books knows I like my scene setting, I don’t spend pages describing the flora but I like clear images cut into the page of my characters’ surroundings. Since I usually work on multiple books at a time, the boards helped me keep the stories separated. In the past I had those storyboard collages tacked up by my desk so I could glance up while writing to keep my mind steeped in that imagery. I’m currently working like mad on a new series, but my imagery process has gotten a cyber upgrade–thanks to Pinterest–a place where I can pin pictures to a cyber board and where I’m not limited to just magazines on hand. I have to admit when my critique partner recently sent me an invite I figured she must be mad at me and my first response was NO WAY, I am not joining a social media distraction. But then she told me to go look at her storyboards for the books she’s working on–and bam, I was pinned 😉
I’ve been amazed by the huge volume of pictures and the easy process of finding and pinning. I haven’t had a chance to go back and add to my boards since that first day but in just a couple hours I’d found a dress I felt could be similar to the dress my heroine wears in book one in the opening chapters, well, what the dress may have looked like before she’s drenched, dragged and caked in mud 😉
The coolest aspect of Pinterest for me was links to these pictures led to some amazing historical sites. I found a bunch of great new resources and a ton of visual stimulation for settings and terrain.
Anyone else been pinned? It’s also a great place for finding tasty recipes! Check it out–resistance is futile 😀
Here’s a few more pics I added to my storyboard. One of my favorites is the picture of the Chinese laundry.