Pin IT for Inspiration

Pin IT for Inspiration

I’m packing up my iPhone, laptop, case of Pinot Noir and chocolate and heading back to my writing cave. It’s revision time!

I have to admit, I’m  excited to spend time with my characters, I really missed my writing world.

While working on the first draft of  Heartbreak Cake I didn’t have a writing program. No outline. No index card system. No excel spreadsheet breakdown, no nothing.  I came at it like a reporter, I would jot notes down , research and then sit down and write.

The process was: Write. Edit. Snack. Write. Edit. Write. Edit. Delete. Write. Edit. Snack. Delete.

I am not sure I would do it this way again. Although, I will always snack in my writing process. I think when you are working with a lot of different characters, each one with different details, habits and nuances it’s important to organize things a bit more than my normal style of “a wing and a prayer.”

Lessons learned for sure.

One surprising writing tool I discovered was Pinterest. A board I often used to find cool hairstyle tips and funky manicure ideas.  I found myself searching for photos for inspiration and was often directed back to Pinterest where I could research millions of photos all with the click of my mouse. It turned out to be a great writing gem for me.

I created a board and would log in daily to look for new photos and I would visually create the world that lived inside my head and I pieced it together onto a Pinterest Board where I could see it come alive.

Check it out here: http://pinterest.com/cindyarora/ideas-for-heartbreak-cake/

Seeing everything in colored photos was helpful in creating layered characters as well as sketching details. It’s especially helpful if you are a writer who works late at night. You can’t always do in-person research at midnight.

Writing is such a journey of what works and what doesn’t and having a “vision board” is really helpful when creating third dimensional characters. It helps to be able to see things, it pulls you back to your story and reminds you where you are going. This is definitely going to be one of my favorite writing tools when I start working on Book #2.

Would love to hear what other writing tools people use for inspiration!