I am a visual writer. I need to see the scenes play out in my head like a movie. I also write best when I have seen what it is that I'm describing. Last week I discovered a wonderful new visual aid --

Last week was not the first time that I'd used Pinterest. I opened an account three years ago when I wanted to do a photo essay of Albany, New York locations (the setting for my Hannah McCabe police procedurals). Since posting the photographs, I haven't used my account. Until last week.
Last week, a speaker visiting UAlbany mentioned how powerful the use of a vision board had been in staying focused on his goals. I've flirted with vision boards before, but never really completed one. This time, I decided to make it easier by giving myself access on all my devices. Didn't work. Fortunately, the website I had signed up for offered a 60-day-money-back guarantee.
That was when I thought of Pinterest -- except I didn't want to have my vision board on display. It turns out -- I must have skipped the tutorial when I set up my account -- it's possible to make a Pinterest page "secret" and designate people who are allowed access. That solved my problem. But when I was about to start selecting images for my vision board about life and career goals, it occurred to me that Pinterest would be perfect for visualizing my books.
I'm now using it for both the nonfiction book about dress, appearance and criminal justice. It's really helpful to be able to "pin" both images of the clothing (colonial era to present) and the memory joggers about the cultural themes that I want to include. I'm doing it chapter by chapter.
I've also set up a page for my 1939 historical thriller. The images that I'm pinning (searching by keywords) come with page links. I now have 240 items related to that year, people, settings, and events. Some of the pins that I've pulled are linked to YouTube music or videos. I'm really excited about the music because I'd thought of using a song for each chapter and now I can incorporate that into my research and plotting.
I'm sure some of you are already using Pinterest for marketing. You may be way ahead of me when it comes to using Pinterest for your writing. But it you haven't tried this other use, I recommend it.
And Harry just leaped from counter top to refrigerator again, and I missed it. Maybe I need to set up a camera to catch him in motion. Or, move that oat grass in case his feline agility is rusty.
3 comments:
Thank you for this really practical idea for Pinterest; you've helped unleash a whole bevy of ideas. And please–if you ever do manage to catch Harry in the act, I hope you post the video (or photo). That would be a wonderful sight to behold.
Hi Victoria,
I'm glad this was helpful. I thought I might be coming late to the party with the idea.
Still haven't caught Harry making that leap, but if I do, I will post.
I truly like you're composing style, incredible data, thankyou for posting.
conspiracy theories, full disclosure, partial disclosure, hillary for prison, wikileaks, podesta emails, ufos, putin, world war 3, spirituality, consciousness, yoga, meditation, ascension, financial conspiracy, financial crisis, federal reserve, gold standard, rothchilds, NSA, CIA,
Post a Comment