Pinterest: The New-Found Ally

I once never imagined that I would become enamored, and even reliant, on Pinterest for my writing process. I used to hear people talk about it a lot and often thought it was another, extra process to the whole writing endeavor that I didn’t need to add.

But then I started to write A Desert of Bleeding Sand, and I’m not sure what drew me to it, but I found a lot of help from Pinterest.

• It Elevates My Descriptions

Not only does it help me to better visualize people, objects, and places. (It really does have the most magnificent places!) Seeing visuals also help inspire my descriptions.

Recently, I forgot how pivotal Pinterest had been in my descriptions for the ADOBS series thus far, and only looked for descriptions of the human-inspired places online or with my own imagination. Because it constantly happens that in my writing journey for each book, that even the things I swear by, I forget, and have to relearn them again. It’s one of the things that keeps writing a timelessly enjoyable and discovery process!

• It Elevates My Ideas

When I eventually decided to make the moodboard for ADOBS 4, I was floored all over again by the images there. And in that way of Pinterest, there were fantastical images that inspired even better and new scenes for my book from what I’d initially planned. Starting from APOF, I’ve always loved to go a bit overboard with the splendor of my settings. And although ADOBS is historical fantasy, and a teeny bit more grounded, there are still areas where I can attempt to dazzle readers.

The way Pinterest takes some of the vague ideas I already have, brings them to life with pictures, helps me put myself into the picture to describe it in a sensory way, and also elevates my imagination with outstanding images, has forged a new and tight relationship between me and it!

Photo from Pinterest!

This is a recent example of a place that inspired a setting in my story after I stumbled into it. I saw it and thought, “This eatery absolutely exists in this district.” And then it became a foundation to write on and describe an eatery that felt super real, replacing another eatery that had been rather lackluster in comparison!

Do you use Pinterest?