How to use Pinterest to Storyboard

I’ve talked about a few specific story ideas on here but I have so many ideas stuck inside my head that haven’t made it onto the blog.  Or only have a photo collage on my stories page. Each – not matter what stage of planning – has a Pinterest board:

Here are a few reasons why you should storyboard on Pinterest….

• Aesthetic inspiration.  Lemme tell you, aesthetic boards are so pleasing ❤   If you’re not sure what you want to happen in the story or want a feel for how a certain location looks, make an aesthetic board. Set a mood. I recently created one for a coffee shop for one idea:

• Characters. Finding characters is easy on Pinterest – people in fashion, makeup inspiration, actors, etc.  And don’t settle for just one reference! I went through several men before I found the perfect Hunter (that sounds more romantic than I intended haha).

• Scene ideas.  Between photos from movies and writing prompts floating around, scene ideas are endless.  You can also pin quotes that create a scene in your head. For example:

And thus was born the backstory to why Beau, a young soldier from The Davidson Effect, is not allowed to carry a weapon. Poor guy.

• Shared authors. A fun thing about Pinterest boards – you can share boards with other pinners! When I was writing a script for a short that included every one of my friends and their siblings, I added each friend as an author.  I was able to see how they pictured their character and scenes they wanted to see in the script.  Very helpful if you have a writing buddy!

• Frequent edits.  As the story changes,  I always go back and clean up my Pinterest boards. Make sure the pictures are still relevant to your story. Maybe I’m a little OCD, but I can’t stand boards that have over 300 pins….way too many to find inspiration.

• New story ideas.  While you’re looking for that perfect character for Novel X, you may happen upon a quote that sparks a new idea.  This could be considered a downside to using Pinterest haha – you may find yourself adding LOTS and LOTS of new stories to your mental to-write list!  Come on, we all have one, don’t we?

So what are you waiting for? Go create a storyboard!  If you already have a few, it’s always fun to look through and see a visual representation of your future novel 😀

Do you use Pinterest for writing? What are your favorite things to look for – characters, quotes, scenes?