I’m involved in social media at the publishing house in which I work, and we’re obsessed right now with Pinterest. Have you heard of it? It’s basically a virtual corkboard to “pin” ideas to, an inspiration board.
Galleycat has a great (and ever-evolving) write up on it called Pinterest Tips for Writers.
I decided to get in on the action and have signed up for Pinterest as a way to create boards based on the different characters and settings I write about. I created boards based on Beat-related imagery as well as imagery related to my memoir. I also made a board called Lit Life, which features books, glasses, desks, typewriters, wine!, you know … delicious imagery associated with reveling in writing and reading.
One of my favorite Pinterest boards to create was one called My Sixteen-Year-Old Self. It’s got a lot of photos of bands I used to listen to (remember Green Day before they were on Broadway?!), the fashion I wore (or at least wished I had been brave enough to wear – hello, baby-doll dresses and combat boots!), and the things I did (walk up and down the railroad tracks). Although my memoir mainly focuses on my twenties, there’s a bit of a bildungsroman feel to it—I’m a late bloomer—and to understand my twenties, you have to understand my youth.
Are you on Pinterest? How are you using it for your writing? What do you think of it in terms of how it affects the reader experience? Does getting snippets of imagery make you curious about an upcoming book or does imagery ruin your opportunity to imagine the characters and the scenes in a book for yourself?
PS: Don’t forget I’m also on Twitter!
Stephanie Nikolopoulos 
2 Responses to “Writer on Pinterest”