If there’s one thing every writer needs: it’s Pinterest.
Oh hush. Silly people might wax poetic about research, engaging in life experiences, learning to edit, reading copiously, and listening to the world and etc. etc. whatever. But those are all small little butterflies upon the wind. What you really need, when writing a novel, is to create the perfectly most aesthetically pleasing pinterest board. Then all your troubles will go away.
Today I’m going to show you how to make one. Because I’m KIND. * And for this grand tutorial, all you need is (1) a pinterest account, and (2) hours of your life you’re totally happy to throw into the void.
ARE WE GOOD TO GO? YES WE ARE.
Oh wait. You should probably follow me. 10/10 is worth it.
* I had to put “kind” in all caps so you would all believe me because I swear I AM KIND and you need to repeat that to yourselves as I demonstrate how dark and stabby my novel aesthetics are as we enter this post. Am I sweating nervously? Ha ha of course not.
I find making pinterest storyboards is extremely helpful to make up for my lack of imagination. You think I’m kidding right? WELL WRONG. I can’t visualise things hardly at all. My family likes to give me detailed explanations of this movie they saw and I’m like “BLANK BLANK BLANK oh I saw a photo of that actor once BLANK BLANK BLANK”. My brain is super helpful. All the time.
So while I’ll have a vague idea in my head of how I want my novel to look, I’ll go on Pinterest and get inspired for settings and costumes. I look up 18th century Parisian attire and know how to describe it better. I’ll figure out how to put my castle in the air. Best yet: I’ll see something completely random like a super nice tree and then rewrite my entire book to fit that in because #aesthetic.
And of course all we writers flap about complaining about how Pinterest DRAINS OUR LIFE AND FREE TIME and that’s its fault. Not ours. But there is one important thing we need to acknowledge: you cannot be an artist who puts out art again and again and again, without taking art in. You eat = you get energy from food. It’s the same with art! So while I might be “wasting time” putting together a storyboard in some snide gumnut’s eyes…I’m actually filling my head with beautiful art that inspires me. THERE IS ONLY WIN HERE.
Let us get started!
And it obviously goes without saying that you can make your pinterest boards anyway you freakishly please. My post is about making themed and aesthetic boards. But you!! can!! do!! pinterest!! however!! you!!! like!!!!!
Create a new board!
I put “WIP” in front of my boards to signify “work in progress” but you can do whatever. You can also just say “Untitled Idea #1” if you’re afraid someone will pinch your titles. I have literally no care these days about potential pinching, because if someone pinterest worm is going to steal my title, what’s the chance of them becoming a Famous Bestselling Author before me? NOT VERY. I SHALL BE FAMOUS AT DAWN. *
Some people also start their boards off as “Secret”.
I do not because I’m vain and want people to admire my boards straight away. Also you CAN switch back and forth from secret any time you want!
* Not this dawn but the next. Or the one after. Look it’s a working progress here, and dawn and I are having serious discussions, okay??
Now you’ve got your board it’s time to THINK.
Be careful with this step because I don’t want you injuring yourself. Thinking is not easy for all.
Before I start looking for pins I like to have a good idea of (1) the style, (2) the theme, and (b) the colours.
The colours are actually the thing that will make your board look aesthetic SO BE FIRM. If it ain’t the right colour/tone/feel it doesn’t go on.
Which fully sucks sometimes. I admit. But, like I say: do what you want with a board. But if you want the aesthetic look, you’ll need to make sacrifices. Hence I often don’t pin a lot of people who totally match my characters because they’re rarely in the right clothes.
OTHER THINGS I’LL DECIDE:
- what is the general feel of the book…like icy mountains or warm cosy houses?
- what race/ethnicity will my characters be
- what are the settings (ie: water, ships, castles, forests)
- what genre is it
- what style of clothes are they going to wear (ie: queenly dresses, jeans and tee shirts, medieval garb)
- how much blood shall i splatter everywhere
I usually have had my story idea for a while before starting my pinterest. I like to say “well this idea just got REAL” when I finally cave and create the pinterest board.
The trick is: build a board FOR your book. Not build a board to FIND your book. By all means = be inspired by pinterest and add in things you hadn’t thought of earlier. But the key to writing is staying exciting about what you’re working on. I personally think this happens when the idea is WHOLLY YOURS and not something cobbled together from pinterest.
Okay this is the golden question: “WHERE DO I FIND THE RIGHT PINS, CAIT??”
Because it’s all very well to know you want a snowy aesthetic board full of owls and white dresses and badass queens — but where do you get them from?! #halp
There are, actually, so many ways to find pins and I shall show you DOZENS. Sit tight.
FINDING PINS METHOD #1:
You follow other writers and fill your feed with their stuff and ergo steal it all.
I actually have no idea who I’m following after being here for like 4 years, but whatever. Here are some recommendations to get you started. And click on these boards to go to their accounts:
You can also go scroll through the 300+ other people I follow. But why, fren. I need to do a clean out but also #no.
FINDING PINS METHOD #2:
Go search. This is one thing I rarely do because the results are never specific enough. And I sometimes don’t know WHAT I want until I’ve found it, you know?
THE THINGS THAT ARE TRENDING ARE A WEIRD COMBINATION THAT CONCERN ME. AND NO. I HAVEN’T LOOKED ANY OF THEM UP. I FEEL LIKE SOMEONE IS MARRYING DYLAN O’BRIEN AND HAVING 9 CHILDREN WITH HIM ASAP.
FINDING PINS METHOD #3:
Go searching for related pins. HONESTLY my favourite method. And because I have a have collected pins for 4+ years, I find it easy to find at least a starting off pin. But you can search for one, or snabble it off someone else’s board, or whatever.
So first I find the beginning pin. Then click on it. Then SCROLL DOWN — and suddenly I have 50+ pins that pinterest deems are related. Like aesthetically pleasing cousins, bless them.
And then you have all the boards that lead from those related pins to explore!
FINDING PINS METHOD #4:
Another way to find related pins is, when you click on the original photo, look below and see the other THOUSANDS OF BOARDS that photo has been pinned to. Chances are, some of them are going to have more like it. Chances are, you suddenly need to go through 7.4K boards.
I did mention black hole, did I not?
So much black hole.
OMG THE PRETTY. EXCUSE ME WHILE I TAKE A BREAK FROM THIS TUTORIAL AND PIN. [insert heart eyes here]
FINDING PINS METHOD #5:
Now if you’re a reader, you better be a bookworm too. And due to the internet being full of enthusiastic fangirls, they’ve already done our work for us. BOOK AESTHETIC BOARDS, OKAY?!?!? THEY’RE AMAZING. Simply figure out what actual published books are similar to yours and then go see if some glorious fan has made a fan-board for it.
My favourites to look up tend to be The Raven Cycle and Six of Crows. But you could look up Cinder if you’re looking for some sci-fi pins, or An Ember in the Ashes if you’re looking for Roman-esque desert fantasy worlds, or Shadowhunters if you want some paranormal creatures.
So very very helpful to have someone gathering aesthetics for me already.
#nice
- I don’t recommend 100% raiding someone’s board. Because even if it’s cool, it’s not necessarily keeping true to YOUR story. Pretty pins are excellent, but it gets overwhelming when you’re pinning black crows and your book doesn’t have black crows but you wanted it for #aesthetic and then your story starts getting jumbled in your head.
- So just raid their boards, like, 90%. Especially if they’re excellent because holy grapes. Wow.
- Don’t use pinterest to procrastinate. Dooooon’t. It’ll just make you SAD later on. Use it to build your board, get inspired, and devour the art with your puny little eyeballs.
- Don’t freak out if you can’t find the right faces for your characters. I basically don’t even bother with faces anymore. Like why not just have faceless blobs? It’s lovely. If you find yourself spending more time looking for perfect faces than actually developing the character — you are procrastinating, son.
- Do NOT take the photos off pinterest and edit them! This is stealing, fiends. I know lots of people do, but lots of people also eat marmalade and die. You don’t want to be like them. If you also use these photos on your blog, no matter if you leave a link, it’s still technically a copyright infringement. Better to embed the whole board onto your blog or take a full screenshot that shows it’s a pinterest board (so with your name logo there and link it all to your pinterest account). If you say “taken from pinterest” you’re literally saying “I know you made this sandwich but I’m still going to eat it” and that’s not nice.
- Remember the most important rule, if you want it to be aesthetic: COLOURS AND TONE AND STYLES.
- Remember me when you’re rich and famous for your glorious aesthetic boards. Because, you know, I’m raising you right, my darlings.
Omg why are they so BEAUTIFUL.
I love my pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/kladybug/
I almost basically live there. But I do come off of it to write. Like, every third Thursday. I might have a problem. Your pinterest is nice, too, and I frequently steal from you. I can’t choose a favorite of your boards, though, and don’t make me,
When I started Storyboarding, I focused on faces, but now, while I’ll pin a face I like if I come across one, I’m more into the quotes and some aesthetics these days. Most of my boards don’t have a specific theme (outside of, you know, fitting the book/series that they’re for), but some of them do. Like Fire and Song gets fire, bird, and firebird pictures. And Half-Hidden is 90% Dragons. And, lately, Rizkaland has been cute couples and heart-breaking quotes.
Don’t know what’s up with Rizkaland. I did not set out to write that series that way.
I’m going to be paying attention to my aesthetic more, now. Or I will for 0.5 seconds, because that’s my attention span.
Bahah, I won’t make you.😂 I’m so very happy you like my boards!! MY WORK HERE IS DONE.😂
Abd YES same! I thought faces were really important but like…not really? I don’t even barely describe faces when I write because I Find them too hard to visualise, so I more want to focus on world building and feeling of the settings. And I think it definitely helps me write better. :’)
Ahh they’re so beautiful *flails*. My boards are usually less aesthetic because I just pin stuff relating to what I am writing at the time. Writing about someone sailing on a boat? I look up pictures of that and pin that aesthetic… then suddenly I’m writing a scene in a tavern…. you guessed it… images for that. It’s actually pretty cool to be able to look back through my boards and see the progression of the story.
That’s fair though! It gives a good timeline of your book, right?!?😂 I’m basically so ridiculous about my boards that even if a pin would match PERFECTLY but is like the wrong colour…I skip it.😂
Oh, I do love these tips. I’ll have to use them. I’m trying to plan more writing things and I haven’t been using pinterest as much. Maybe this will give me incentive. Hmmm….Pinterest boards to explore? I would recommend yours because I repin things from your boards. Your boards are #goals. I love your “A Throne Named Death Board” ! It is soooo beautiful. You have now made me want to step up my pinterest game. Challenge accepted! But for now I will go to sleep because its 1 in the morning here right now. And you know, sleep its important for a growing pineapple/dragon/knight/book beast. I will accept almost any of those terminology’s. I will stop now before sleep deprivation kicks in. Bye! Until next time!
afjdkslad THANK YOU, LEAH. You always say such nice things. <3 I so need to write the Throne Named Death book hahaha.😂 I just pin excessively for it instead ahem. And I'm honoured that you chose reading my blog over sleep. :') And I'm pretty sure sleep IS good for growing because I never sleep AND I'm really small. There must be a connection...
See, my problem is not creating the Pinterest boards, it’s actually writing the story once I have the pinboards created, haha. Seriously though, Pinterest is my favorite social media, so I love using it for stories! Except I consider mine more like inspiration/mood boards than aesthetics. So I don’t worry too much about colors, as long it’s not, like, something super bright and cheery looking for a dark story. (If I ever actually publish a book, I can go back and prettify it then lol.) And I like to go scroll through and look at the board before writing in order to get in the right frame of mind. Oh, and I’m one of those people who keeps my story pinboards secret lol. Not really sure why. And yes, your methods #3 and 4 are the best for finding pins that actually fit with the theme you’re looking for once you manage to find at least a few good pins! Maybe I should go raid your boards after I post this comment 😛
I scroll through my boards when I’m writing too!! Just to keep the feel in mind, and also remember what kind of setting I’m using. Because I have the memory of a damaged goldfish.😂😂 And fair enough about keeping them secret! I like followers hahaha. But YAY that we both use pinterest a lot! *hi fives*
AHHHH THEY ARE SO BEAUTIFUL. I haven’t used Pinterest for aaaages but I definitely need to more. Because #aesthetic. And it makes me want to do more with photography as well. But, you know, I have enough hobbies.
*disappears down the Pinterest black hole for three years*
It’s SUCH a good way to procrastinate. I mean, between twitter and pinterest, who needs to write. #WriterLogic 😂
Oh that’s what WIP stands for! O.o I could never understand what it meant when I scroll through Pinterest and see it on your boards.
I am a MASSIVE fan of Pinterest. Though I’m constantly rearranging boards cause I find I’m missing different topics so I need a new board and then end of moving half of my pins there.
It’s such a great place for inspiration. I don’t really write stories but this post is definitely helpful if I decided some day to start that novel I’ve been thinking about for years.
I actually love some pictures so much that I print them off and stick them to my inspiration board on my bedroom wall. It’s mainly art and photography. I’m also planning my future house, future wedding and future world. Pinterest is like my dream life ^_^
Yes! Omg I probably say WIP a lot here and don’t even explain it?! My bad.😂
And I would rearrange my boards more except I’m completely lazy haha. Sometimes I do delete things or am cruising through a board and realise I’ve pinned it wrong. Then I’ll do some reshuffling. I wish it let you re-order the pins though!!
Omg you have a physical inspiration board too?! #GOALS I would love to do that!!
omg I also wrote a post on my blog about using Pinterest for writing this week but yours is 1000x more useful and all of your boards are 1000x more aesthetically pleasing than mine! Honestly it is impossible to choose a favourite of your boards because I frequently enjoy looking through all of them. I was looking through a couple just last night in fact, in search of related pins for my own WIP boards! Now excuse me while I go check out all the accounts you recommended…
OH! I’ll have to go read your post!! TWINNING.😂 I’ve been procrastinating writing this one for like 3 weeks haha, because I tell people I’ll write a post and then I proceed to forget about it.😂 Ahem.
I really haven’t got a handle on the whole aesthetic thing. One of my Pinterest boards is like grim reapers, old houses, milkshakes, blondies, EXPLOSION OF QUOTES ON COLOURFUL BACKGROUNDS, gravestones… I also keep all of my boards secret, because I am shy.
Awww, I was going to say “EXPLOSIONS OF COLOUR AND GRAVESTONES I WANT TO SEE THIS!!” but fair enough to keep them private.😂 They still sound lots of fun!
I do have a pinterest! It’s pinterest.com/prabhleensach if you are wondering! I also saw a post like this on Abbiee’s blog, but I feel like this one is more extensive, so thank you so much! The weird thing is, I get ideas from literally everywhere. I will be coming home from school and wooo I see a tree! AN IDEA COMES ON ITS OWN LIKE I CANNOT HELP WHAT IS THIS ANYMORE? so like pinterest is highly affecting this since I am getting ideas from every picture I see. I just started to do aesthetic board stuff yesterday, and damn I am addicted. Now I know why you all complain about it so much! I am doing it like I am pinning stuff for different colours, themes, etc so that in the end when I start the board for my books, I won’t have to spend much time finding pins(maybe this works? I just have one board right now and that is for blue colour. Lol)
Plus I participated in Nano last year, and this year I am doing both of the Camp Nano’s and also the main Nano in November. What?? I may succeed? Who knows. my school is finishing soon so I have a lot of holidays, and I am thinking of plotting my two projects (oh yes indeed two) and Pinterest looks sooo helpful! EEEEEP. Your post couldn’t have come at a better timing though <33
YES! Abbiee did one recently too and I checked with her to see if she minded me doing this because I’d had it planned for a while haha. But I love how Abbiee did hers too with the gifs. <3
And DUDE I hear you with the ideas! I get ideas just from staring out the window or eating pizza. Ideas are amazing things and I think the more we train our brain to look for them, the more they come.😍
YAS for so much NaNo things happening!! I was going to edit this month and then do NaNo in April but honestly I might edit in April instead haha. Considering I've done nothing recently...😂
OKAY THEN. I did it. For my new WIP. And it probably sucks. XD But here you go anyway. https://nl.pinterest.com/bookaddictbieke/
Yay that you started pinterest!
I had a pinterest board twice and both times deleted, I think, I might have just deleted the app the last time. I just couldn’t really get into it. I do see the appeal though for writers. But I haven’t written in YEARS *cries* even though all of a sudden ideas I had 3 years ago are screeching in my mind again…
I totally get that! It isn’t for everyone. 😜And awk, I hope you get a chance to write soon…writing is liiiiife.
Yay! Thank you for doing this post!
I am on Pinterest and I’ve done book boards . . . though I confess, I don’t think much about aesthetic. Maybe I should? But I find it much more interesting to say “Hey, that looks like a character!” or “Hey! That quote sounds like someone/something from my story!” or “Hey! That writing prompt would fit really well in a later book in the series!” and so that’s what fills my boards. But I like these suggestions anyway and YES to following other writers; that’s gold.
I confess that I did not look closely at your boards at this time because, as you said, Pinterest= a black hole, and I have to get stuff done before breakfast, but I shall do that sometime soon, I hope.
Thanks again!
It honestly just depends on how you WANT to use pinterest!! Like aesthetic is awesome, but if it doesn’t suit one’s writing methods, one doesn’t have to do it.😜 I tend to be SO fussy with my boards haha and end up pinning bunches of stuff just because it matches. PINTEREST IS SUCH A BLACK HOLE THO. I nearly got lost in it just looking up pins for this post.😂 I had to keep reminding myself I AM WRITING A POST NOT SCROLLING RIGHT NOW.😂
Thanks for this fabulous tutorial, Cait! I did have a question though…How do you deal with not coming up with inappropriate images on Pinterest? I’m a younger writer and my story is a little on the supernatural side but I don’t want to come up with inappropriate things.
Thanks! 😀
I guess it depends on what you consider “inappropriate”? You mean like monsters or something?? I can’t really help you there because I pin a lot of scary/monster pins sorry! I guess just don’t look up darker images?
I seriously left your post in favor of Pinterest and made nine new boards. I must be doing this right.
SO DEFINITELY DOING THIS RIGHT.
THANK YOU OH WISE CAIT this blog post is so helpful
I’M GLAD YOU LIKED IT. 🎉🎉
OMG thank you for sharing your secrets to this Pinterest aesthetic board wizardry. I’ve stared at your boards for such a long time thinking, “HOW DOES SHE DO IT???” Me being me and terrible at anything visually pleasing, I never once thought about a color scheme. xD I’ll have to make some changes to my Pinterest boards.
It’s totally not even hard, right?!? I haven’t always been into making them really aesthetically matching but now I’ve started I can’t stop.😂
Oh yes, my love, Pinterest … Satan’s Picture Book! Ha ha. 😂
PINTEREST IS A DELIGHTFUL BLACK HOLE.😍
😈
*cries from happiness* Thank you, dear Queen Cait. This was so aesthetically appealing and beautiful and helpful and I just can’t… *cries some more*
Okay so I don’t actually HAVE pinterest??? BUT I’M ASKING MY MADRE THIS MONDAY while my dad’s in Houston BECAUSE I NEEEEEED PINTEREST even though there’s the little fact that my lovely parents don’t want me on social media but PINTEREST IS BARELY SOCIAL MEDIA???
BUT DIS VILL COME IN HANDY if/WHEN MY PARENTS ALLOW ME TO USE LE PINTEREST. Also all your boards are so pretty and how am I supposed to choose a favorite???
Pfft, pinterest is barely social media if you’re using it like this hahh.😂I mean, LOTS of people use it for networking but I’ve never networked on it in my life. I just use it for storyboards and collecting gifs because GIF ADDICT HERE. Anyway, I hope you can get one! Sometimes it’s hard to remember not to waste your life on it…but it’s so helpful still?! I love.😍
XD Yeah, if I were to get it, the only thing I would use it for is boards and pinning and aesthetics. 😉 And haha, I’m pretty sure I’ll be addicted if/when I get it… XD
I have to admit it never occurred to me to use Pinterest as inspiration for visuals for my novels. I do like to pick up writing/dialogue prompts off there occasionally, but this idea is new to me. And I like it. (#Pinterestaddict)
Oh I’m really glad the post was helpful for you then!!! THAT MAKES ME GLAD.
I JUST NEED TO MAKE ALL THE AESTHETIC BOARDS. But goodness gracious, I’ll need to carve out, like, a month to properly dedicate myself to the art of aesthetic boards.
I HEAR YA. I mean, I say “lose 2 hours in the void” but it’s more like 2 years.😂
This is probably the funniest blog post I have read in a while. Also the most helpful. I just started Pinterest for my writing and I have no idea what I’m doing. I have some quotes from my book and a board for writing tips and that’s about it. No wonder I have zero followers, goodness.
OMG GOOD. I’m glad it was amusing too. 😂 MY WORK HERE IS DONE. I hope you have good luck with making your boards!!
Oh this is awesome! Thanks. I have a hard time creating pinterest boards sometimes. 🙂
I’m so glad!! 😊😊 I had lots of fun putting this one together haha.
“Spend two hours in the void,” CAIT I WISH I ONLY SPENT TWO HOURS IN THE VOID THAT IS PINTEREST.
I absolutely love this post, okay?? I adore using Pinterest to help me with visualizing both characters in my stories, and how I want the overall mood to feel. The main story board I post to is my Bastard Boys one (https://www.pinterest.com/notgarycooper/bastard-boys/) although I have a few other boards for WIPs on my acc. ^-^
Your Scorpion Deep + The Misery Rules boards are my personal favorites. <3
OMGGGG YOUR BASTARD BOYS BOOK OMGGGG. I LOVE IT. May I just sit here and stare at the awesome now bECAUSE I WILL.😍 I totally think pinterest has helped me write better!! Like just to have more of a feel of my story and setting and the little details?!? THANK YOU PINTEREST FOR EXISTING.😍
You can also pin stuff directly from non-Pinterest websites. That’s another way to fill up the board…
That’s true! I forgot about that because I like never am on other websites these days.😂
This is something I have thought about doing and fail miserably at. I am going to go raid the boards you suggested and get something going! I’ve never really thought about thinking of my book in terms of a color aesthetic, but I do think that would really help! Thanks for all the great suggestions!
YOU’RE WELCOME.😂 I mean, there’s SO many ways to go about making cool pinterest boards and this is just one…but it’s lots of fun. And I find I write way better settings now that I have like visuals of them. :’)
OMG CAIT! It’s only been a couple of days since I built one (after mooching heavily from your boards, tbh, but others as well) and my OUTLINE is coming together so BEAUTIFULLY. I mean, I HAD an outline I was fairly happy with (not to mention a first draft with gaping holes), but the details I hadn’t quite worked out have just settled into place now! And everything feels so much more vivid than before 😀
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE INSPIRATION!
THIS IS MAKING ME SO SO HAPPY. <3 I'LL TAKE FULL CREDIT FOR YOUR AWESOMENESS.😂😂
My pinterest is https://www.pinterest.com/karatemunchkin/
I think you and I have the same methods for finding pins. Except I get distracted by something totally irrelevant, pin it, and then frantically clean up my boards ten hours later because I pinned all these strawberries and TARDISes and cute dragons to my vicious wizard storyboard. #BadIdea
I really, really like your Skin Library board. It’s beautiful. Although your The Boy Who Steals Houses is really nice too. I just love all your storyboards! And most of your others too, if I’m being honest here.
I try really hard for aesthetics, (and I think I finally nailed it with my newest storyboard, The Soul Game) but if I find a pin that looks exactly like my character and totally does not match my aesthetic, I tend to pin it anyway, BECAUSE IT IS MINE. MINE, I TELL YOU.
Thank you so much for doing this post! I have been waiting for foreeeeeever….well, since you said you would do it. BUT DETAILS.
Also, I have been wondering about starting my own book/writing/cat blog when I’m done with the school year. How would you recommend starting?
It’s so hard when we get distracted by CUTE STRAWBERRIES THO. I mean, what is one even to do.😂
Aww, thankyou!! I really enjoy pinning when I get a chance! And I’m off to check out your boards (particularly this Soul Game) now!!
Ooh, so starting a blog is such a good idea and totally recommend it. If you’re not sure what platform to go with, maybe do some googling and see which one would better suit you? Blogger is good and easy for beginners I think, but if you want to go from a more professional angle straight away if you think you want to have a .com name eventually, then I’d say wordpress. (I started on blogger, but migrated to wordpress after a few years. So you can do what you want!)
Kind of unrelated, but did you switch the font you use for your banners?
Also now I wish I could write just so I could make pinterest boards 🙂
Haha yes! I used a different one this week.😂 For no real reason! And GREAT REASON TO START BEING A WRITER.😂
Omg haha….I haven’t written anything in years so I don’t know why I was so excited to read this post…But I have a hunch that it’s to do with my obsession/love for pinterest. Pinterest is the place I go to get motivation for basically every aspect of my life…I think I would literally combust if Pinterest was ever gone haha.
So although I may not make boards for my own stories just yet, I definitely love making boards for fantasy series I’m reading atm. Like you, I find it difficult to make up faces for each new character I encounter, or each cool building that’s described…that’s when I turn to Pinterest to help my imagination along haha. It’s super helpful in that way!
Also, your boards are pure aesthetic, I think I’m in love :o.
-Sam.
PINTEREST IS LIFE!!! And so much motivation. I pin so much arty stuff and tell myself I’m going to spontaneously combust into being an artist…and yet, no.😂But it might happen. If I stare at it long enoguh, right??
That’s so awesome you do it for books you’re reading!! I LOVE THAT.
Oooh, I love pinterest. I don’t go for the aesthetic look though – if it’s relevant to my story, it goes in. I also use it to keep a hold of links to various research that I’m doing FOR the story, which can be problematic when a site has good stuf, but no pretty pictures. But that makes me sad for all of ten seconds.
That’s fair!! There are SO many ways to do it. I love doing it this way, but one can have an epic and functional board no matter what they do. And omg it’s such a problem when there’s no photos on a good site with text right?!? The internet needs to catch up that we want to pin everything.😂
….to paraphrase Allie Brosh: PIN ALL THE THINGS!!! 🙂
I just got Pinterest and I’m SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!!!! *yelps* Last weekend, I was looking for pictures on Google to help me with my latest WIP and I was finally like, “This ain’t going nowhere, I need to break down and try Pinterest.” And I did . . . and in like TWO DAYS I had so many awesome pictures, I almost couldn’t believe it. #neverlookingback
YAS I’M SO GLAD YOU BROKE AND GOT PINTEREST!! Honestly it’s so fantastic and really helps my writing so so much. And the organisation of having different books in different folders? NICE.
I have to say I’m concerned that I didn’t come across this idea for writing or think of it at all ever. I am so easily bogged down by small details like this that could be expressed in photos and help me stay motivated! Keeping my motivation going for more than a week can be super hard for me (I am a easily distracted squirrel, basically).
I do have a Pinterest, but I never really got into it which is hard to believe considering my distraction disorder :P. I’ll have to go and have a look at it again! Also, aesthetic being related to colors is so true! I want to have ALL THE THINGS but they need their own separate board! Oh gosh, I’m headed down the rabbit hole now.
Omg I’m so glad this is helpful for you then!! *throws confetti over both of us!! Although don’t get too distracted and forget to write.😂 I generally pinterest while I’m plotting, because it helps SO MUCH and then while I’m writing, I just look at it for inspiration. <3
GOOD LUCK IN THE RABBIT HOLE.
Loooove it! What was life before Pinterest? Like, for real what did I even do?? *shrugs and goes on Pinterest*
It was a dark and evil time FOR SURE.
OMG SO MANY WIPs!!! O_O Go you 😀 Also, this was super helpful because I’ve tried playing around with Pinterest but found it kind of confusing and gave up, so maybe I’ll try it again XD I know most authors use it 🙂 Awesome post, Cait!
Brittany @ Brittany’s Book Rambles
OH THANK YOU, KIND SOUL. <3 And yes faaaar too many WIPs. 😂 I confess not all of them are written out yet. Out of the 23 there, only 12 are actually written.😂😂
I’m on Pinterest but I don’t have a board for my book ideas. I do like this idea, and I might have to try it soon. It would be really helpful I think. My problem is that I’m doing a contemporary novel, and there really isn’t as much exciting things – it would be cooler if it was scifi/fantasy or even historical.
IT is really helpful!!😍 And inspiring, especially if you get into a bit of a slump or anything. And haha I know how you feel about contemporaries.😂 I end up pinning lots of waffles and coffee because what else happens in contemporaries?😂
Great tips Cait! I love your boards <3
I quite like mine as well ^_^- https://au.pinterest.com/jaimiloewen/boards/ 😀
Oh thank you!! I’m off to stalk yours!
YAAS PINTEREST QUEEN TEACH ME YOUR WAYS
excuse me while I stare at pinterest for 7000+ hours I’m fine I promise
I’LL JUST STARE FOR 7000+ HOURS WITH YOU. WE’RE FINE TOGETHER.
AHHH CAIT thank you SO MUCH for writing this post, this is a massive help for me. I am trying to write so I don’t know if I could consider myself as a writer, but anyways, and I always thought that Pinterest would be an incredible source of inspiration – but…I had NO idea where to start this, how to make a board, how to make something that actually works without getting lost in the black void that is Pinterest and forgetting my story and my whole life in the process. SO THANK YOU, will definitely use this to try and give myself some more inspiration to write my story! <3
If you write, you’re a writer! OWN IT, MARIE, DON’T LET ANYONE TELL YOU OTHERWISE. *sprinkles confetti in your hair* But I’m really glad this is helpful for you!! It took me a while to figure out these tricks but omg, so so helpful to get boards started. 😍
I love Pinterest so much! I just started using it for writing, but I do inspiration board instead of aesthetic because I can not aesthetic to save my life what even is that? Actually, I just got BACK INTO writing and made a brand new Pinterest and it is so flopping helpful (even though all my book-y boards are mostly secret right now because #whatarereaders ) I use several different boards for each WIP because all my main characters get their own board because they are my children so. But Pinterest accounts like yours are a godsend and so inspiring and aah I could never choose a favorite but I like The Boy Who Steals Houses and anything with crowns (because I immediately steal them and use them for my Freakin’ Princess inspo board xD )
Aww, thanks, Tom!! And I totally get that doing aesthetic boards aren’t for everyone. Pinterest should be just what YOU need it to be.😂🎉🎉 Also fajdkslad I’m glad you like my Stealing Houses board. <3 It's pretty different to my others and I LOVE IT.
I’m SO ADDICTED TO MAKING THESE. I think you’ve seen them before…but I get super into it. When I was plotting a vampire novel I actually had a friend tell me that she had to unfollow the board because I was pinning so much bloody stuff it made her stomach churn.
I also stalk your boards quite often, because they are amazing.
Oooh, and do you know what I figured out? If you put the word “aesthetic” after whatever you’re searching for, you’ll get much better results! Like, searching “fantasy aesthetic” will give you a lot better selection than just searching “fantasy”
YESSSS I love your boards!!! You’re so good at it honestly omg. And I probably shouldn’t laugh at your friend haha, but tbh I sometimes pin a lot of dark stuff and then wonder how many of my sisters follow me.😂 Oh well. They shall be bombarded with monster creatures of the darkness interspersed with Supernatural gifs.
I did not know that about aesthetic!! I’M TRYING THAT OUT THANK YOU.
Sooooo i was going to spend tonight writing SlavicNovel (finally I’m back to writing fun things and not school things, I’m so excited) but I think I’m now going to dedicate an hour or five to getting my messy pinterest boards in order. Who knows if actual writing will happen once i fall down the hole of pinterest?
(Also I think we already follow each other maybe who knows but here is my grand mess of an account: https://www.pinterest.com/literaryrambles/)
I’m not sure if I should be sorry or clap BECAUSE PINTEREST IS STILL A GOOD WAY TO WASTE YOUR LIFE. I mean, pfft, not wasting. Crucial to writers existence. :’) I’m 99% sure I follow you but I’ll check. 😂
YES THIS POST!!! So many good things!!! I absolutely wish that my boards were as aesthetically beautiful as yourn, but I am an addict for Tumblr textposts. *sighs* Though I have been trying to make some nice ones lately, so I must thank you for these wonderful tips.
Textposts are awesome too!! I used to pin them but got out of the habit because I like having everything matching like this hhaaha. #obsessed
THIS POST IS WONDERFUL. I mean, all of your posts that I have read were great. But, Pinterest, dude, is going to help me write my first damned novel (I hope it’s not damned, but that’s how it feels right now). So many great tips here. I didn’t even think to research already published novels, because…I don’t know. I want my novel to be a special snowflake.
Also: YOU CAN’T FIND YOUR CHARACTER FACES TOO?! Oh my goodness, I’m like, “She should be Arab American.” *Searches* Dude, why are they all stereotypes! I want normal brown people.
Now, I am going to creep on your followed Pinterest peeps to find more inspiration.
AWESOME POST IS AWESOME.
*NINJA POOFS*
*VANISHES*
AHHH I HOPE IT HELPS YOU TOO!! And pfft, of course pinterest will help. There’s nothing pinterest can’t do, basically. I’m hoping eventually it’ll get to the stage where it can write the novel for me. #CaitLogic
I can never find the right faces omg. And I get annoyed at how hard it is to find fantasy attire + brown people. It shouldn’t be that hard??? WHAT IS THIS WORLD. *breaks a plate*
I am glad you are encouraging a new generation of writers to embrace pinterest board, because as a reader I completely freaking adore them! It helps me envision the characters, it helps me understand the writer’s mood and headspace for the project, and I also love using them as inspiration to make the book-related graphics <3 I actually make pinterest boards of my own for books whenever I am about to make a graphic art out of the novel, and I find it immensely helpful. Thanks for all the tips in locating new pins, Cait!
Ahhh THANK YOU, KIND SOUL. 💕💕 I know we all give pinterest a lot of glaring for how much it eats our time (its fault, obviously not ours…) but omg it is a glorious thing for writers and bookworms and artists. Couldn’t be without it.😍
Cait I read this post 5 hours ago and till now I’ve been creating a board for my story!!! Thank you for that <3 Best 5 hours this week 😛 – https://in.pinterest.com/shankariuma30/wip-indian-fantasy/ (Btw, the story is going to be all stabby stabby!!) This was an amazing and epicly informative post <33 I CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH!!! 😀 I promise I'l grow up, travel to Australia and buy you loads of cake and books <33
THIS MAKES ME REALLY HAPPY THOUGH UMA. <3 I mean, if I'm going to waste my life down the rabbit hole of pinterest, at least you can come too. 😇 #CaitLogic *dashes off to look at your boards*
Aaaah! I love this!! I told myself I was just give myself one board to work one. Just one, that wouldn’t be too bad, right?
I ended up creating a brand new account JUST for my novels, and am now juggling between 6 boards! How did that happen!? What happened to my life? Where did all those hours go!? I guess I better get back to it, those boards aren’t going to pin themselves!
I RELATE SO MUCH.😂😂 I mean, it’s great! Time consuming, but honestly really inspiring so I love it. <3😂
I used to think pinterest is a huge waste of time until one sunny day I decided to procrastinate and make one for my book. And it’s so helpful!! It really does inspire me every time I look at it, so muchas yay for that. The only thing that bothers me is that you can’t easily move the pins around on your board, because I don’t necessarily find them in the order I later want them. Thanks for the tip with the related images!
IT IS SO HELPFUL. I mean, technically it can be a huge waste of time too. 😂😂 But at least it’s semi-useful/helpful at the same time. And dude, ugh yes. I wish you could rearrange the pins within the boards. I also wish for boards-within-boards because I’d love to like have separate boards for characters and scenery and whatnot, but still have them together, you know?
THIS IS THE GREATEST OF ALL THE GREAT THINGS! I have two secret pinterest boards for my two WIP novels, but they’re more inspiration and less aesthetically-pleasing, so the colors and pictures are kind of all over the place. I’ve been thinking of making two: my current one and then a pretty one like the ones you make! 🙂
Thanks for all the tips, Cait!
~Sara
That’s still awesome! Whatever works for you and your book, right?!? 🎉🎉
I don’t use pinterest really, but I LOVE looking at author’s boards, especially after finishing one of their books. I’ll spend a good hour or two scrolling through the board and feeling so many feels as I find pictures that clearly inspired particular scenes or characters.
Yessss, it’s so awesome to do that!! I may or may not look at a ridiculous amount of Six of Crow boards BECAUSE OBSESSED.😍
I joined Pinterest a while ago, but I never really pinned or uploaded anything because I used Google+ more often. Now I am in love with Pinterest, and this post is sooooooo helpful. I find that looking at pictures and boards on Pinterest is kind of helpful for getting ideas for a book. But my boards are NOT very aesthetic unfortunately…
I’m so glad you’ve discovered pinterest too!! *hi fives* IT IS A PLACE OF GLORIOUS AWESOME.
OKAY SO I JUST LEARNED SO MANY MORE THINGS ABOUT MAKING AESTHETICS!!!! ahhhh. Pinterest is an addiction and you just gave me so manyyyyy excuses to spend wayyyy more time on it! (victory!!) Ooh, and this is my profile: https://www.pinterest.com/thatbookgal/ . And don’t ask me to choose a favorite board! All of yours are my favorites. They’re amazing and gorgeous and wonderful ahhhhh
YAYYY I’M SO GLAD YOU LIKED THE POST!! I shall come stalk your boards now. 😉
Aw, they’re not amazing but they relate fairly well to my books 🙂
YES I use Pinterest all the time!! I’ve been really getting into it more lately since I’ve finished the first draft of my book, took a month break away from it, gotten feedback, and am preparing to tackle the whole editing phenomenon thing. Pinterest boards are helping me to visualize stuff in my head because I am like you, I can’t imagine/describe anything, and a lot of the feedback I got was to expand and spend more time describing/worldbuilding/etc. So to Pinterest I go!
I’m so glad we’ve got pinterest to help with our lack of visualising!! *hi fives* Honestly it’s a LIFESAVER and helps me stay motivated with seeing how I want my book to look at the end. 😍😍 GOOD LUCK WITH THE REWRITES!!
Ack, Cait!!! Your Pinterest boards are so gorgeous!!! *dies*
Ohhhhh… what a good tip! I never really thought about the color making it look more aesthetic. I mean, I know people do “color boards” where they pin pretty blue or pink or yellow things, but it never occurred to me that you could apply that rule to all your boards for a more matching look. I will have to try that!
I love your how-to posts, by the way! 🙂
OH THANK YOU, KATE. This makes me very happy. *flails* And yes! Like you don’t have to be 100% with the colour, but if you keep a vague colour it really does help tie it together.
(Aww, thank you so much!!)
Ahhh thank you for this post – it’s the perfect excuse for me to get back into procrasti-pinning!
Seriously though, I keep underestimating how motivating and inspiring Pinterest can be. At the moment I’m in a WIP slump that I’m trying to get out of. I currently only have Pinterest boards for specific characters/settings etc., but I totally didn’t think how inspiring it could be to just make a few boards based purely on aesthetic. Going to jump in ASAP and try to get that spark back! (This will most likely involve gawking at a bunch of your boards – they look beautiful!)
🙂
“THE THINGS THAT ARE TRENDING ARE A WEIRD COMBINATION THAT CONCERN ME. AND NO. I HAVEN’T LOOKED ANY OF THEM UP. I FEEL LIKE SOMEONE IS MARRYING DYLAN O’BRIEN AND HAVING 9 CHILDREN WITH HIM ASAP.”
I laughed out loud really hard at that hahaha.
Also, I must now make Pinterest Aesthetic Storyboards. I didn’t need to, before, but after reading this post, this is a thing that must happen! I followed you, even though I use my Pinterest for every day things(like recipes I’ll never make and clothing I can’t afford) and not for novel inspiration. I’ll have to make my boards secret, so not as to confuse my precious 10 followers. Thank you for sharing this idea with me! I’ve seen the aesthetic collages done before, but it makes a lot of sense to do them on Pinterest, seeing as I could never limit my aesthetic to just 6-9 pictures.
I’m glad you like the idea!! There are definitely TONS of ways to use pinterest and this is just one of them.😂 But it’s fun haha.
This is such a helpful post. I created a board for my Camp NaNoWriMo WIP but I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I’M DOING. So thanks for all the helpful tips. My board isn’t all that great (yet!) but I’m still leaving my link because I’m going to fix it. Just you wait and see. It’ll be awesome and so aesthetic <3
https://au.pinterest.com/eline_vantilt/camp-nanowrimo/
I hope you have fun with the board…and with Camp! WRITING IS SO GOOD THOUGH. I JUST LOVE AND ADORE WRITING. <3
Awesome post Cait.
I love using Pinterest, but I don’t know how to use it for my new book blog.
I mean, should I create pinnable graphics for my book and review posts or should I just pin images from the posts. Creating attractive graphics for different posts I know is a good thing, but don’t know how it works for book bloggers 🙂
I don’t even know how to use pinterest for my blog either! I just tend to use it for my writing. 🙂
For the finding pins method #4, I can not seem to access other boards whenever I click it nothing happens. I’m not sure if this is a new update but I can not seem to access the other boards on the app or the website.
Actually pinterest has since updated since I wrote this post. Sorry. 😭😭 I was SUPER frustrated that we can’t do that now too…
Argh, so beautiful!! I’m working on a board right now. It doesn’t look anywhere near as good as yours!
Thank you for this! I’ve been wondering about the plagiarism thing and how to use the photos from Pinterest the right way. Are you saying that as long as you don’t edit the photos, you can use them and it’s not considered plagiarism? Thank you!
Honestly the only “legal” way to use photos on pinterest is to repin them…so no editing them and no uploading them onto a blog or anything! (Unless you have permission from the owner and credit them, but you kinda have to have both.) Hope that helps!
I tried to follow you but your link, I think, takes me to a different Cait’s board which is full of… pictures of young Asian boys?
Agh oh no! This post is pretty old and I’ve changed my URL! Sorry about that. I’m now: http://pinterest.com/paper_fury
I’ll also update the post.
Great, thanks!
So far, I only tried to keep my overall pinterest look kind of aesthetic hahaha but i’m definately gonna try and make some storyboards! Will definately check your account out too. 🙂
After seeing your boards, I think you will propbably appreciate some of mine too!
https://nl.pinterest.com/AcrosssHistory/
Thanks for this helpful post! <3
Aw yay thanks for sharing your link!
As a new writer, I wasn’t really sure what others meant by using Pinterest for my writing needs. That is, until I stumbled across your article. Thank you so much for the great tips! Getting ideas now on using Pinterest for storyboards and other writing related projects.
Thank you so much for this post! I’ve been worried about copyright infringement but now feel happy to use Pinterest for my boards.
Have you published any books yet?
Because this sounds weird but I like your personality. (this is the point where you’re probably calling 911 to report a creep).
Like your writing is really fun and entertaining and has a lot of personality to it, which I can see translating well to your books. Also, your aesthetics look fabulous, so I’m thoroughly intrigued with the actual books themselves.
ah haha yes, it’s all right there in my blog’s sidebar! I have two books out: A Thousand Perfect Notes and The Boy Who Steals Houses, available in most bookstores and online!
OH MY GOSH C.G. You just saved my life! XD I’ve been struggling to create a storyboard to get the images out of my head so I can actually see them. I’m super happy because I have a secret board for *spoilers* and then a regular board so people can get a taste of what I’m working on 😀 I was really having a hard time finding pins, so THANK YOU!!