Wednesday, May 03, 2023

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, Writing Inspiration, and The Shark Tour Kicks Off


It’s time for another edition of The Insecure Writer’s Support Group, founded by Ninja Captain, Alex J. Cavanaugh.

Today’s question: When you are working on a story, what inspires you?


Sometimes it’s playlists I will put together for a particular story. Most often it’s a collection of images. I created Boards on Pinterest for all four In Darkness stories and I collected hundreds of images that fit the location and feel for the story. (There’s one extra Board for a story about a ghost that just never came together.) I’m a visual person, so images tend to work best for me.

And if you’re curious about those Pinterest Boards:
The Vampire / The Shark / The Werewolf / The Alien



In Darkness: The Shark releases next Tuesday. The tour kicks off today at Lynda Young’s site as I talk about amusing Aussie words & phrases and why I love paranormal romance. I’m also at the IWSG Anthologies site today discussing rapid-releasing a series.

Here is the full schedule:

May 3 Lynda Young
and IWSG Anthologies

May 5 Australian Romance Readers

May 8 Alex J. Cavanaugh

May 9 Tyrean Martinson

May 10 Denise Covey

May 12 Elizabeth Seckman

May 15 Jemi Fraser




What inspires you? Do you create Boards for your stories?

34 comments:

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Congratulations!

I've used images before for character creation...it can really help!

H. R. Sinclair said...

Congrats!

I used images as well. I keep key images in Scrivener.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Looking forward to hosting you next week!

Carol Kilgore said...

You're so organized. Images just come in my head and I describe what I see there. Have fun on your blog tour.

emaginette said...

Congrats! I love playlists and images. I also set the mood with ambient sounds from caves, space stations, storms, etc from YouTube. :-)

Elizabeth Seckman said...

Songs are really good at sparking ideas for stories and for hitting the right emotion for a scene.

Jemi Fraser said...

I wish I was more of a visual person. I've tried making Pinterest boards, but I tend to ignore them for months at a time. Just not my media I guess.
Music is a much better inspiration source for me

Joylene Nowell Butler said...

Yes, Pinterest is a great source of ideas and images. I use anything I can get my hands or eyes on. Happy IWSG Day, Diane.

Rachna Chhabria said...

Hi Diane, I'm planning to make a mood board for my current novel.

cleemckenzie said...

Play lists are excellent. That way you can set up your music to suit the mood d'jour!

If you'd like to stretch out your promo, I could put your book up on May 17.

Diane Burton said...

I forgot about Pinterest boards. I do one for each of my books. Great inspirations. Best wishes for your new release.

Arlee Bird said...

I never created a story board, but I have done outlines which works to keep me on track of my story. When I was actually writing stories (it's been a few years) I used to play a lot of Bruckner and other long dense classical pieces. Background music is what works for me,

Lee

Sandra Cox said...

Hey Di, Many congrats. You are more than welcome to visit at my place.

Patricia JL said...

Congrats on your book!
I love Pinterest, but strangely, I've never made boards for my stories. I mostly use it for food and knitting.

Olga Godim said...

Images work for me as well. Sometimes, I would make a pre-made cover and suddenly think of a story to fit it. Or a heroine. Or a scene. Funny how imagination works.

Natalie Aguirre said...

Congrats on your new book, Diane! That's awesome that you're working more on your own writing.

Melissa said...

I sometimes find instrumental music that helps get me in the right mood for a scene. Mostly the research is what fleshes out my plots.

Congrats on the upcoming release! Best of luck!

Leigh Caron said...

Fun that you have boards. Sometimes I'll use a photo of actor to see in my head how he'd respond to what he says in my book.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Thanks, Alex!

Carol, organization is my God-given talent.

Lee, thank you!

Sandra, would you be able to host me in Sept. for The Werewolf?

Miffie Seideman said...

Wow! That is organized! I listen to a specific soundtrack for mood during writing, but have never managed to do any other kind of imagination support like pictures. Kudos to you for finding something that works!

Kristina Kelly said...

When I was writing my own post, I don’t know why I forgot about pictures! I will often specifically search for artwork in the fantasy genre to inspire everything from buildings to outfits

C. D. Gallant-King said...

Music is very big for me. Songs and styles of music greatly impact the flow and tone of my stories.

Liz A. said...

Paranormal romance is great, well, when done well. It can also go off the rails so easily. I'm visual too, so I can see how boards would be helpful.

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

Yes! Music and images are a great inspiration.
Best wishes for your new release. Super happy to have helped.

Rebecca M. Douglass said...

Congrats on the new release!

I haven't ever used images to inspire a novel (though sometimes I do the WritePhoto hop and write flash fiction from a picture). I wonder if it would help--I don't visualize people well, and I guess that might help me remember what they look like, if I could find the right images.

Nick Wilford said...

That's great that images are so helpful for you. I'm not that visual, I've made a moodboard before but after the story was done. Maybe I'll change that next time and see if it sparks inspiration.

Fundy Blue said...

Hi, Diane! Aha! Now I know who Alex's special guest is on Monday! I hope you have lots of fun on your book tour! I enjoyed looking at your story boards. The shark one was something else! I'm visual too, but I use my photographs for inspiration. I usually write about places I know well. Sometimes I will search the internet for photos that speak to me about what I'm writing. Have a happy and productive May!

Loni Townsend said...

I like that you're inspired by pictures. Despite being an artist and often surrounding myself with art, I find they don't really play a role in my writing inspiration.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Lynda, thank you again.

Louise, thanks for checking out the boards.

Rajani Rehana said...

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Toi Thomas said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I too like to use music and Pinterest for inspiration sometimes. Congratulations on the continued release of books in your series.

Michael Di Gesu said...

Hi Diane!! Congrats on your new release. How exciting! All the best.

Like you, I am a visual person and I have always been inspired by the visual beauty around us.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Diane - all the best ... I noted the other day that Steven Spielberg was sorry he'd decried sharks via his movie Jaws ... good luck with your interpretation and new book - cheers Hilary