"Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic." Today's question on the YA Highway Road Trip is:
This Week's Topic:
What images inspire/ represent your WIP or favorite book?
I've made an attempt to collect some images via Pinterest, but honestly, I find it less useful than I'd expected for image inspiration. I think it's because I have to go to the site to refer to the images, which interrupts the flow of my writing a bit (and also opens me to the temptation of goofing around on Pinterest). But when I'm sitting at my desk surrounded by books, I can jump start my writing by leafing through the pages, sans disruption. Of course, I also use Pinterest as a creative exercise to get my writing moving when I get sluggish, but that's a different post.
Since I'm not a very visual thinker, I always have to refer to lots of images to create a mental picture of various aspects of my WIP, which I can then attempt to depict. A lot of my image research comes from books. For my current project, I've looked at a lot of collections of photographs about Vermont, and about barns.
I've made an attempt to collect some images via Pinterest, but honestly, I find it less useful than I'd expected for image inspiration. I think it's because I have to go to the site to refer to the images, which interrupts the flow of my writing a bit (and also opens me to the temptation of goofing around on Pinterest). But when I'm sitting at my desk surrounded by books, I can jump start my writing by leafing through the pages, sans disruption. Of course, I also use Pinterest as a creative exercise to get my writing moving when I get sluggish, but that's a different post.Once in a while, I come across an image online that is so perfect that I have to print it out and stick it up on my wall (the bulletin board's too full). My emotional reaction to the boy in the picture at right is exactly how I imagine my protagonist's would be. He doesn't resemble the written description of the character I'd produced before I came across the image. It's more about his expression than his features.
I'm also inspired by other people's WIP Pinterest boards. Kate Hart's reflects how I view the town that surrounds the commune in my WIP, while Jen Greenleaf's conjures up part of what I'm going for in terms of the tone of my WIP, although the subject matter is different. I suspect that as I read other YA Highwayer's responses, I'm going to find lots more inspirational Pinterest boards!
I am very intrigued by the photo of the little boy on the ladder and I am so curious as to how his expression fits into your WIP. His outfit is adorable! I like the barn photos too. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThe challenge now is to try to convey his expression in words! But it's a good challenge.
DeleteGreat photos! So interested at how the little boy and the motorcarist? fit together
ReplyDeleteOh, the car driver picture is just something I put up with every Road Trip post. For some reason it cracks me up! So, same era/aesthetic, but no connection.
DeleteWe have some great Gold Rush-era barns out this way--since we literally had people coming from all over the world, bringing their styles and skills with them, there are examples of every kind imaginable. They're getting torn down and falling down at a faster rate, though, as people move away from ranching and farming (just like elsewhere in the country)
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of abandoned barns rotting away around here too. I'm sure (at least I hope) that someone's taking photographs of all these buildings for some book. I'd buy it!
DeleteYou know I've been seeing a lot of people talk about pinterest but never looked at it. Might have to check it out. That kid is kinda cute :)
ReplyDeleteDo it! Pinterest is really interesting. And addictive. It's much more engaging as a social media site than Facebook, imo.
DeleteInteresting take on this. I haven't used Pinterest much for writing but want to. But you make an interesting point about it interrupting the flow.
ReplyDeleteThis expression is daunting - makes me wonder even more about your WiP!
ReplyDelete