Pin This!

I am a late comer to the social media bandwagon.  I just joined Facebook a few months ago; I'm not on Twitter.  But I have to admit — I'm pinning like crazy.

Remember the collages you made as a kid, where you ripped all the things you liked out of a magazine and glued them on poster board?  Pinterest is just like that — a giant virtual bulletin board where you can collect any image that catches your fancy, without the messy glue and scissors part.

How can this help you?  Well, first off, it's fun.  And we all need a little more fun, right?  Second, it's a great place to store that lustful list of shoes or bags or whatever it is you are coveting.  (Shoe girl, right here.) You can also create a board of craft projects for your four-year-old, a list of gifts to give for the holidays next year, even a board for home improvement projects.

Since this is kind of a writing blog (and sadly, not a shoe blog), you might be reading for ideas on how Pinterest can improve your writing.  Here's a great article on how to use the site as a writer, and here's another. The takeaway is that Pinterest can be a handy tool for building worlds and characters.  You can stay broad or break your writing boards down by specific category.

I haven't gone so far as to break my boards down by character, clothing, etc.., but I am keeping a general inspiration board, and I've found some fabulous images that have helped to spark scenes or descriptions for me.  I'm also pinning snippets of text from my work in progress under relevant photos – a fun way to share a little bit of what I'm working on with readers. And I'm following some amazing artists and writers who inspire me every day with their work. (Okay, I'm following some shoe mavens too.  Don't judge.)

If you are on Pinterest, how do you use it?  I'd love to hear your thoughts. (If you aren't, and want to be, let me know and I'll send you an invitation.)