Whoseewhatsit Thursday ~ using Pinterest

I know many writers try to avoid encountering more distractions -- ya know, those things that keep you from the business of actually writing your story -- but here are three very good reasons you should consider spending "some" time on Pinterest.

1.  Inspiration is at your fingertips!
I know you've got an amazing world crafted in your brain, but sometimes you just need a little prompting on the details.  For instance, if you're writing about a lace wedding gown but want to get some more ideas of what an all-lace gown might look like in your wildest dreams, just type in "lace wedding gown" in the search and you'll get 100s of results - everything from vintage to romantic to downright sexy.
Or maybe you need an idea of a fantasy underwater world.  A search using those exact terms turns up some amazing results.  Try it!

2.  Use it to store your ideas and inspiration.
Have you ever seen something online and thought, "that would be perfect for my book?"  Well, now you can quickly pin it to an inspiration board so you have it to come back to and reference in the future.  Boards are also a good way to store a variety of ideas and choose between them side-by-side.  So say you're trying to envision the perfect front porch for your characters to kiss on, you can pin a bunch of porches you find on line and then decide between them when they're all in one place.  When you think about it this way, you'll be saving time!

3.  You can find or connect with readers here.
If you're an already published author, Pinterest is another possible place to find and connect with readers.  You can have boards related to your book and pin everything from your dream cast, to inspiration pieces for location, to what a specific outfit a character wore looks like. Today's readers expect lots of bonus material, and this is one way to give it to them.  For example, I have this board on Destined.  It's got the pictures I used for inspiration when I was writing, an updated dream cast, and some pictures of Eros and Psyche that I love by some talented artists out there.  Plus, if you put the right key words in the description under your book title, you just might find some more readers who are interested in your theme or genre.  It can't hurt!!

For more inspiration, check out Ann's awesome board for Broken.
Sheri's chic board for Marked Beauty.
Sean's inside peek into Poltergeeks.
Nikki's inspiration for Archipelago.
Larissa's board of stunning characters.
Jessica's brief but alluring look inside Renegade.
And Judy... well, she just received her invitation so she can come join the rest of us slackers, er, inspiration seekers.

What ways have you found to use Pinterest productively as an author?

Whoseewhatsit Thursday - Authors Getting the Most Out of Pinterest

Pinterest is more than just a noun. It's a social media platform that many of us haven't fully figured out how to exploit yet. If you're still a little hazy on the concept, Pinterest is like a virtual bulletin board for images on the web. I've found loads of practical applications for it.  For example, when I'm trying to decide which accent pillows I want to buy, instead of keeping open multiple windows and flipping back and forth, I just pin the choices to my "For the Home" board and can look at them all right next to each other. Then, once I decided on one, I click the image and it takes me right back to the original website so I can buy it. Totally handy!

For writers, however, you may not realize the ways that Pinterest can help you.  I've been using it primarily for brainstorming my stories and novels.  When I see an image that looks like my character, reminds me of something they would wear, or perfectly depicts a setting I want to capture, I pin to my "Writing Inspiration" board.  The next time I get suck in my writing, my virtual bulletin board is there waiting for me, waiting to give me a visual shot in the arm.

And then I saw our Oasis sister A.E. using Pinterest in an ingenuous way -- she's collecting images for her recently-sold novel to help her soon-to-be fans get a feel for the mood, tone and characters.  I can tell you, with some carefully selected images, A.E. already has me drooling to get my hands on a copy.

But that can't be the only ways to use this new tool. I'm sure the possibilities are many and I'm just not creative enough to think of them. So please tell me what you've done or seen that can help authors better use the next, most-visual, social media platform on the web.