As a writer, I often find myself staring at a blank page, waiting for inspiration to strike. It’s a familiar feeling, isn’t it? But over time, I’ve discovered a powerful tool that helps me break through those creative blocks: an inspiration board for writers.
Creating an inspiration board for writers has become one of my favorite ways to gather ideas, visualize my story’s world, and reignite my passion for writing. Whether it’s a physical collage on my wall or a digital board I can access anytime, this simple yet effective method has transformed my writing process.
If you have never used or created an inspiration board for writers before, they are easy to do, even if you do not have any advanced art skills.
There are multiple ways you can use them, too, so you can get creative with how you put them together and what you use them for.
All you need is the reason for creating one and the desire to put it together. In this article, I will be diving into what inspiration boards are, why you should create one, different ideas for ones you could make, and go over some steps to putting it together.
Table of Contents
What is an inspiration board?
An inspiration board is a way for people to gather quotes, images, materials, passages, and other items that can give them “inspiration”. Sometimes it serves a direct purpose, such as being inspiration for a particular book, but it can also be a general purpose such as inspiring you to keep writing.
There are a lot of ways you can use an inspiration board as a writer and each one is as unique as you want it to be.
Not only can you use it to help inspire your writing and your story, but you can use one as inspiration for your entire career as an author.
Depending on how you want to use it, your inspiration board can also be a type of mood board for your story, characters, or book overall as you start to write it.
How can you use an inspiration board for writers?
There are not many rules behind how to use an inspiration board for writers, but you should know that they can be a great tool for you to use.
Writers can use inspiration boards for:
- Book covers
- Book theme
- Book setting
- Career goals
- Manifesting
- Characters in your book
- Series themes and ideas
- Themes and plot ideas
- Writing inspiration
- Book settings
- Favorite stories
- Plot mapping
- Quotes
- Authors or other writers who inspire you
As you can see, there are a ton of ways authors and writers in general can use inspiration boards to fuel their creativity.
Should you create a digital or physical inspiration board?
There is no right or wrong answer to the type of board you want to create, it is simply a matter of preference.
If you want to create a digital board, know that it can be easier to add to and move around. Plus, you would have access to your board wherever you go.
However, a physical inspiration board can be a fun thing to work on and something physical in your environment to look at every single day.
Keep in mind, you could also create both kinds of boards in order to have the benefits of both options. Or you could use some combination of the two depending on the projects you have in mind and what you need inspiration for.
How to make an inspiration board for writers
Now that we have gone over some of the basics of inspiration boards and the things you need to know, we can go over some of the steps you can follow to create your own.
Step 1. Pick the purpose
Before you start to put together your inspiration board for writers, you will want to take the time to figure out what exactly you plan to use it for.
Are you going to use it as inspiration for one particular character? Your book overall? Your career as an author? Inspiration to start writing your book?
You should also think about how long you want the inspiration board to stay around. If it is something you want to keep and continue to use for years, then you will want to make sure you prepare for that and get materials that make it easier.
This is also when you should be thinking about whether you want a physical or digital inspiration board so you know what kind of materials you will need to start gathering.
Step 2. Pick the medium
Now, just because many of us have seen a traditional “mood board” does not mean you need to do it in that usual collage style.
You might choose to use a notebook, a digital tool such as Notion, a mind map, or something else where you can keep all the inspiration for your topic in one place.
If you are choosing to collect a wide variety of things, such as quotes, images, or physical materials, you will want to pick a medium that can hold them all.
You might even choose to start easy and sign up for something like a Pinterest account in order to store your images. That is an easier place to start if you are overwhelmed with the idea of starting a physical inspiration board.
Step 3. Gather your materials
Now is the time to start gathering the things you want to put on your inspiration board for writers. Whether you decide to use magazine clippings, book pages, digital pictures, or whatever else, you will want to start to gather them together.
Keep in mind, you do not need to make your inspiration board for writers fancy. You can also just get some cheap materials from a local craft store to start and create your board.
For extra fun, you can invite some friends over in order to make your own boards all at the same time. It can be a good way to bond with fellow creative people and also get ideas for how you can put yours together.
If you are making different boards for different reasons, you will want to start to organize them in the different board purchases you plan to sort together.
Step 4. Put your inspiration board together
Now is the time to start to put all of your materials and inspiration together.
Gather your materials and take the time to sort them all together. If you are creating a physical inspiration board, you might want to take the time to map them all out before you commit to gluing them down in place.
If it is a digital inspiration board, you obviously do not need to worry about having to move a piece as it is much easier to do so.
Do not forget that after you create it, you will want it somewhere easily accessible to keep giving you inspiration.
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