Hey Everyone! Glad you are back to read another post. Today’s post took a while to write. Last week was supposed to be the week that this one went up, but I switched it with last weeks topic of Research because I felt that today’s concept needed me to research for a bit longer before I wrote about it. But after working on it for a while I think I’ve come to like this concept. As usual, please share this post and site, and follow me on social media. (The links to all my social profiles are on the bottom of the page). So, without further ado…
Small Skills: The Idea Board
The Idea Board. For some reason just the name of it seems like an interesting concept. Sometimes referred to as an inspiration board, this little trick of organization and pre-writing, is something I didn’t learn about until recently. It popped up, oddly enough, while I was doing research for this series. I was looking up anything could be called ‘obscure skills and tools of writing’ on Google. In one of the lists was an idea board. I didn’t know what an idea board was. So, being the writing nerd that I am, I looked it up. Idea boards are more widely spread and more used that I thought.
Idea boards are all over the internet. The concept of an idea board existed for a long time in several different forms but didn’t become a cohesive area of skill until the internet really rolled around. Originally idea boards were simply places or a way to organize a group of information into one place for better observation. The most common form of pre-internet idea boards is most commonly referred to as a crime board (no jokes). Crime boards are what you see in cheesy murder mystery films where the up and coming detective has a giant pin board with newspaper articles and photos pinned all up on it with red strings connecting things in a seemingly random order.
When the internet came around people suddenly had more access to things that were traditionally contained on idea boards. More photos, more art, more papers, more articles, and more software. A small group of people realized that the concept of an online idea board would be a really great way for people to have all of their concepts in one place. And so, Pinterest was born. Yes. Pinterest was the worlds first online idea board. Now there are a lot of different kinds of idea boards on the internet. I did a google search for online idea board sites and there were more than four hundred million results. Idea boards are more common than I had originally thought.
After I knew what an idea board was a decided to look up the different types of idea boards. Here are just 6 different types that I found related to writing although there are hundreds more types of idea boards.
1. Book cover board (with art and concepts for covers)
2. Character board (with costume designs, facial sketches, and body types silhouettes)
3. World board (with concepts art and notes on the world building for a novel)
4. History board (with the ideas and images related to the history of something in your novel whether that be the world, the character, or an object)
5. Problem board (also known as a plot board, helps you remember and visually show the plot of a story)
6. Quote board (this one is pretty self-explanatory)
These idea boards are all unique and have all been done in different and unique ways. Some of them had been pinned or taped directly to walls, some had been hung from ceilings (reminded me of Megamind), they were on magnet boards, cork boards, string boards and all sorts of other things. Anything that compiled concepts for something in general in one place was considered an idea board.
That’s when I realized something.
I’ve been doing idea boards all the time without realizing it!!!
I have folders all over my phone for different things. I have a folder for character costume design concepts. I have a folder for landscape concept art. I have a folder of quotes to be put in books. I have an ongoing note on my phone of interesting things from real life to be added to a story. I have several Pinterest boards dedicated to simply finding things for a specific book that I was writing. Idea boards, interestingly enough, seem to be something that the brain automatically wants to do. Organize concepts into an understandable way for later use.
I was really getting motivated after researching idea boards to make an idea board of my own. Lucky for me, my best friend had just recently bought over my Christmas present which just happened to be a new cork board. So, I made space on my wall, hung it up, and got to work.
There were several articles that I read at the beginning of my research that were ‘how-to-make-an-idea-board’ articles. With those are references, I began.
First, I needed to pick a concept. I wouldn’t have enough material to make something like a book cover board and I didn’t have the printer to make a character board. So, I decided to make a general inspiration board for the book series that I’ve been working on for almost 6 years.
Second, I gathered up everything that I had. I had quotes written on little pieces of paper scattered throughout the notebooks. I had concept art of spaceships and new technology drawn in the margins of notes. I had a general plot arc written out on an old receipt from work. And I had costume designs that I had drawn, scanned and reprinted for my characters.
Third, I put them all together. I had enough stuff to fill my board and together they made a really great looking inspirational idea board. And just like its name, I already feel inspired to write more! Here’s a photo of my idea board.
I think that it turned out really great. I think all in all I’m really excited about this idea board concept. It’s going to take all of my willpower not to start designing idea boards for everything that I can think of. I’ll have to try to remember to keep them digital, so they don’t take up more space in my room! I think idea boards would be really helpful for writing a book as a pre-writing and organizational tool. It’s a great way to get your ideas in order for a new book or even an old book. And idea boards never have to be finished. When I use the quotes I have on my board I might replace them with something else. I might change the story a bit and have to change one of the costume designs that I drew. Idea boards are meant to change and grow with you and your book. I hope that all of you can make your own idea boards. And when you do, share them with me! Send me a picture! Even if they’re digital, take a screen shot and send me that.
I hope that this post was helpful once again for all you writers out there. I’m hoping that next weeks post is also really helpful for other writers. And as usual, please repost, share, and like. Idea boards are a great concept that more writers need to be more aware of. And as usual,
Get Up, Get Writing, and Get Published. See you next week!
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