The Importance of Vision Boards

  I discovered the notion of vision boards a while ago and I think it is very
important for writers to use some kind of wallboard to develop their stories and articles.
I know I will try and make sure that I try that concept so that I could keep a visual
reminder of what I am writing. What a handy tool.

  Below I include Suzanne Lieurance’s discussion of Wallboards in her latest Newsletter
for the Children’s Writers’ Coaching Club. I hope you find it as insightful as I have.

  If you would like to get more information on how to belong to the Club please go to:
www.cwcoachingclub.com. Since I joined, I have learned so much.

Irene

 The Vision Board as Writer’s Tool, by Suzanne Lieurance

Typically, a vision board is a tool used to help clarify, concentrate and maintain focus on a specific life goal. Literally, a vision board is any sort of board on which you display images that represent whatever you want to be, do or have in your life. But a vision board can also be used a little bit differently as a writer’s tool.

I often create a vision board with images of the characters, settings, and other elements I wish to create in a new book or story. I’m a very visual person, and seeing my characters and settings in pictures helps me write about them in greater detail so I’m able to more fully bring them to life for my readers.

Before I start writing a new novel, I create a chapter by chapter outline of the plot. As I’m creating this outline, I learn who my characters will be and where the action will take place (the setting). As I’m working on the outline, I also leaf through magazines for pictures of people and places that look like the characters and settings I’ve envisioned in my mind for the story. I also search for pictures of other objects that might belong to my main characters – a car, for example, or a beautiful house on the beach, or a run down aparment. I cut out these magazine pictures and put them in a project folder. Once I finish my outline, I tack up these photos on the bulletin board that hangs on the wall over the computer where I write each day. Sometimes I put the pictures in some sort of order. For example, once I cut out pictures to represent each of the buildings on Main Street in the fictional town I created for a story. This way, as I was writing, I didn’t have to remember if the bakery was next to the dry cleaner’s. I just looked up at the vision board to see where everything was located.

As I write my story, I glance up at this vision board occasionally to remind myself of all that I know about my characters and the setting. When I’m writing about my main character, a look at my vision board reminds me that he drives a Mini Cooper, for example, and not just any old car.

A vision board also helps me get a “feel” for the setting I am writing about. When I write a scene that takes place on the beach, and I look up at a picture of the beach on my vision board, it’s much easier to include a variety of sensory details to describe the beach.

Creating a vision board for a novel can be both fun and productive. The trick is not to get so caught up looking for interesting pictures that you never get the novel written!

How Can You Write During the Holidays?

   Yesterday, I reflected on how we could make ‘space’ for writing during
   the hustle and bustle of Christmas. Today, I will reflect on how to actually
   write during those busiest times of the year.
  
   I am a member of the Children’s Writer’s Coaching Club. Last week, there
   was an insightful teleclass entitled “Writing In The Holiday Season”  by Simon
   Rose on this very topic.  I want to share some of his insights here and how I
   have taken some of his advice to try to make sure that I write during this
   holiday season.
  
   One of the first things that Simon Rose mentioned was the importance of
   time management during the holidays. It is important for writers to plan to
   write every day. For myself, I devote a certain part of every day to writing.
   The early mornings from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. work for me. I love waking up
   early and spending an hour or two writing before everyone wakes up.
  
   Secondly, Simon Rose asserted that writers must be ruthless with their
   time during the holidays. You can do this by cutting out any activities that
   will eat up a lot of time and that won’t really help you enjoy the holidays. For
   instance, are there office parties or other parties that you don’t need to go to?
   If there are, you could spend that time writing. Or, can you delegate some
   Christmas tasks to others?  If yes, this will give you even more time to write.
   That is precisely what I plan to do this holiday: delegate, delegate, delegate.
   It will become my new mantra.
  
   Third, when you set time to write, you should indeed write and not do
   anything else, such as cruise the Internet, answer E-mails, and so on. When
   you devote an hour to write, you must write for that whole hour. You must
   make every second count. That is a real problem that I have. When I get on
   the computer, the first thing I do is check my E-mails. Then I answer E-mails.
   By then, at least fifteen minutes have gone by and I haven’t started writing.
   From now on, I will make sure that if I devote an hour to writing, I will write
   and then check my E-mails. That way I will really get a lot more writing
   done.
  
      If you are interested in purchasing the interview, please go to the
   Children’s Writer’s Coaching Club at:  http://www.cwcoachingclub.com, or
   you could email me at: isswitan@cyg.net and I will send you the link to purchase
   Simon Rose’s teleclass.
                           
   Happpy Holiday writing!
   Irene