(Eagle Coast: image copyright Spectral-Design via iStockphoto.com)
Capturing the wonder
Pinning to the boards I’ve created on Pinterest has gripped me for the last few months. I love the fact that the visual can be a springboard for writing.
We approach photographic images and art work as individuals. Our life experiences, knowledge of art forms, cultural contexts and so on, create a complex web of reasons for our reactions. We may be inspired by a particular painting that thousands of others find stimulating, but ours is a special psychological and physiological conversation with that work. If you’re anything like me, your impulse is to respond not only with emotion but with words.
I have a secret board on Pinterest on which I pin images that relate to my works in progress. Each pin has the potential to be a powerful stimulus for generating a setting, a character, a mood and more. For example, if I’m working on the setting of a particular geographical location, I pin photos of that area to my board. I may not be able to visit these places in person (yet) but it allows me to engage with the colours and scenery, offering a flavour of the culture. I find them an incredible resource.
Capturing the wonder, in particular, seems to be a board that my fellow pinners re-pin from. I choose images that aim to foster that child-like sense of wonder about our world. These images need no additional words attached to them by me, apart from Wow!
Feel like writing? What mood does the image above, Eagle Coast, create in you? Develop a short piece of fiction, taking note of the colours and the setting.
Capturing the wonder – Pinterest board on www.pinterest.com/helensea