Another post on writing with Pinterest.
Or, using Pinterest as a support for writers.
You can find my previous musings on this social network here.
But something new and fun emerged.
Pinterest is a great tool for writing with others.
I know I will have to use a character like her.
We do not know what shape our project will take – if a multi-author work, if a shared universe, or whatever.
We are separated by space, and we work online – we use chatrooms, mail, we exchange text files.
But a picture is worth a thousand words, and it’s a lot easier to just upload a photo on a pinterest board, and say “I was thinking about something that looks like this,” and take it from there.
Opinions can be exchanged and supported by visual references.
“I think this would look better…”
Scenes can be set by posting different pictures of the same place, the same building.
Atmosphere can be set by sharing pictures, or movie clips, or music.
The collection of visual references and other stuff can be kept private – setting up a secret board- and can be later re-used as a reference for cover art, or whatever.
And when everything’s ready, a part of the material can be made public, as a way to promote the finished work.
Also, the Pinterest community has collected such a huge mass of references, that a simple in-network search can lead to dozens of useful pictures and informations.
Including historical and anthropological details, fashion details, ethnic recipes…
So you can actually build a scene using pins – my character is here, she’s wearing this, and she’ll drink one of these…
It can turn teamwork into a sort of game – each one contributing some elements and filing them on Pinterest.
The downside – Pinning can become the main activity of the team. There’s a moment when you must stop collecting visual references, and start writing.
But right now, this is turning out to be a colossal tool.
It was a pleasure and a privilege, as a long time Fritz Leiber fan, to be part of 
, edited by Benjamin Szumskyj and published by MacFarland.
One year later, with the same editor and the same publisher, I was part of the volume 
. Once again it was a great, fun experience, and I contributed apiece on the noir aspects of one of Harris’ classics – This is the Blind Leading the Blind: Noir, Horror and Reality in Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon.
The ball was rolling, so when Benjamin proposed a third contribution, I was happy to join his team once again – this time writing about an author, William Peter Blatty, whose work has been to long in the shadow of the movies based on it. And as a ghost-story aficionado, it was great fun writing It Ain’t Over Until the Fat Lady Sings: William Peter Blatty’s Elswhere and the Haunted House Formula.
Karavansara 