Fun Things Every Book Needs

This week blog posting is one more thing I'm behind on, so I needed to make this post short and fun! I don't think anyone's going to complain about a list of fun things to do for their books.

Playlists

This one's a no-brainer. Even if you don't always listen to music while writing (that would be me), I love collecting songs that go with my story. My favorite place to do this is Spotify. I use it for free on my desktop as it's much easier to use there than on my phone. They have a ton of songs, and it's easy to create a playlist! 

You can find Martin Hospitality's playlist here and Andora's Folly playlist here.

Aesthetics

Whether this is a Pinterest board, a collage you've pieced together on Canva, or a few little items you've collected ... it's fun to collect visual inspiration! I like to do Pinterest boards and then I'll narrow that down into a collage or "aesthetic."

You can find the Martin Hospitality board here and the Andora's Folly board here.

Some people like to do "mood boards" on Pinterest which are much more abstract, giving the overall mood of the story. Mine tend to be a tad more specific than that with faces, scenes, quotes that fit, and things like that as well. It's all about your personal taste and what fits your books! (And seeing other people's amazing book boards is a great reason to follow writer friends on Pinterest!)

My favorite things ever are these collages for my WIPs. I assembled Pinterest images in a Word doc and framed them on my wall.

There's no limit to how you can create these sort of things (just remember that copyrights are a thing and you probably can't use these images officially).

Mock Covers

Along the same lines, who doesn't like an awesome mock cover? It helps make a difficult draft seem more like an actual entity. I like to use Canva for this. They have some good templates, fonts, and images that you can plug in for free.

I also like to make desktop wallpapers on there that go with the book and say something along the lines of "Martin Legacy is waiting to be written" or "Andora's Folly coming soon." It's a pretty kick in the pants every time I open my computer.

Other

• desktop wallpaper (mentioned above)
• personality profiles/charts
• mock-up of the blurb or logline
• standalone dramatic quote or line
• quote graphic
• item collection that goes with your book
• movie or read a book that's similar to what you're writing
• coordinating little painting
• bookmarks
• character sketches
• cosplay

Why Does it Matter?

So what's the point of all of these? They're fun!! And yes, they do help inspire me. That's a crucial part of my writing process. When I get stuck or discouraged, being able to open something I've already made (or go make something new) is a great way for me to rediscover why I'm committed to not giving up on my stories.

This is also why I have an entire blog page dedicated to this sort of thing right here. These things are wonderful for catching attention and creating hype, so they don't always have to be kept to yourself!

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What fun things do you do to re-inspire you with your stories? Any fresh ideas to share?