How a Muse Board Can Fuel Your Writing Project
Photo by @josie_sanders
Every novel has its own inception. For me, it started with a scene of two young men arguing in a darkened parking lot. Everyone can have an idea, but how do you stay inspired and enveloped in the world of your novel through the writing process?
Whether you’re writing a book or short stories, you need to centralize your ideas and the elements that inspire the story. That’s where a muse board comes in handy.
What’s a muse board?
You might be familiar with a mood board, a collage mostly used by designers and interior decorators as a source of inspiration. But a muse board is different. It’s a kind of collage for writers to gather things that inspire and guide your novel.
I was unfamiliar with the term until recently, but when I learned about it, I realized that a muse board was just what I had created when I was writing my (as of yet) unpublished novel. When I was writing it, I had accrued a mostly digital collection consisting of articles, maps, a playlist, lots of images, and other stuff.
We’re all looking for that elusive muse. I don’t believe that inspiration is some sort of divine power that strikes down like lightning out of a blue sky. Instead, it’s the act of creating that breeds more ideas and better work. If you feel stuck when writing your novel, putting together a muse board is a great way to get those creative juices flowing.
Media for motivation
While a classic mood board is more of a physical collage or scrapbook, I stored a lot of the material digitally in a folder. Some structure goes a long way. Work in folders and group things together. You might have one folder for lyrics, another for videos, and a third on characters. A service like Pinterest can help you gather everything in one place.
Since my novel is set in California in 1969, there was a lot of research required to create an accurate representation of that time. However, my muse board helped me create the world of the novel – a world with bikers, a vengeful woman, rock’ n’ roll, and a permeating sense of dread.
A muse board helps you to stay focused, and most importantly, enveloped in the world of your novel. The things you collect will inform your project, whether it’s related to mood, place, character, or themes. What do the characters look like? Are there any places to form a set piece around?
Fueling the creative fire
Since my novel has a lot of focus on the music of 1969, a playlist was essential when it came to the formation of my book. Much like the novel, the playlist became a developing project that informed both characters and the plot. Songs from the playlist also appear in the story.
Never underestimate the power of an image or a song, and what ideas they can conjure up. The picture of the guys in the parking lot (inspired by Springsteen’s song “Racing in the Street”) took on a life of its own. By collecting things related to your central idea, you can build a more believable world, construct new scenes, and give your theme more resonance.
A muse board allows you to explore your novel in other mediums than words. It’s a great thing to return to when your well of inspiration runs dry, to rekindle the initial flame that inspired you to dive into your project in the first place.
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About Oscar Hjelmstedt
Oscar Hjelmstedt is a copywriter and journalist from Malmö, Sweden. He has written for several newspapers and online publications. He holds a BA in English, and another in Journalism. When he’s not writing, he loves to watch movies, play bass or catch a live show. He’s currently querying agents for his debut novel. Read more at oscarhjelmstedt.com.
