Hello again! Today I’m getting super practical and talking about mood boards for writers. I first came across mood boards when I worked in magazine publishing. As an Editor, I would put together a whole bunch of images for each issue to give contributors an idea of the feel of the issue, what kind of vibe I was going for. But I’ve realised now that even when you’re working on a solo project, a mood board is helpful for a number of reasons. Here, I share some of them, and at the end I’ve shared the mood board I’ve put together for the novel I’m currently working on.

What is a mood board?
A mood board is simply a collection of images placed together on one digital canvas that work together to produce a mood, or feeling. For those of us who aren’t artists, there are lots of royalty-free images available online from sites like Unsplash or Pixabay, which you can download and add to your image-editing software, something like Photoshop or Canva.

Before we delve further into this, I would like to say that there can be a tempation here to use AI. Either to ask some AI software to create a mood board for you, or to create images for you to add together for a mood board. I would strongly, strongly caution you not to use AI for this, or, honestly, anything. I could go on a rant, but I won’t, not now. Here’s the TL;DR: Every time you use AI, you’re training it. It will use your work and you will not be credited for it. All over the place, AI is stealing creatives’ work for training and reproduction, without their consent or even knowledge. AI is taking jobs away from trained, skilled humans who would like to continue paying their bills. It’s also terrible for the environment. There are other reasons, too, but now is not the time or place. Thanks for listening, mini rant over.

On to the reasons why mood boards are brilliant!

1. It keeps you on track
   As you write a book-length work, whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, or even a serial on Substack, you’re going to be working on the manuscript for months, or longer. It’s easy to lose your focus and voice as time goes on and you get into the depths of the details. A mood board will remind you, at a glance, what tone you’re going for, what the main things to focus on, what you want your reader to pick up on straight away.
   

2. It gives your followers an idea of the vibe
   We all know that, for better or worse, having a social media presence is important for writers in this day and age. Attracting the right readers to your work is crucial. A mood board will help them to see really quickly what you’re working on and whether it’s something they’d be interested in reading. As you’re not sharing your title, plot points or any actual details of your book, this is a really safe way of gaining interest in your project while you’re still working on it and before any contracts are signed.
   

3. It could hook an agent
   Literary agents are lurking all over the Internet. Apparently they are real-life humans and actually do things other than read through their mounting inboxes, and part of that involves looking at what people are posting. If one likes what you’re posting generally, a mood board will help them to see this particular project, and they may just ask you to query them. Sometimes an agent may want to look at a mood board as part of a query package, too. It’s just another string to your bow.

4. It’s fun!
   Sometimes, a thing being fun is enough of a reason to do it! I’m sure you know this feeling: you’re excited about your project, but you’re tired and/or distracted. You want to be working on it, but the words aren’t wording. So creating a mood board is a great way to spend time with your book for those moments. Call it productive procrastination! But, really, one mood board is enough, and sooner or later you do actually have to write the thing.

Has that whet you’re appetite? Here’s the mood board for the novel I’m currently working on:

At a glance, you can tell that this is a cosy romance with autumnal vibes, centring around book lovers, coffee shops and dog walks! If that sounds like the kind of thing you’d like to read, do subscribe so you can follow along with my progress. I’m currently editing the second draft, and I’m hoping to query the novel later this year.

An Awkward Thing

So, this is awkward, but I do need to pay my bills. Writing is my day job. I want to keep my posts free so that as many people as possible can benefit from them, especially all my writing advice. But, free posts won’t keep my kids in school shoes. So, if you’ve found this post enjoyable or helpful, would you consider buying me a coffee, or taking a look at my editing and critique services? Thanks!