Pinterest knows me better than most

Earlier today, I was stalling on Pinterest. I ran out of fresh pins on my home page, so I clicked the new option “Preview! Explore Interests” to see what that might yield. It turns out that Pinterest has analyzed my 2500+ pins and now has a really, really good idea of what I like. I was extremely impressed with how accurate it was, especially since there were a few items like magic, spell books and wizards that I couldn’t really connect to my pinning activity. About the only things missing are otters and chocolate.

I admit, there were a handful of categories that had me scratching my head (John Steinbeck? January Jones? Trailer homes?!?), but most of it is spot-on. I also liked the way it made bigger photos for more frequently pinned subjects like writing and board games. And there were multiple variations on my favorite pinning topics: the Avengers, Doctor Who, the Hobbit, Sherlock and writing.

Here’s the abridged version, eliminating outliers and redundancy; links go to Pinterest:

red pandasmandalasstress relief
Tom Hiddlestonavengers teas
writingnovels terry pratchett
richard armitagecastleskittens
board gamesdr horriblefirefly
sherlockbritishdoctor who
swordschristian kanegerard butler
cosplaybraceletssteampunk
hobbitmagicwarriors

Writing Exercise: Middle of the Road

Some people (and characters) are afraid to take sides: they may not like confrontation, or they may want to keep their options open and hedge their bets rather than be caught on the losing team. (An excellent example is Corporal Nobby Nobbs in Terry Pratchett’s war satire Jingo; during a battle, the generals would gauge which side was winning by looking to see what uniform Nobbs was wearing.)

These types of characters need a push to commit. What’s your character’s lever, the motivation that forces a choice? Write a story or scene where a character has been trying to stay in the middle of the road, and find a way to make him or her take a side.

Writing Prompt: Odd couples

Sometimes, the most brilliant ideas come from pairing concepts that seem to be totally unrelated. The best example I know is Firefly, Joss Whedon’s short-lived TV series that sparked a fierce and widespread fandom. The idea of a space western sounded ridiculous — but it worked, and was nothing short of amazing.

To give another, somewhat simpler example, consider the League of Black Ribboners from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels. This organization is made up of vampires who have taken a pledge not to drink blood: basically, a vampire version of Alcoholics Anonymous. (They have meetings where they sing rousing songs and drink cocoa.) Pratchett explores this idea with wonderfully comedic results in a subplot of his novel The Truth and also uses it as a background society detail in several of his other books.

This week, I encourage you to think beyond the norm and pair unusual ideas to create something totally unique.

Writing Prompt: Quotable Quotes

This week, I’m looking to some of my favorite authors for inspiration. Here’s some interesting quotes to jump-start your creativity and get you writing your own story.

“‘Life is wasted on the living.'” Douglas Adams, The Restaurant at the End of the Universe

“‘Don’t put your trust in revolutions. They always come around again. That’s why they’re called revolutions. People die, and nothing changes.'” Terry Pratchett, Night Watch

“It was irritating to have one’s physical shortcomings pointed out quite so plainly twice in one evening…” Tom Holt, Expecting Someone Taller

“‘You bastard!’ This burst out of me before I could stop it. I regretted it at once, but it was too late.” Steven Brust, Taltos