Move over sci-fi and fantasy, the highlight from today was a great lecture by author Coe Booth on world building in contemporary novels - six pages of notes! As a teen, I embraced my inner geek in many ways, one of which was in mapping out imaginary towns and imagining the lives of the people who lived there. I had no idea that what I was doing was an integral part of creating story, but think about how many ways your life has been shaped by the neighborhoods you grew up in.

Coe created an imaginary New York neighborhood called Bronxwood for her Tyrell novels and she provided us with various levels and questions to help us go about the process ourselves. I'm excited that I gleaned a couple character memories from the exercises that will improve my draft of Kiss and Cry.

If you're in the mood for your own writing challenge, I've posted a slide show of pictures below that you might use to imagine character memories as connected to a place. The pictures are from downtown Montpelier, but don't limit yourself to that. What kind of characters do you think live in a place like this? How do they feel about living here? How do they interact with each other? You can also take a walk through your own neighborhood and think of some of your own connections to place as well.

 P.S. I love almost everything about Vermont but the internet connection in the dorms leaves a lot to be desired. As a result, these posts are drafts and I apologize in advance for typos or the occasional nonsense post gone live...

They say a picture's worth a thousand words, so about 65 pictures makes a great YA novel, right? Maybe not, but I find a little visual inspiration never hurts when I'm writing, just so long as I don't spend so long on Pinterest that my husband asks if I've fallen in...

At the Swoon Reads twitter chat last night, one of the questions that we first list panel members were asked was if our ideas came from real life or our imaginations. My answer? Imagination inspired by real life. This is true for not only plot events and dialogue but also for descriptions of characters and settings. I find pictures especially useful for helping me show character's emotions, what that emotion looks like on their faces and in their body language.

Google Maps is a great resource for setting as well, since you can use street view to get snapshots of places where your characters live or visit. A scene I'm working on for Kiss and Cry involves a drive through the Rocky Mountains and into Utah and Google Maps meant I could "drive" their route through snapshots. And if a picture's worth a thousand words, how much more for a movie? I also love YouTube videos for research. Since I personally don't enjoy seafood, I've never eaten a lobster. But I could learn exactly how to do it on YouTube.

Do you have a favorite source for visual inspiration? Please share by leaving a comment. Thanks!

P.S. For those who missed the twitter chat, I leaked that there's a new Halloween scene coming to The Boy Next Door. If you want spoilers, check out my The Boy Next Door board on Pinterest.