How to Make a Mood Board to Inspire Your Poetry
Whether you’re starting a new poetry collection or writing in your free time as a hobby, consider creating a mood board. Mood boards are a fun way to express your creativity, inspire your poetry, and help you stay on theme. As you start putting together your mood board, remember these tips on themes, color schemes, finding quotes, and sourcing!
Consider your themes
Before you begin creating your mood board, list the themes you tend to explore in your poetry, such as heartbreak, change, or mental health. Brainstorm images that come to mind when you consider these themes—maybe nature metaphors, like storm clouds, rough seas, growing plants, or the sun. Or perhaps you envision city scenes, like wandering through streets. These images will serve as the starting place for creating your mood board, which will in turn inspire you to incorporate narrative and metaphor into your poetry.
Determine your color scheme
Now, determine your mood board’s color scheme. If your poetry is melancholy, somber tones like blues or black and white might resonate with your poetic voice. In contrast, if you’re exploring more joyful themes, perhaps golden yellow or bright orange supports your storytelling process. Or you might be writing nature poetry, which would be complemented by earthy tones like dark green or brown.
Search for meaningful quotes
Is there a poet, an artist, or even an iconic figure from a non-creative field that particularly inspires you? Search for quotes attributed to them for your mood board. Each time you look up and read their quote, you’ll feel encouraged and inspired to continue telling your story. Once you find a quote that resonates with you, either handwrite the quote or print it out. If printing, you an create a design in Canva, choosing a font for the quote that fits your aesthetic.
Use materials from a variety of sources
As you search for materials to assemble your mood board, consider sourcing from a variety of items or places. Do you have a collection of magazines gathering dust? Browse through them to find images or phrases that relate to your poetry. If you’d like to receive a new magazine that supports creators, consider Cut+Paste Magazine, which is designed to be used for creative projects. Or visit a thrift store and purchase vintage magazines! While you’re at a thrift store, you might even find supplies like a cork board and tacks, which are perfect for mood boards, allowing you to switch out items as time passes. Also, go through old journals, choosing entries that relate to themes in poetry.
Display your board in your writing space!
Once you’ve created your mood board, display it in your writing space where it will provide constant and endless inspiration.
Hopefully, you feel encouraged to express your creativity and find poetry inspiration by creating a personalized, unique mood board! For even more artistic poetry content, check out our blog on the art of collage poetry.
