Hello and welcome to the inaugural edition of
Tools and Tidbits for Writers
scheduled the 2nd Wednesday of every month!
I participated in Raimey Gallant's Author ToolBox monthly event for several years. Bloggers shared resources and suggestions for new things they found helpful in their careers. I really enjoyed picking up new "tools" to use in my writing, publishing and marketing career, so I am filling in the gap in my blog schedule with Tools and Tidbits for Writers until Raimey returns with the Author Toolbox Blog Hop.
This is not a blog hop, but if you have a tool you would like to share with us, leave it in a comment below or please contact me to schedule a guest spot to discuss how you use the tool.
Thank you!
🛠🛠🛠🛠ðŸ›
Working with Images and Videos for Social Media by J.Q.Rose
I didn't know how much I loved playing with images and designing book covers, social media images, blog posts and newsletter content until I found canva.com to create them. Canva is like a playground for me. Plus, the program I use is free!
Lots of tutorials on how to use the site are available. Templates to fill in with your info makes it easy to make designs. Emily at bizzbiff.com offers a Free Crash Course on Canva. Click here to access this energetic lady's course.
PLUS! Please know, you need to experiment with canva to learn about all the goodies they offer. But, just like your coach or piano teacher told you, practice, practice, practice.
The badge for Tools and Tidbits for Writers above was created from the template below, already animated. (I'm not sure I like animation in a blog post because flashing and moving may be too annoying. What do you think?)
The original canva template
FREE IMAGES: Canva offers free images on their site, but sometimes you can't find exactly what you need or you may have photos you snapped that can be included in an image. My go-to for free images is pixabay.com. They have a lot to choose from. Here are a few more places for free images.
Make sure they are available to use, not copyrighted. "Royalty-free" does not mean the photos are free to use. Never copy a photo from the internet. I don't know the chances you could be sued for copyright infringement, but I would not try it.
Photofunia.com so much fun to use their template and add your photo or text
🛠🛠🛠🛠ðŸ›
Movie projector
VIDEOS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA: You do not have to have a channel on YouTube to share videos on blogs or social media. Make a video with your camera. It is in the mp4 format. That is the format you use to add to your social media. Hey, you don't have to do FB Live to make a video. Record it on your phone and re-purpose that video for other places too!
Canva has a new video editor so you can make videos within canva. I have not tried it, but when I do, I'll share that with you. Have you used canva for video editing?
If you do not want to appear in your video, then make a slide video with PowerPoint. It takes a LOT of practice to figure that out, but watch some Youtube videos that will help you learn.
Below is a video I created about sparking memories for life storytelling. I made it with PowerPoint and posted it on my FB group, Telling Your Life Story and Memoirs Circle.
I really like the latest version of PPT with design help. Just type the text for your slide in the text box, hit design ideas and ta-dah, you have what looks like a slide created by a professional.
VIDEO:
Why tell your life story?
Please share in the comments below your favorite site for free images, how you make videos, and/or tools writers can add to their collection of goodies. Thank you.
🛠🛠🛠🛠ðŸ›
PLEASE NOTE: Beginning in July, Blogger will no longer be sending emails from blog subscribers to notify them when a new article has been posted. I post every Wednesday on this blog, so if you don't get a notification from me, it's not because I have not posted. Please check in on Wednesdays. I will also use Instagram and Facebook to announce new posts.
The Rose CourierStay in touch with updates from JQ--packed with articles, freebies and photos in the Rose Courier!
Click here to sign-up for delivery once a month.
🛠🛠🛠🛠ðŸ›
Are you curious about starting to tell your life story? Yes, you do have a story that matters.
Click here to join our Facebook FB group, Telling Your Life Story and Memoirs Circle
Plus, the topic on the 4th Wednesday of the month on this blog is all about memoirs: Tips on writing them, guest memoir authors and reviews of memoirs and books on writing life stories and memoirs. Please join us on Wednesday, May 26 for Making Memoirs from Memories.
