Jean's Writing

Why you may want to delete Facebook

Published on January 9, 2017January 7, 2017 by Jean M. Cogdell9 Comments

I’m deleting one of my Facebook accounts.

Sometimes I get a little overwhelmed with all of my social media accounts. This is an attempt to make it a little less stressful.

social-media-961769_640 — **Image source**

Last week I wrote a post about deleting one of my Facebook accounts. How to merge your Professional page and Newsfeed PUBLISHED ON January 6, 2017

Unfortunately, I don’t think I explained the reasons or process very well. So I’ll give it another go.

First, to avoid more confusion, I’ll refer to Facebook as “Facebook Account” and not page.

Why? Because it’s not really a page. Facebook Home/Newsfeed is the main page. But I’m going to talk a lot about pages and want to show you the difference.

I’ve had two Facebook Accounts forever. Like many of you, I’ve had a personal Facebook account for family and friends plus a professional Facebook account for my writing interests.

But more and more, I’m asked which account people should “like.” Many of my friends and family want to keep up with my process as a writer in addition to my personal exploits. (Love that word, exploits.)

Okay, back to why I’m deleting my personal Facebook account.

Time is the number one reason.
- My time as well as the readers.
Clarity
- Some people find it confusing that I have two Facebook Accounts.

Why keep my Professional Facebook Account?

I have pages on this account and don’t want to duplicate them on the one I use for personal.
More control.
- I can post in one place.
If I want, I can add all types of pages.
- Author page
- Want to profile one of your characters? Make a character page.
- Website page

Pages are different from your Newsfeed or Home page. Why would you want a page added? Lots of reasons.

To showcase your books.
To reference your website.
A bio page.
Personal page for family.

Bottom line, one Facebook account can cover all of my needs. Plus I won’t have to keep up with where and what I posted last.

Think you might want to add pages?

It’s easy! Watch!

Is this a little clearer?

Are you going to try?

Will just one Facebook account simply your life?

Let me know what you think.

Go here to “like” my Facebook page. Facebook at jeanswriting

More links for your reading pleasure at the bottom.

Leave a comment or click the “write me” tab or find for me on Twitter @jeancogdell, Facebook at jeanswriting and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! The lights are on, and I’m waiting.

Please remember to share this post with your Twitter peeps and Facebook fans.

Create a Professional Facebook Profile

How do I convert my personal account to a Facebook Page?

How to Create a Facebook Business Page in 5 Simple Steps [Tutorial]

How to merge your Professional page and Newsfeed

Published on January 6, 2017January 7, 2017 by Jean M. Cogdell18 Comments

Okay, I’ve confessed before to making tons of mistakes in writing, publishing and social media. But, I keep on moving forward.

Although I sometimes feel as if I’m navigating an Internet minefield blindfolded.

Set up too many email accounts.
- Yahoo, MSN, Gmail and I even found a couple on each site. Sigh…
Opened 2 Facebook accounts.
- Thought I needed a personal one and one for writing platform. Not…
- Plus a professional page attached to one of them. Ugh…
Twitter
- Set up not one, not two but three tweet managing programs.
  - At last, I settled on Tweetdeck, but I’m sure the other accounts are still floating around in the great big worldwide web.

So why am I telling you all of this?

Because I’ve discovered as with most things less is more. And I’m starting with Facebook. So here goes.

First, I’m deleting my “personal” Facebook account.
Second, I’ll post on my Writer’s page and let it link to my “News Feed” home page.
- How? I’ve discovered a little tip. (Now don’t rain on my parade if you discovered this years ago.)

See here is the thing, if you write something on your Home/News Feed it doesn’t necessarily show up on your “Writers or Professional” page.

But here’s the good news. You can change your settings on Facebook so that whatever you write on your “professional” page and then the post will show up on both. That way no matter which one your readers click on they can see your comments.

Why would you want to do this?

Because by posting on your “Page” first instead of on Newsfeed/Home, you can schedule comments!

Yay, another tool to make life a bit calmer and easier.

As you can see, both look different.

jeanswriting-1 — **Jean’s Writing “Page.”**

jeanswriting-2 — **My “Timeline, Newsfeed, home” Page**

Want to give it a try?

Click on the link for step by step instructions.

How to adjust NewsFeed Preferences.

Okay, now you can tell me. Is this old news?

Have you already synced your Facebook page with NewsFeed?

If not, are you ready to give it a try?

Leave a comment or click the “write me” tab or look for me on Twitter @jeancogdell, Facebook at jeansw riting and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! The lights are on, and I’m waiting.

Please remember to share this post with your Twitter peeps and Facebook fans.

one of the best tips I’ve read in a long time

Published on January 4, 2017January 2, 2017 by Jean M. Cogdell17 Comments

I loved this article by Janice Hardy. Her tips on how to enhance a story with characters really got me to thinking more about mine.

Everyone has quirks. Good, bad, funny, sad, or funky, we all have something that makes us unique. So, what is weird or quirky about your characters?

However, just adding a limp or lazy eye won’t do the trick.

So just what is my favorite tip?

No Talking!

That’s right! No talking. Janice suggests take a scene, or section of the story and cut out all of the dialogue. Now take another look. Can you imagine the character? Can you name something unique about them without reverting to their eye color, height, weight, hair, etc.?

I can’t wait to try this!

This is just one of her invaluable tips. Click the link below to read the others.

What do you think?

Do you think cutting the dialogue will help with any of your scenes?

If you give it a try, let me know if it worked. I’d love to hear!

Want Better Characters? Get Rid of the Dialogue By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Leave a comment or click the “write me” tab or look for me on Twitter @jeancogdell, Facebook at jean.cogdell and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! The lights are on, and I’m waiting.

Please remember to share this post with your Twitter peeps and Facebook fans.

How to make your own giphy

Published on January 2, 2017December 19, 2016 by Jean M. Cogdell12 Comments

Do you want to make your own greeting giphy?

It’s a lot easier than you think.

new-year

You can use your own short video of family, friends, decorations or just about anything.

But if you don’t have a great video or don’t have the time, use a video from Pixabay.

Here is how step by step:

Save your video.
Go to giphy.com and click on create
Type in your caption, and tags.
Select private or public
Click on Create
Click “Download” to save to your computer

That’s all there is to it! Check out my little tutorial for tips.

Did this help?

Have you made a custom Giphy before?

Send me yours, I’d love to see them.

Leave a comment or click the “write me” tab or look for me on Twitter @jeancogdell, Facebook at jean.cogdell and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! The lights are on, and I’m waiting.

Please remember to share this post with your Twitter peeps and Facebook fans.