Make Me Think Monday Archives - Page 36 of 37

2 09, 2013

It’s Labor Day – Celebrate

By judythemorgan|2013-09-02T06:39:28-05:00September 2nd, 2013|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

If you’ve read my blog for long, you know I like to celebrate holidays with facts and vintage cards.

First the facts…

The first Labor Day was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885, Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country with parades and speeches.

In 1894, it became an official federal holiday.

Now the cards…

All celebrate what today is truly about—honoring the workers of American.

Labor Day doesn’t have speeches and parades so much anymore. Today we think of Labor Day as the end of summer, a day of no labor.

Work is good, but play is also important. I leave you with this great quote.

Now, pick your rainbow color, grab a hot dog, and SLIDE!

26 08, 2013

Eight Writing Mistakes that Will Kill a Contest Entry

By judythemorgan|2013-08-26T06:03:57-05:00August 26th, 2013|Make Me Think Monday|3 Comments

I’ve been a member of RWA (Romance Writers of America) for years and I frequently judge chapter contests.

I’ve discovered I see the same writing mistakes repeated-contest after contest, year after year.

Most are small blunders, but unchecked these errors tip an editor or contest judge that you’re not a pro and frequently result in rejection by an editor or a low score from a contest judge.

I decided to share a list of those writing mistakes.

Word repetition.

All writers have little words we tend to overuse — weasel words, I call them after Margie Lawson’s classes. Words like really, just, could, would, it, were and very to name a few.

Create your personal weasel word list and be on the lookout for overused words. Then use search and replace to cut them out before submitting.

Extra prepositions.

Too many prepositions in a sentence make the writing choppy. There’s usually a way to reword and eliminate some of the prepositional phrases.

Word use

Words like affect/effect, like/such as, your/you’re, hearty or hardy, baby’s or babies can easily be confused.

If you aren’t sure which word meaning you need, find out.

Comma confusion

This simple piece of punctuation is the curse of all writers. We tend to insert commas where they don’t belong, which can change the sentence’s meaning, or omit needed commas.

Learn the rules — and when in doubt, ask an editor what their publication’s style demands.

Subject/verb disagreement

You can’t say, “A box of chocolates were on top of the table.” or “They is ready to leave.” A singular noun needs a singular verb. A plural noun needs a plural verb.

Pronoun use

When using a pronoun such as he/she, make sure there aren’t two people in the sentence and the pronoun creates confusion about which one you mean.

Misplaced modifiers/words

This one is a personal demon of mine. I guess that’s why I spot them so quickly.

Example of a dangling modifiers and the revision from Purdue On-Line Writing Lab

INCORRECT: After reading the original study, the article remains unconvincing.

REVISED: After reading the original study, I find the article unconvincing.

Example of misplaced words/modifiers and the revision from Towson University On Line Writing Support:

INCORRECT: The three bankers talked quietly in the corner smoking pipes.

REVISED: The three bankers smoking pipes talked quietly in the corner.

Having keen-eyed critique partners can catch this mistake. Reading to yourself out loud also helps.

Manuscript format

Most RWA chapter contests do not penalize for manuscript formatting. Editors and agents might. Two areas to watch:

Underline/italics. Be aware that underline usually denotes a clickable link. If you use it for emphasis, you confuse your readers.
Spacing after a period. Generally accepted manuscript format is one space after a period, not two. Check the Chicago Manual of Style if you don’t believe me.

Seven little mistakes I see repeatedly. Don’t let your submission to an editor/agent or a fiction writing contest be guilty of these mistakes.

Especially not when the fixes are so easy.

22 07, 2013

From fires to holes

By judythemorgan|2013-07-22T06:32:17-05:00July 22nd, 2013|Make Me Think Monday|2 Comments

The fires are dying. Firefighters are moving to other locations or going home to wait for their next assignment.

You’d think after all the drama of living in a wildfire that we’d sit back and enjoy the calm.

Nope. From one adventure to the next.

We began the garage addition to our new home that we’d planned to start in June.

The very large shovel (I have no idea what its technical name is) arrived one morning last week at 6 a.m. to start excavating.

I was so excited for two reasons.

One, the equipment meant we were actually starting what we’d talked about and planned for the last year.

Two, my son and his family were here. My two grandsons got to watch heavy equipment wipe out concrete and dirt.

Even my son was excited to be so up close to a steam shovel at work. He remembered I read Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel when he was young.

We both knew that the machine in the front yard ran on diesel not steam. For that matter, so did the entire neighborhood. Diesel exhaust stinks! And big machines are noisy.

The steam shovel in Virginia Lee Burton’s story was named Mary Anne, but our shovel looked like a male so I named him Stanley. Our driver was Steven, but he told us to call him Digger.

Digger and Stanley worked hard for two days. Down came concrete retaining walls. Crunch went the steps to the house. Large stumps were no match for Stanley and Digger.

Even a ginormous boulder rolled into Stanley’s jaw like a fly ball to center field.

Our contractor Jeff brought his backhoe to shift dirt around, but Stanley’s wide jaws were no match for the little fella. He couldn’t keep up!

We’re excited about having a garage before the snowfalls and during the cold winter months of mountain top living in Colorado.

The lovely walkway with steps from the driveway is gone.

But we never considered we’d trade fires in the backyard for a major hole off our front steps.

We can only enter the house through the back door by walking around mountains of dirt.

It’s going to be a long project adventure!

Have you ever began a much anticipated project and been surprised by the reality of the process you had to go through?

17 06, 2013

Primal Branding your Author Brand – Conclusions

By judythemorgan|2013-06-17T06:18:21-05:00June 17th, 2013|Make Me Think Monday|4 Comments

Brand is both a noun and a verb. The verb suggests you do something to be branded.

Once you publish a book, a writer is automatically branded, but branding is a fluid, ongoing process.

The techniques of primal branding that we’ve been discussing for the last few weeks offer a method to develop your author brand along with ways to stand out in a flooded market of book choices.

Primal branding uses what writers are best at—storytelling with certain added visual components. With branding, an author presents to the buyer, aka reader, what they can expect when they purchase your book.

Trouble is, writers equate branding with marketing and balk. Writers (me included) would rather be writing than spend time on marketing!

Unfortunately, marketing is a necessary task. But selling your book shouldn’t be about flooding the Twitter feed with book promo tweets.

When people believe in you through your author brand, they become part of a fan group that surrounds your book. They are willing to advocate their belief in you to others.

Think about the last time you moved. How did you find out about the best grocery store? The best church? The best doctor or dentist? The auto mechanic who wouldn’t rip you off?

Most likely, from someone willing to advocate for their preference.

In other words, they delivered the form of marketing that traditional wisdom tells you money can’t buy.

Word of mouth.

Author branding offers a means to provide resonance and meaning for what we believe in and what we write about. A way to develop a fan base willing to sell our book, which is our product.

The question to ask yourself is whether you want to be just another book on the shelf, or do you want to become a desired and popular product?

If your answer is the latter, then author branding is for you.

10 06, 2013

Primal Branding your Author Brand Part 2

By judythemorgan|2013-06-10T05:12:28-05:00June 10th, 2013|Make Me Think Monday|0 Comments

In Author Branding Part One, we discussed of how to cultivate your author brand using principles found in Primal Branding.

Readers have zillions of books to choose from these days. Author branding is important if you want readers to choose your books.

Primal Branding defines a code of seven elements needed to launch new products and services that people believe in – and it helps re-engineer existing products.

In Author Branding Part Two, we’ll discuss the final three codes Hanlon describes: rituals, anti-believers, and leader then identify ways to use with author brand development.

5) RITUALS

According to Hanlon, rituals involve a repeated experience associated with the brand, whether it’s positive or negative. The kind of engagements build up a certain expectation about your brand and future experiences they can expect to have.

Rituals are important to an author’s brand because they provide interaction and a bond of togetherness between author and reader.

Sharing experiences and events through blogs, FB, Twitter, and other social media is the means for developing author rituals.

With all social media, reader expectation is important. Regular posting is important. Posting often is important too.

Do you share pictures of your writing desk, your pet, or other life events for your readers? These are part of your story. (Remember Hanlon’s first component-STORY? If you don’t, check here.)

Posting excerpts from your WIP, celebrating a new release or revealing a cover makes readers a part of your writing process. How about sharing great reviews or fan comments?

Each of these, while we might not think of as rituals, add to your brand and offer a marketing tool for your books.

Step FIVE to develop your author brand: Share life events with your readers through social media.

6) ANTI-BELIEVERS

According to Hanlon, for every belief system there is a group of anti-believers (ie Mac users vs PC; Republicans vs Democrats). Anti-believers identify who and what the brand is or is not. Anti-believers are folks who don’t agree with us.

But without anti-believers, our standard is undefinable. We want to stand for something and our brand to mean something.

Anti-believers can also give you a good idea of the direction you want to take your brand or which directions to avoid.

Readers have preferences. Romance genre vs literary mainstream, e-reader vs hard cover vs paperback. Our author brand should reflect those preferences we want to attract and entice the “anti-believers,” the ones who aren’t buying our work.

Personally, I’ve discovered that my blog commenters more likely to share a contrary opinion than simply agreeing. Opposition can be a powerful connecting factor.

Step SIX in developing your author brand: Don’t limit yourself to only those who agree with you, but do make very sure your likes and dislikes are clear.

7) LEADER

According to Hanlon, there needs to be a brand leader. Someone who sets out against all odds to recreate something from their vision.

Think Bill Gates, Steven Jobs. For your writing, it’s you.

You have the power to shape your brand the same as you create your plot and characters, your theme and opening lines.

Step SEVEN in developing your author brand: Your brand is like your writer’s voice. Voice develops the more your write. Your brand develops as you learn to tell your story.

Next Monday, conclusions on author branding with Primal Branding code.

YOUR TURN: Do you use Hanlon’s seven components in defining your author brand?

27 05, 2013

Memorial Day is…

By judythemorgan|2013-05-27T05:46:57-05:00May 27th, 2013|Make Me Think Monday|4 Comments

A holiday set aside to remember the men and women who gave their lives while serving this country.

Not to be confused with Veterans Day or Armed Forces Day, which celebrate the service of all U.S. military veterans, living or dead.

Memorial Day is also the day my sweetie and I shared our wedding vows.

No, we were not married on the last Monday in May, but on May 30th — the original date designated as Memorial Day, or Decoration Day as it was first known.

We picked the holiday for our wedding because we wanted to make the date easy to remember.

Then on June 28, 1968, the Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which moved Memorial Day, along with four other holidays, in order to create a convenient three-day weekend.

It’s okay though, we still remember our anniversary every year.

But I think people have forgotten the true origins of Memorial Day.

Memorial Day has become a long weekend more devoted to shopping, family gatherings, fireworks, trips to the beach, and national media events than remembering those who have given their lives in military service.

I hope this video will jog our memory.

20 05, 2013

Your Name’s on the Book Cover. What Does it Mean? Author Branding Part 1

By judythemorgan|2013-05-20T05:41:57-05:00May 20th, 2013|Make Me Think Monday|3 Comments

Nothing is more exciting than seeing your name on the cover of a book you’ve written. You’ve devoted hours and hours to the creation of your “baby.” Holding that book in your hand or seeing the listing on an ebook seller site validates your hard work.

I still get excited when I hold my debut novel in my hand.

But what can a reader expect to find inside when they see your name on the book cover?

Authors aren’t products like Pepsi or Coke, but readers do develop expectations about the content of novels based on author brand. For example, what do you expect from books by Mark Twain, or Stephen King, or J.K. Rowling?

Me, I expect a southern tale from Mark Twain, a horror tale from Stephen King, fantasy and magic from a J.K. Rowling book and find exactly that.

My TBR (to be read) pile is filled with all genres. On close examination, the highest stack is romance/women’s fiction books by authors like Debbie Macomber, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, or JoAnn Ross. These authors’ names on a cover promises a certain type of story and they deliver.

Their name is their brand.

Debbie Macomber will offer a story of relationships and enduring friendships. The reader will finish with a sense of love and hope.

Books by Susan Elizabeth Phillips are sure to be a romantic comedy adventure. I’ll grin and often laugh aloud as I follow SEP’s unique heroines to their HEA (happily ever after).

JoAnn Ross’ stories offer strong, yet flawed women who overcome adversity, to-die for men-either emotionally wounded alpha shell guys or bad boys, and occasionally both, a very strong sense of setting, and a satisfying ending.

Your name on your cover should signal YOUR author brand. Does it?

If you don’t have any ideas how to do that, let me offer some suggestions on ways to cultivate an author brand using Primal Branding.

Author Patrick Hanlon, a marketing guru who’s worked on famous brands like IBM, LEGO, and Disney, equates product branding with a belief system. He says a strong brand contains seven primal codes: story, creed, icons, language, rituals, non-believers, and leader.

In this blog series on author branding, I’m going to discuss Harlan’s codes and how those codes relate to building an author brand.

1) STORY

According to Hanlon, “Your brand needs to have a story or a background. It tells where your brand originated from and gives viewers or consumers something to connect with and something they can believe and trust in themselves.”

Readers especially love to know why and how an author got started writing.

That background story sets the whole idea of author brand in motion and is the chief reason all author websites and/or blogs should/must have about me pages.

The authors in my TBR pile all have their “story” somewhere on their blogs. Don’t believe me, click on the links and you’ll see.

Step ONE to develop your author brand. Share the story about how you started writing.

2) CREED

According to Hanlon, “This tells what you believe in and how you might be different or similar to other belief systems out there.”

Story is not the same for all of us, neither is our creed.

Creed is what makes us, as a writers, willing to struggle to nurse our stories into existence, to persevere against headwinds that conspire against us?

Creed goes deeper than “origin” story, into the inner drive that led us to pursue a writing career. It’s what drives us to write.

Creed might be belief in the power of love. The frailty of the human condition. Comedy. The beauty of fine literature. Your fictional story will reveal what you believe most strongly.

Writers don’t necessarily state a creed, but a reader will pick up on our core beliefs through our story’s theme and premise.

Step TWO in establishing your author brand: Understand your core beliefs and develop your stories using those as your framework.

3) ICONS

According to Hanlon,, “These are quick associations or flashes of meaning that are associated with your brand. They can be visual, a particular smell, sound – things like the taste of McDonald’s French fries, the sight of a Coca-Cola label or Mickey Mouse ears.”

Nora Roberts, bestselling author of more than 209 romance novels, brands her new release books with NR in a circle to clue readers the contains new content and is not a reissue. There may be other author icons, but Nora’s is the only author icon I know.

For most writers, author photos and consistent book cover design become logos.

These images stand for you and your work. It pays to have both your photo and your book cover done by professionals.

Step THREE for author branding: Use a professional photo for you book covers and on your website.

4) LANGUAGE

According to Hanlon, “All belief systems or brands have their own set of language and words with a special meaning for those who buy into the belief system. If someone wants to be “part of the group,” they need to learn the associated words.”

Hanlon is talking about specialized words that denote special meaning for a particular brand group. Think soccer fans, computer geeks, doctors, truck drivers, etc. If you want to be part of any of those groups, you have to know the language.

I believe readers already know some language of authors. Not the craft details like POV, scene and sequence, story structure, etc., but a general knowledge of fiction genres and have personal preferences.

That’s why language is an important component of an author’s brand and why I believe a writer’s language must remain true to genre. Doesn’t matter what genre you choose to write, but you’ll not add readers if your language is not true to the genre you chose.

PhilipMartin in his blog, Discover Your Author’s Brand, offers a different take on Hanlon’s core component language, calling it “sacred words.”

Martin believes language equals “key phrases that inspire you or the mantras that you chant or the slogans that you pin next to your computer” and directs you to Maya Angelou’s website.

He points out that Angelou uses iconic images of herself and the cover of her well-known book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, in addition to a line from that book: “A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.” on the website for branding.

Angelou use the language code of primal branding. So should you.

Step FOUR to develop your author brand: Consider the language of the genre in which you write and use related words for your website/blog and promotions, then model Maya Angelou’s website with iconic images and slogans.

In Author Branding Part Two, we’ll discuss the final three codes Hanlon describes: rituals, non-believers, and leader.

Until then, YOUR TURN: Have you thought about using Primal Branding to build your author brand?

13 05, 2013

How are you celebrating National Leprechaun Day?

By judythemorgan|2013-05-13T06:03:51-05:00May 13th, 2013|Make Me Think Monday|4 Comments

Today is National Leprechaun Day.

No one knows the origins of the National Leprechaun Day holiday, but I’d be guessing one of the tiny creatures came up with the idea for a day in his honor. Being a bit Irish meself, I think it’s delightful that leprechauns have a day separate from St. Patrick’s Day.

Irish folklore portrays Leprechauns as sly and sneaky elves who dress in waistcoats and hats. While they are small in stature, they are quick as a whip and masters of practical jokes.

They are also keen musicians who play tin whistles, the fiddle, and even the Irish Harp and love to dance. Truth is, they love dancing so much, they wear out their shoes and constantly have to make new ones.

You might see a leprechaun if you go to Ireland. Tis been known to happen. But catching one of the mischievous pranksters is another matter entirely!

The wee people hide because, if someone finds a leprechaun, then the leprechaun has to either give his pot of gold to the finder or grant him or her three wishes.

The devious little creatures will do anything to escape from man so they should never be trusted. Some say angry leprechauns are more common than friendly ones. Not true. They tend to dislike humans because humans always seem to chase them for wishes and pots of gold.

If you do happen to catch one, be aware the leprechaun will use all his magical powers to grant you three wishes in return for his freedom. He might even offer you a pot of gold, but he’s also likely to trick you. Check here for tips on How to Catch a Leprechaun.

Most people celebrate this day for fun and for luck. Activities include:

organizing Leprechaun hunts,
throwing Leprechaun parties,
playing practical jokes, and
eating and sharing gold foil wrapped chocolate coins

My suggestion to celebrate Leprechaun Day is watch this ten-minute video from the 1959 movie, Darby O’Gill and the Little People. I promise your toe will be tapping right along with their dancing. You’ll also catch a bit of Leprechaun craftiness.

In case you’re not into little green men, you can celebrate frogs because today is also Frog Jumping Day

You’re choice.

Me, I’m celebrating National Leprechaun Day.

6 05, 2013

Where do you write?

By judythemorgan|2013-05-06T06:50:12-05:00May 6th, 2013|Make Me Think Monday|3 Comments

I’m always fascinated by where writers write and what their writing spaces look like. I enjoy looking at pictures of famous authors’ desk and writing spaces.

Some places where writers write are pretty awesome.

: Charlotte Bronte’s Writing Space

This blog has some wonderful examples of famous writer’s offices.

: Rudyard Kipling’s Writing Space

If you’re as fascinated by where writers write as I am, I recommend these sites.

Where Writers Writer http://wherewriterswrite.tumblr.com/
Poets and Writers http://www.pw.org/content/writing_spaces

After thirty-three years of working in my old office, our recent move meant I had to create a new writing space.

The old room offered plenty of space for me, my writing assistant plus two desks-one for my laptop and one for my desktop, a Xerox machine, and multiple bookcases.

A complete world for my writing space.

Not so in our new location. This house has 1,200 square feet compared to 3,600 square feet in our old home. Needless to say, my new writing space is MUCH smaller.

SMALL isn’t the problem.

I can work in small spaces. I’ve written in cars, hotel rooms, on a train, and even on a cruise. All I need is spot for my computer or AlphaSmart.

But there’s something special about having my own office space. Now I’m using the smaller extra bedroom. Too bad the desk I brought with me was designed for a much larger space and the room already has a twin-sized trundle bed.

The real problem was finding places for all the extra-writing stuff—printers, files, reference and resource books, etc. No room for the tables, file cabinets, and bookcases.

After weeks of placing things, my office writing space now looks like this. Plenty of room for my writing assistants and me.

With my office set up again, I’m set to get back to some serious writing.

YOUR TURN: Do you have a writing office? If not, what is your writing space like?

22 04, 2013

How can we help West, Texas?

By judythemorgan|2013-04-22T06:50:29-05:00April 22nd, 2013|Make Me Think Monday|3 Comments

In a week filled with horrific events, West, a small Texas town 19 miles north of Waco, experienced a fiery explosion at the Texas fertilizer plant located there. Fourteen people, mostly volunteer firefighters who rushed to the fire at the plant, died. Two hundred people were injured, and dozens of homes and businesses were destroyed.

Click these links to see the details, if you missed the news reports.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/key-facts-plant-explosion-west-texas-18990641

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/20/west-fertilizer-plant-explosion-recovery/2099591/

Rachel Firasek, an author who is a member of the West Community, shared the following first-hand account:

“I wanted to give everyone an update. I actually live about 10 miles away, but my children go to school in West and my husband grew up there. We felt the blast all the way at our house. The noise was deafening, even that far away. We’re still desperately waiting for word on names of the fallen. I know that my hubby has already lost one cousin and a very good friend is in critical condition.

We lost three of the four schools. The only thing left is the elementary school. My kids will finish the school year at schools 30 miles away. It’s going to be a hectic next few weeks for all of our family and friends, but this is a tight community and they are already rallying.

Please don’t feel obligated, but thanks for anything you can do for these families.”

So how can we help West, Texas?

Authorities said Friday that charitable organizations have received more donations of food, clothing and other items than are needed in West. Excess donations will be distributed to surrounding areas.

Cash donations to the Red Cross or the Salvation Army would be welcome.

With schools destroyed, donations to the education program are desperately needed. Rachel provided this link with for details.

Other places to donate and help:

Donate to West Fire Department – mail donations to:
West Fire Department, PO Box 97, West, TX 76691
Donate to the victims – PointWest Bank: POINTWEST Bank – Home Page
Donate Blood – during the next few months schedule appointment to donate blood. Blood will be needed and it has a limited shelf life. Go to Donating Blood | American Red Cross for additional information and to find a location near you.
Contact donation facilities for specific items still needed at this time:
Extraco Events Center (254) 776-1660
First Baptist Church of Lott (254) 829-2321
**packing materials are going to be needed when the families can enter their homes again

Medical help for animals is also needed. Contact these area animal clinics for specifics:

Happy Endings Animal Clinic 254-666-8240
Brazos Valley Boarding Kennels 254-854-4104
La Vega Vet Clinic 254-744-1948

And for those who want to share a word on social media sites:

https://www.facebook.com/PrayersforWest

https://www.facebook.com/WestFirefighters

Anything you can do, especially prayers, in this devastating time will be welcomed.

Make Me Think Monday

Word repetition.

Extra prepositions.

Word use

Comma confusion

Subject/verb disagreement

Pronoun use

Misplaced modifiers/words

Manuscript format