Welcome back to Austen Promises and the Writer’s Journal!
I sometimes feel like I spend half my days making memes. In case you didn’t know, a meme is one of those cute pictures with a saying or other information on it that you see on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram.
Why do I make so many? I have several reasons, the biggest being that they get my name “out there.” Even if I don’t put my blog name on it, anyone seeing the meme sees my name attached to it as the poster of it. There’s a chance that someone might actually get curious enough about me to click on my profile, or even my blog link. I have even had someone do a google search for this blog, to find me.
Another reason I make them is to promote things. Mostly my books, but also the online classes my RWA chapter sponsors and events that I plan to attend. I like to share those with a link, sometimes in the actual post where the meme is and sometimes in the comments. I really hate putting the link in the comments, because it makes the viewer click an extra time to see it, but I heard that Facebook doesn’t like links in posts and suppresses them, so in the comments they go.
I actually do not like making memes, though I seem to be getting better at it. I am not in the least artistic. I have no eye for ratio and proportion and all that nonsense, and my first attempts were awful. If not for a couple friends and their suggestions, my first memes would have been just ugly. My friends make me look better; I’d be lost without them! 🙂
Like I said, I’m getting better. I learned some rule about making a mental grid on your image and arranging things on the points of that grid. I think it’s called the Rule of 3, but don’t quote me. This rule has been very helpful, and I require far less input from friends than I used to. 🙂
I tend to re-use memes. For example, I made one Writer’s Journal template and all I have to do each week is make a copy of it and then change the post name. Lazy? Probably. But it saves me time, because I’m notoriously slow at everything I do. Used to make my parents nuts. 😀
It occurs to me that someone might be curious about what program I use to make my memes. So far, I have used Canva, which is free. They do have a paid version, but I have stuck with the free one. I am learning to use Photoshop, as well. Someday, when I grow up, I will use Photoshop for all my graphic design needs. 🙂
Come back next Wednesday for another peek into my journal! <3
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