I know your mama probably told you not to follow the crowd.  I can hear her response to your, “But everybody does it!” ”Well,” she’d say, with her hands raised in disbelief, “If everyone jumped off a cliff, would you, too?”

The other day I decided to go along with the popular practice of posting a video on YouTube.  Prior to my light-bulb-moment, I’d created a video for a writing workshop using Windows Movie Maker. The video served as a how-to for those who want to discover the value of writing from pain.  Creating it was fun, but I knew I could perfect it.  So, with the help of my husband, we made a new video, based on the original theme.  To this one we added music, special effects, transitions, and my voice.  (My voice never sounds as good as I hope it will, but the video needed to be narrated and since my spouse said he wasn’t about to, and, well . . . You get the picture.)

After several takes and many hours, we had a video I was pleased with.  You do know that if Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.  My husband posted our three minutes of creativity to YouTube  (our video is here: Alice J Wisler-Writing Workshop), we spread the word to the town crier, a.k.a. Facebook, and, watched the hits go up. Friends even reposted on their Facebook pages and had nice things to say after viewing our work.  (One friend in England swore we’d used his hand in the photo of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.)

We all have something to share.  Why not have some fun and create a video?  As writers, we already have a host of pizzazz and wisdom, right?  We string words together to form our thoughts.  How about stringing some photos and narrative? You could make a video on tips you’ve learned that help motivate you to stick to writing your current manuscript.  Or recipes that aid your muse. I used photos we’d taken of North Carolina beaches and scenes from our trips out West. And yes, the one everyone seems to love—our puppy, Levi. You can use shots that are meaningful to you, relevant to the topic of your message. Start jotting down ideas and themes for a video. Write out a script so that when you are being recorded, you won’t ad lib or mess up your lines. See what you can come up with to share with the world.

So have some fun doing what everybody else does.

But no cliff jumping.

Until next time,

~ Alice

For further instruction, check out this tutorial for video-making on YouTube.

About the Author:
Alice J. Wisler writes inspirational fiction from her home in Durham, NC.  She’s the author of RAIN SONG, HOW SWEET IT IS, HATTERAS GIRL and A WEDDING INVITATION. She also teaches grief-writing workshops both online and at conferences.