BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

Excerpt from LA   Examiner.com

November 18, 2011- Like this? Subscribe to get instant updates

Morgan St. James, LA Writing Examiner

Writers’ Tricks of the Trade: Believe in yourself

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Why this is so important
Today’s column is not a how-to tip unique to writing, but is very important to every author and writer.

It is about believing in yourself.

Believing in yourself probably comes under the heading of Success 101, because it is so important in every facet of life. If you don’t have unwavering belief in yourself, how can you expect others to? Writing the book, story, columns, screenplay, poetry or other creative form of putting words together and making them work in a way readers like is only one part of it. What really counts heavily is everything that comes next, and belief is high on the list.

Just as good writers’ groups can be found in Los Angeles, through a simple internet search or asking a writer friend, you can usually find a local group in your city or town. Writers’ groups are a wonderful reinforcement for an author’s belief system. In addition to offering encouragement, they help you realize you are not alone.

Continue reading on Examiner.com Writers’ Tricks of the Trade: Believe in yourself - Los Angeles Writing | Examiner.com

My Facebook Page was Hacked!

Well, I guess no one is safe. Today, much to my dismay, I discovered that I was supposedly stranded in Barcelona and needed quick cash. At least that's what a hacker was trying to communicate to my entire email list. Not only that, but they totally wiped out my Silver Sisters Mysteries Facebook account.

Not that I wouldn't want to go back to Barcelona. I was there for four days a few years ago and loved it, but didn't have to contact every person I'd ever shared an email communication with to bail me out.

Getting serious, I've spent the ENTIRE DAY trying to straighten things out. They say that when you use all capital letters, it's like shouting. Yep. That's me. I'm shouting mad. This is an old scam, and who falls for these things anyway? Particularly when you are supposed to be contacting someone you barely know to send you money. But the hackers continue to do it anyway. A friend from Sisters in Crime told me they had her stranded in Scotland and she hasn't straightened it out yet. At this time of year, I think the weather in Barcelona is probably a lot better. No offense to Scotland, but I don't do well in cold.

After wrestling with this, putting everything else aside and finally deciding there was only one thing I could do as a last resort, I now have a new Facebook account. I lost every friend contact on the old one, so if you were my friend, or would like to be, try to find Morgan St James without a period after the St. That's me. Sometimes it comes up in the search and sometimes not, but that's probably because it's brand new.

If you are a hacker, please don't do it again. Once is enough. I can't send requests to my old friends yet, because Facebook has barred me from doing that for a few days. You see, the hacker got in and destroyed everything, but I can't use Facebook to contact my friends or family just in case I'm a spammer. Where's the justice?

Meanwhile, the new newsletter is getting great comments and I'm delighted. That helped to even out the frustration of today's events. New contributors are contacting me, and future issues will be great.

Have a good night. I was supposed to go to Henderson Writers' Group tonight, and looked forward to hearing work to be critiqued, but instead I'm chilling out. Trust me. I know when I need quiet time!

MORGAN

USING THE RIGHT FORM OF A WORD

Something I saw on the news yesterday was so appropriate to the "You Don't Say" presentation I will be making for Sisters in Crime Los Angeles on October 9 that I had to write this.

My presentation is all about navigating the English language--a language peppered with bloopers just waiting for you to commit them.

Even editors aren't exempt. You see using the wrong form of a word, if taken literally, totally changes the intent of the sentence or phrase and is a terrible booby trap.

What I saw yesterday was a commentary on the deplorable state of our economy. It was part of a feature I like to watch called The Rant. They always put the written comment up on the screen. This one spoke about a "waist of money."

My first thought was why didn't someone catch that, which was rapidly followed by a giggle because I pictured the implications of a waist of money. Things like "pulling in your belt" led to imagining all these politicians parading around the House and Senate with money belts cinching in their waists --- or would that be wastes?

You can really have some fun with the wrong form of the right word. Take for example using "slight of hand" instead of "sleight of hand."

"Do you need to master SLIGHT OF HAND to be a good magician?" Hmmm. Don’t know that the size of the magician’s hands has anything to do with it. Although, with bigger hands, he could probably hold more cards."

SLIGHT is an interesting word. As an adjective, it means having a slim or delicate build or structure; as a transitive verb it means to treat with disdain or indifference, and as a noun it generally would be a humiliating discourtesy.

YOU DON'T SAY!

Morgan St. James

www.morganstjames-author.com