Month: November 2011

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NaNoWriMo Day 9: The End Result

November 9, 2011 jcladyluv

Already I am thinking about the end of the novel before I am even done. Not the actual ending of the novel because even though I already have that planned out, it is always subject to change by the time I get there. What I am thinking about in my head is how I am going to market this book and the type of cover I want for it and how to draw as much attention for it as possible. I’m even teetering with the idea of making this the beginning of a series which could be a marketing tool in itself. See I have a published novel that was released last year called The Diary: Succession of Lies which I was not very good at marketing and it hasn’t done as well as I would have liked it to because of that and I don’t want my future books to suffer because I didn’t plan far enough ahead on the grander scale in terms of marketing. Now I do plan on trying to start marketing my already published work even more vigorously (after NaNoWriMo of course) but I can not neglect the need for marketing my books way ahead of time in the future and not waiting until literally the last minute, or even worse, after the book comes out. But that was a lesson that I have definitely learned and am going to do everything not to repeat. Until next time…What are your plans for marketing your current novel?

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

NaNoWriMo Day 8: The Depth of a Character

November 8, 2011 jcladyluv

You ever get to a point where you realize that you could’ve added something way back in chapter three but you’re already heading towards chapter seven and you want to go back and start adding to that section. However, when doing National Novel Writing Month they tell you not to edit, or go back, just keeping writing and worry about editing in December. So I am trying to stick to that and I have but it’s hard to resist the urge. I was reading a blog post by my best friend and fellow NaNo-er about getting so wrapped up in her characters that she has a new favorite one from day to day and while I am perfectly happy with my main character Mackenzie, I wonder if I am bringing enough depth to the other characters to give the readers an option of liking someone other than Mackenzie. I am thinking about the other major players in the story and thinking should I go back and now reveal more of their back story, because while I know their history and all their secrets and pet peeves, the readers need to engage with them also. I tend to pour all of the depth into the main character which can be good (I’ve read plenty of books where that works) but then maybe I should leave well enough alone. I guess I’ll just have to wait and decide in December when the editing phase begins. Mackenzie is really relatable though, although I might be a tad bit biased. Until next time…Are your characters everything that you want them to be?

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

NaNoWriMo Day 7: Lot’s of Mischief Going On!

November 7, 2011 jcladyluv

So it’s back to the early morning sessions. I’m getting even more into my story and it is flowing even more beautifully every single day. Mackenzie is really starting to regret taking on this story of the ex-Congressman’s murder because it’s opening all kinds of doors that she had tried very hard to keep closed for years. Her history with the ex-Congressman is starting to come into play and it doesn’t help her case that her episodes have started flaring up again and she can’t exactly remember where she was the night that he was killed. To add conflict on top of more conflict, she is developing feelings for the lead homicide detective who is her inside source for the story and who has already developed feelings for her. And believe it or not, things are about to get a little more complicated for her as she learns of a secret that has been kept from her for most of her life which will greatly affect her. Mackenzie has a lot of layers to her that make her very vulnerable and very guarded all at the same time. I am really starting to sympathize with her. Is it possible that she could be the very person that she is working with the detective to find? I guess time will tell. I think that I might’ve said too much so I’m gonna go now. I’ve got to rest my brain a little for tomorrow’s early morning session and Mackenzie’s next move. Stay tuned! Until tomorrow…Is your story coming to life for you yet?

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

NaNoWriMo Day 6: Starbucks really does work wonders!

November 6, 2011 jcladyluv

Okay so I am at good ole Starbucks, drinking coffee that is probably way too high in calories but I got the job done for the day. I thought about the possibility of making this an everyday ritual or at least a ritual for every weekend but that could become way too costly and I already can’t afford the coffee I bought today. Yes another one of those rewards (just one given before the actual words were met for the day). Nevertheless, I wrote 1,700 words today which brings my total word count to 10,418 thus far. And what’s more is that my story seems to be flowing along beautifully. I am possibly having the best NaNoWriMo experience that I’ve had since beginning this process four years ago. I have not gotten stuck and my story hasn’t started to drag and I am grateful for that (hoping I haven’t jinxed myself). Tomorrow begins the early morning wake up sessions again for the week. I think Mackenzie might have a very complicated time this coming week. She’s about to be put through a lot. Stay tuned! Until tomorrow…Enjoy how far you’ve gotten so far and keep going!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

NaNoWriMo Day 5: Oh the Rewards that will follow!

November 5, 2011 jcladyluv

Okay so I had to really think last night of whether I was going to do the early morning wake up sessions for the weekends as well because I hadn’t really thought about it. That was an easy and quick decision. I need to make up for the lost sleep somewhere. It is also no easy to get my words done on a Saturday because I have so many other things to do as well but I just completed my words for today thanks to my local Starbucks. I am going to go get me some Chinese food now as my reward for dinner because I haven’t had it in a long time and I feel that I deserve it. I’m going to go home and watch a movie which I also haven’t done in a while and probably get even more inspired by whatever movie I decide to watch (haven’t made up my mind). Should I decide I want to laugh tonight I also have some stand up comedy on my DVR somewhere in the 93% of recorded items so either way I will make a good night out of it. I hope you all are doing well with your novels and that your characters are still speaking to you. Let me know how you’re doing. Until next time…Don’t forget to reward yourself along the way!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

NaNoWriMo Day 4: An In Between Day

November 4, 2011 jcladyluv

I love NaNoWriMo! Okay so I might not like getting up an hour earlier than normal but I suppose the reward of a finished novel at the end of thirty days helps make up for the lost sleep. There are some days where the characters are just speaking to you and you can’t even type or write fast enough to get everything it is that they’re trying to say. And there are the days when you feel like your characters are trying to tell you something but you don’t really know what it is so clearly you can’t convey their message.

Now granted today is not one of those days, it’s also not one where I can’t keep up with my characters train of thought but it is a good day in terms of writing. It was a day where things flowed adequately enough and I feel the story is moving along. I did however, start brainstorming ideas (along with my best friend and fellow NaNo-er) about how this could possibly have the potential to turn into a series but we will see how the story manages to unfold itself. I’m already getting signals pulling me in different directions then when I originally planned my outline.

Writing can be difficult, but it is so well worth every bit of blood (the red pen my best friend, the editor, uses to edit my work with), sweat (no I don’t really sweat over my story either), and tears (yes sometimes I really do cry with my characters), and did I forget agony. A writer takes his or her characters with her, wherever they go and that can be difficult because they tend to pop up and start talking to you out of the blue and then you look crazy because you actually answer them (or is that just me).

The writing process is already a task that is challenging and sometimes frustrating. But to try and write a whole novel in 30 days or at the very least have the framework of that novel put together is incredibly hard. I feel like I can’t afford to have an off day or a day where I fall behind in my word count because there is so much of this story that I feel needs to be told and I don’t want to leave anything out.

It’s a lot of pressure to write a novel, then to write it in 30 days, and then to have it actually be good. But I try not to think about what happens once I finish this thing because then I would have to think about my best friend and the RED ink from her trusty red pen that she likes to mark up people’s manuscripts with. Well I’m gearing up for a weekend full of…you guessed it, more writing. I hope that you all will be writing as well. And I hope that you guys will clue me in on some of your stories. Just a little teaser maybe! Until next time…Don’t stop writing yet!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

NaNoWriMo Day 3: My Character is Really Talking to Me

November 3, 2011 jcladyluv

Okay so this morning Mackenzie is taking this opportunity to take the bull by the horns and seize the moment to really prove herself to her editor. She’s starting to act more like a police detective than just an Investigative reporter. She’s conducting interviews and canvassing neighborhoods and even flirting with the lead homicide detective on the case to gain as much information out of him as she can get. She’s even convinced him to let her look at the autopsy report and crime scene photos, of which she made copies of for her own use.

But Mackenzie is having a hard time keeping her personal issues surrounding this case from affecting her. She got the story because she dated the Ex-congressman and her editor thought it might be easier for her to get the personal details no other reporter could probably get. But now her career rests on a man who she had never wanted to see again. Now she has to relive those moments with him that she was trying to forget for all these years. Working on this story could have damaging psychological effects that she is not prepared to deal with yet.

Okay Mackenzie is having another one of her episodes again so I have to go deal with her for a little while. I might have more to tell you guys tomorrow. Happy writing everyone!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

NaNoWriMo Day 2: Sharing Time

November 2, 2011 jcladyluv

So 2 days in a row I managed to wake up early to write. If I keep this up I won’t have any excuses when NaNoWriMo is over as to why I can’t do this all the time. I must admit that this morning I actually did contemplate hitting the snooze button but I resisted that urge and got up and headed straight for my computer. Mackenzie was ready for me to get back to telling her story. Before I start clueing you in about all of the personal details about Mackenzie I’ll share with you a condensed version of the synopsis.

Mackenzie Brown wants to break into Investigative reporting for the BaltimoreTimes but can’t get her editor to give her the break that she needs to prove what an asset she can be. But when her former college boyfriend, Ex-congressman Andrew Litney is brutally murdered behind the alley of a strip club the opportunity to prove her worth presents itself. But that opportunity comes with immeasurable consequences as it stirs up things from her past that she has tried her best to keep buried. As she digs further and further into the Ex-congressman’s past indiscretions in an effort to discover the person that murdered him, she not only finds everything hitting closer to home then she ever thought it would, but she also uncovers things about herself that might have never been brought to light. Can Mackenzie keep her personal baggage from interfering with the story that could give her journalism career the boost that it desperately needs?

Okay that’s all I can give up right now. Don’t want to tell you everything all at once. I guess you guys are just going to stay tuned in to find out what personal secrets Mackenzie might be keeping hidden, or more importantly, what secrets about her past that are being kept hidden from her. Until next time…Keep writing and don’t stop!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

NaNoWriMo Day 1: Early Awakening

November 1, 2011 jcladyluv

So I set out to wake up at 5 this morning and begin writing for the first day of National Novel Writing Month and to accomplish my word count for the day in the little time before I whisked my daughter off to school and headed to the gym for my morning workout. I had suspected that I might not be able to get up that early because I am in no way, shape, or form, a morning person. I typically tend to set three different times for my alarm to go off in the morning because I make plans on hitting the snooze button. In fact I have two other alarm clocks aside from the one with three different times set and those other two are also set at two different times. See I try to get the maximum amount of sleep possible in the morning because I tend to go to bed so late.

However, I am very proud to say that I did in fact not hit the snooze button this morning and I got out of my bed, headed straight for the computer (well there might have been a pit stop to the bathroom first) and pulled out my book with my outline and character sketches and notes and began writing. Not only did I reach the 1,667 words that is estimated for each day of November, but I wrote 1,709 (not really that much more) words. I wrote for about an hour and a half and then when I was finished I charted my time and then I was off to get my daughter ready and off to school. I had a great, awesome, workout at the gym and have had a pretty good day so far (the day is still young).

I think that my writing is sharper and flows better when I work in the morning and it makes my day start off well knowing that I have gotten in a good bit of work done first thing in the morning. It’s quiet in the morning and my mind is very clear (although somewhat sleepy). Now I don’t mean to make it sound like I am not going to try to get more words done today but I want to at least make sure that the amount I definitely need to reach is met. I just hope that I can continue getting up at5amand that I can continue working smoothly to get this novel done, but done well.

Well I guess I better save my words for tomorrow’s morning writing session and the next blog post. Maybe tomorrow I’ll tell you a little bit about my character Mackenzie Brown and the murder mystery she’s getting herself all wrapped up in. Until tomorrow…What are your characters up to lately?

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”