Month: March 2013

Organization Monday

jcladyluv

It’s the beginning of yet another week in our continuing journey to become successful entrepreneurial writers.  Organization is a key aspect to being a writer.  I know that those that like to work surrounded by clutter and confusion will disagree with this statement but no good work can be done in chaos.  Even people who claim to love chaos have some organization to their clutter.  Here are a few tips to get your week started on how you can get organized and (hopefully) stay that way.

  • Keep Your To-Do Lists Short and Sweet—I am notorious for starting a to-do list only intended to be a few items long but then somehow ends up being about twenty items long.  Well Ms. L. provided me with a tip the other day that is so appreciated that I had to share.  She suggested making a list with only five items on it (stop at five) of the most important tasks needed to be done.  If more items pop up in your mind then just begin a new list that will get addressed either when the first list is completed or the next day.  Five items to a list, it’s short and it’s simple, and also manageable.
  • Keep a Clean Writing Space—This may sound like it has nothing to do with actually producing good writing but I believe that it does.  When there’s nothing but clutter around you how can you possibly produce good work.  If you clean the area your writing in I think it will make it more conducive to write your next great piece of work.
  • Set a Time Frame to Accomplish Your Task—It is good to have a deadline for when your projects should be completed.  Having an unlimited time frame gives you to much of a reason not to complete the task and the deadline will give you something to aim for and less time to procrastinate.
  • Work on Minimizing the Distractions Around You—If you are a person who checks their email ten times a day and who networks on social media (hopefully you’re networking more than socializing), or who has their specific television shows that they just can not miss, then you are not going to suddenly become the polar opposite.  However, you can work to minimize those distractions that are keeping you from doing your work.  If you know that your novel isn’t getting worked on because you can’t part from you favorite TV program, then you know what you need to do to make that happen.  I myself am drawn to watching my soap opera’s when I should be writing so recently I decided to just DVR the soap opera’s to watch later so I can write when I’m supposed to be writing.

These are just a few things that I try to remember to help me to stay more organized and also more focused on my writing and on the ventures that I want to pursue within my writing.  I hope that at least one of these suggestions strikes a chord with you and that you can implement in your writing efforts.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

Write 2 Be Magazine is now out so please go check it out at http://write2bemagazine.com/.  Also please go and join the magazine on twitter https://twitter.com/write2bemag, join the email listing for the magazine or submit a request for an author interview at Write2bemagazine@yahoo.com, and also like the Write 2 Be Magazine fan page https://www.facebook.com/Write2BeMagazine.  Please help support my endeavor and my new journey and help me spread the word about Write 2 Be and its meaning.

Does Playing It Safe Just Get You a Lot of Missed Opportunities?

jcladyluv

There’s this saying, “with great risks comes even greater rewards”, and I thought about that as I was watching a news segment about Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg, discussing her success and her new book that is causing much controversy.  She was discussing her thoughts on women and their role as leaders in the business world and how women, albeit ambitious enough, are always playing it too safe and that is often what holds them back in their efforts to succeed.  She has taken many risks throughout her career and her several different roles as a leader and she has had many great rewards simply because she refused to play it safe.

It made me think about the fact that I am not a huge risk taker and if that is what is holding me back it would be a terrible shame.  Is that what is slowing me down on this journey to the top?  To say I am cautious would probably (if you ask my best friend Ms. L.) be putting it mildly.  I think things through, sometimes too much, and then once I decide something I rethink it through again, a couple more times.  The funny thing is that I don’t remember being this way when I was younger.  Granted when I was younger I was limited in the things I could do because I was not yet an adult and most of my childhood I was not a working individual so I relied on my mother for monetary well being, but I don’t remember being so scared to do things.

I don’t remember over analyzing things nearly as much as I do.  I mean I did to a certain extent because I had to analyze whether or not the risk I was taking was going to get me beat by my mother or in trouble in other ways, but I never thought of myself as playing it safe.  So now in a time in my life where I should be throwing caution to the wind and just going for everything and every opportunity that could possibly come my way, I am resistant, I find that I just want to be safe.  I don’t know if it was motherhood that made me that way or not but I know that I want my daughter to take risks and go after the dreams she wants without worrying what is or what is not going to go wrong.

The author of Wild, Cheryl Strayed, wrote her memoir about the journey that she took along the mountainous Pacific Crest Trail from California, all the way through Oregon and up to WashingtonState, with practically no money to her name and little idea of what it was she was really in search of.  Somehow she managed to complete her trip as well as accomplishing a level of self discovery that she didn’t even realize she was looking for.  She didn’t let the fear of not really knowing where she was going stop her, nor did she let the fact that she had barely any money stop her and she managed to get a New York Times Bestselling book out of it that landed on Oprah’s book club lists.  She didn’t play it safe and she took a huge amount of risk and she got great rewards.

Now obviously, it is not realistic for most of us to go and try that, but the point is that we shouldn’t let things hold us back and we shouldn’t play it so safe that we miss out on the adventures that we could have in our lives.  Now being overly cautious is a hard habit to break and I am not crazy enough to think that overnight I am just going to be this “throw caution to the wind” type of person but I do know that I don’t want to play it safe anymore and I can’t afford to over-think myself out of the next opportunity.  What about you, have you been playing it safe lately?

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

 

Write 2 Be Magazine is now out so please go check it out at http://write2bemagazine.com/.  Also please go and join the magazine on twitter https://twitter.com/write2bemag, join the email listing for the magazine or submit a request for an author interview at Write2bemagazine@yahoo.com, and also like the Write 2 Be Magazine fan page https://www.facebook.com/Write2BeMagazine.  Please help support my endeavor and my new journey and help me spread the word about Write 2 Be and its meaning.

Is It Camp Season Already?

jcladyluv

So I got an email in my inbox today about CampNaNoWriMo and the date is approaching in April.  I hadn’t actually planned on doing CampNaNoWriMo this year because I didn’t do so well in actually producing anything last year when they did the mid year program.  This year they have one in April and in July and at first glance I want to just say no and wait until the normal time in November.

Throughout the course of the day I have thought about the fact that I never use not doing something well the first time as an excuse to not try again and I don’t want to start now.  Perhaps the CampNaNoWriMo is just what I need to finish up the other novel and get working on outlining the ideas for the other one.

It will not only allow me to finish up a project but also to prepare for the NaNoWriMo in November and if I should choose to do the one in July as well (which knowing me I probably will), it will be a good warm-up for that one as well.  So since April is approaching (quicker than I would like it to) I suppose I had better get my time management skills in check.

Hopefully some of you will join me in the month of April and participate in the CampNaNoWriMo and get warmed up for the November round.  If you do decide to participate please let me know and maybe we can help hold each other accountable.  Let’s go camping!

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

 

Write 2 Be Magazine is now out so please go check it out at http://write2bemagazine.com/.  Also please go and join the magazine on twitter https://twitter.com/write2bemag, join the email listing for the magazine or submit a request for an author interview at Write2bemagazine@yahoo.com, and also like the Write 2 Be Magazine fan page https://www.facebook.com/Write2BeMagazine.  Please help support my endeavor and my new journey and help me spread the word about Write 2 Be and its meaning.

We Have To Be Aware of What We Are Inviting Into Our Lives

jcladyluv

“God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a disciplined mind.”

~ 2 Timothy 1:7

It’s a new week and I am starting off this week feeling inspired.  I was watching Joel Osteen again yesterday (another one of those instances where I accidentally turned to the channel) and the topic of his message was fear, specifically activating faith instead of activating fear.  Obviously this is an issue that I have within myself because I have been known to miss a lot of opportunities due to my fear for one thing or another.

However, this message wasn’t just discussing how fear holds you back but rather about how dwelling on our fears is giving those fears power and essentially when we are fearful we are coming into agreement with whatever it is that we are afraid of, therefore giving it a right to become a reality.  There were so many things that Joel Osteen spoke about in his message that struck a chord with me and I really wanted to share them with those of you out there who feel like they are constantly fearful of whatever might happen and who increasingly worry about being defeated and failing.  Below I have listed the things that had the most impact on me and maybe they can impact your life as well:

  1. Whatever you meditate on is what is going to take root.
  2. Fear and faith have something in common; they both ask us to believe something is going to happen that we can not see.
  3. Fear is using your faith in the wrong direction.
  4. The first place that we lose the battle is in our own thinking.
  5. When you go around dwelling on your fears, expecting the worst to happen, you are inviting the worst into your life.
  6. By worrying you are saying that you do not have faith in what God has in store for you.
  7. When the enemy is placing negative thoughts in your mind and you agree with those negative thoughts, you are coming into agreement with that negativity;  Pay attention to what you are coming into agreement with.
  8. Fear always presents itself to look much bigger than it really is.
  9. Fear can create a barrier; wrong thinking can keep you from God’s best.
  10. Don’t agree with what the fear says about you, agree with what God says about you.

In the end of his message Joel Osteen asked two really important questions.  How many times do we kill our own dreams with our thoughts and how many times have we stopped God’s blessings and his favor because we are dwelling on the fear?  We give the fear we have way too much power and by giving it that power we in a sense agree with whatever our fear tells us is going to happen.

Fear has become something that the majority of us deal with on a pretty consistent basis (I feel like I am attacked by it most times) but watching Joel Osteen yesterday I started to realize that the key to dealing with fear is not to face it head on, but rather to not even invite it in your life to begin with.  Instead of worrying about all of the things that can or have gone wrong, take note of all of the things that have not gone wrong and trust in the fact that God would never put anything on your path that was meant to harm you or to keep you from the destiny that he has prepared for you.

Rather than inviting fear and defeat (or bad luck) into your everyday life, invite victory and realize that with every obstacle that we face and every hurdle that we jump over, we are becoming even more victorious in reaching the life we were destined to have.  Have you been unknowingly inviting all of the things that you are afraid of into your life?  Don’t activate fear, activate faith!  When fear knocks, let faith answer the door.

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

Write 2 Be Magazine is now out so please go check it out at http://write2bemagazine.com/.  Also please go and join the magazine on twitter https://twitter.com/write2bemag, join the email listing for the magazine or submit a request for an author interview at Write2bemagazine@yahoo.com, and also like the Write 2 Be Magazine fan page https://www.facebook.com/Write2BeMagazine.  Please help support my endeavor and my new journey and help me spread the word about Write 2 Be and its meaning.

Getting To the Task At Hand

jcladyluv

So adhering to my own words in my post the other day about having deadlines, I have decided to use my calendar for productivity and not just let it sit there waiting to be filled with events that are not yet in the works.  I took out my planner and although I had planned on filling it with events and conferences that I would be headed to this year (which is still not out of the realm of possibility), I decided to begin making those deadlines that I said I needed to set for myself.

The first task on my calendar is to send out those queries and letters of introduction to those publications that I am terrified will say No to my work.  I suppose the reality is that they can’t say yes if I don’t submit anything at all.  Of course the biggest deadlines that I had to set for myself is to finish the one novel that I’ve been working on for a while now (what feels like forever) and outlining and beginning the next one that I am anxious to get working on next.

I’m actually scheduled to start working on accomplishing some of those deadlines this weekend so I am looking forward to getting back to work on my novel.  I’ve actually really missed my character and she’s kind of been wondering why I abandoned her story.  Do all of you have your projects lined up for this weekend yet?  I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend!

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

 

Write 2 Be Magazine is now out so please go check it out at http://write2bemagazine.com/.  Also please go and join the magazine on twitter https://twitter.com/write2bemag, join the email listing for the magazine or submit a request for an author interview at Write2bemagazine@yahoo.com, and also like the Write 2 Be Magazine fan page https://www.facebook.com/Write2BeMagazine.  Please help support my endeavor and my new journey and help me spread the word about Write 2 Be and its meaning.