Author: jcladyluv

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

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

In Tribute

January 16, 2012 jcladyluv

I didn’t have much to say today (due to computer issues all day which are just now getting fixed) and I was just going to let this day go by feeling like it was a total bust. Honestly I thought that I wouldn’t even get to post anything but my computer literally just got its act together so I will just post this quote in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King and that goes so well with how I am feeling today (or should I say a quote that I needed to tell myself today). I hope this makes someone else feel like they can make it to the next step in their journey.

“You may not see the entire staircase, but it is important that you take that first step.”

~Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Until tomorrow…Hope you keep taking steps until you get to the top!

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

Slow Progression

January 14, 2012 jcladyluv

It is coming up on the third week of January and I already feel like I am so behind on my action plan to accomplish my goals this year. Yes I know that it is only week 3 of a new year and I have the whole year ahead of me. But in case you’re not aware of it, that time will fly by without you even realizing it. I suppose that the important thing is that I acknowledge I can be doing better and I put forth the effort to continually make progress.

I know that next week will be a challenge because I am finally going to get around to getting started on sending out at least one of the four query letters that I set out to send on a monthly basis (I might increase that number later on in the year). Also I plan on getting back to the novel that I worked on during National Novel Writing month which I took a longer than unexpected break from. Not to mention that I have a Magazine to finish putting together for its debut.

With all of that said I am going to go read now because to be a better writer I also have to become an even more avid reader. I know that I’ve got to get moving on my goal list (because it is quite long) but I am just glad that I haven’t completely stalled. I am making progress, even if it is a slow progression, it is progress nonetheless. Until tomorrow…What counts is that you make progress, not how quickly the progress is made.

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

From the Outside Looking In

January 13, 2012 jcladyluv

It is funny how the people closest to you can see things in you and possibilities for you that you never even had in mind for yourself. We plan things for our life and never count on the unexpected opportunities that pop up along the way. You know those things that you never thought you would be good at but that somehow fit right into you niche that you are carving out for yourself.

Ms. L has foreseen something for me that somehow fits right into my other plans for my Media Company and that might actually help elevate things to the next level but it is something that I never even thought about doing before. I must admit (she’s going to say I told you so later) that her foresight could be quite lucrative if it is as successful as she thinks it could be. But I am just afraid that because it’s something I could never see myself doing, that other people will look at me with that judgmental look and the lingering questions in their mind of ‘how can she possibly be successful at this’. Why not, it’s the same question I have for myself.

But I promised her that I would give it some thought (and I don’t want to say what it is until I’m sure that I would actually do it) and that I would stop putting that wall up for myself and telling myself that I can’t do something before I even try. Sometimes Ms. L sees things in the bigger picture that I never even saw and it’s amazing what the opinion from someone on the outside looking in can mean to your projected future. I think I like Ms. L’s view of my projected future. Until tomorrow…What do you project for your future?

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

Romanticized Notions of Being a Writer

January 12, 2012 jcladyluv

When I was a little girl and first dreamed of being a writer I just thought of all of the wonderful stories that I wanted to tell and all of them would have happy endings. When I was ten and started to write poetry to essentially pour my heart out on the page I realized that I had something other then fairy tale stories inside me and that there was a poet in there. When I realized how long winded I could be in my storytelling and that I had some really unique stories to tell in the form of novels I dreamed of being on the New York Times Best-Seller’s list.

No where in any of my romanticized dreams of becoming various versions of a writer did I factor in the business side of it all. In my daydream I had a wonderful agent who got me this wonderful five book deal with Random House and of course once the first five are done they option me for another five book deal. Of course because it’s Random House all of the marketing and getting my author name to known as a household name to book lovers everywhere is taken care of by their in house marketing team. Never did I plan on trying to do this myself or that it would be so incredibly hard to get an agent. Never did I factor in having to market myself.

Writing is for the creative and the imaginative but it is also indeed a business. You can only romanticize the idea of being a writer for so long before coming to terms with the fact that only about 25% of your time (if that) will be spent actually writing and the rest will be spent on the business of getting yourself out there. No one is going to know your name, your work, your talent, if you don’t put yourself out there and hustle for that recognition.

Of course when you are out there and everyone knows who you are and you make enough to outsource your marketing efforts, (which is definitely in my plan) then that is certainly a good option but you have to put in your fair share of work first. I am still a work in progress on this aspect but I know that if I don’t step my game up and market myself as if my life depended on it (because it actually does) then I won’t get where I want to be, where I need to be. My romanticized notions of being a writer are certainly gone now (at least until I get that five book deal) and now it’s time to get down to the business of really being a writer and a media mogul. Until tomorrow…Have you tapped into your business side 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

The Support Around You

January 11, 2012 jcladyluv

Ms. L wrote a blog post the other night about hustling hard for what you want out of life. I will say that she has got to be the best hustler I know. When she sets her mind to something and decides that it’s going to happen, she makes it happen, one way or another. She is a perfect example of the type of friend and person in general that you want surrounding you when you are on a mission to greatness. They say that birds of a feather flock together and when I was in high school I never understood what that really meant, nor how true that statement was.

My mother used to hear about certain people that I associated with in high school doing something they didn’t have any business doing, and she would just automatically assume that I was doing the same things (which I wasn’t). She said that if you surround yourself with certain types of people then that’s the type of person people will think you are. At the time I thought that it was her being highly judgmental and unfair. I felt that if you liked someone or at least a lot of their attributes then there shouldn’t be a problem being their friend even if the two of you were total opposites on everything. I learned as I grew into an adult that my mother (I cringe as I say this) was right.

You don’t want the people in your circle to be exactly like you (that would just be boring) but you do want them to be people who understand you and your goals and ambitions and who are as ambitious about whatever they want as you are. You want people surrounding you that are like-minded and that are going to push you when you need a push. You need people who have their own sense of direction and motivate you to find and follow yours.

A writer in particular needs a good source of support and motivation in the people that they associate with. While I have other good supportive people in my circle that motivate me in various ways (as I hopefully motivate them), none of them I admire quite as much as Ms. L. Her post the other night about hustling harder (and our conversation that came afterwards) gave me great encouragement and motivation.

I am probably not the best hustler in terms of going after everything I want with extreme vigor but because I am not, it is good to have someone in my corner, in my circle, who is. Someone who can be a model example of the kind of hustling I should be doing. Surrounding yourself with the right people, as a writer, is vitally important and should be something that you should definitely reevaluate if you haven’t before. I thank Ms. L for being the kind of friend and fellow writer that I can take a multitude of notes from and for not being stingy with your secrets along your pathway to success. I hope all of you out there have someone in your circle that pushes you to be your very best. Until tomorrow…If you haven’t already, make sure you have your support team in place!

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

What is There to Wait For?

January 10, 2012January 10, 2012 jcladyluv

“Waiting is a trap. There will always be reasons to wait. The truth is, there are only two things in life, reasons and results, and reasons simply don’t count.”

~Dr. Robert Anthony

When someone in the gym this morning asked why I didn’t wait for them to go start my running I simply said I’m not waiting for anyone this year. It got me to thinking about just how much time I have spent (or rather wasted) waiting around for something or someone. It seems like I was always the one that would wait for people to come along, or come around and who in turn wanted people to wait around for me.

I guess I must have had some sort of revelation when this year kicked into gear because my attitude became one of not wanting to wait around for anyone anymore, or for anything to just happen. Not even waiting around for the other shoe to drop as I typically do as well. How many minutes or hours do people spend just waiting? I am tired of waiting for other people, or even having people waiting for me to do something that they already know they need to do.

Now I am not speaking of every single aspect of your life but when it comes to doing something that you know has to get done, don’t sit around waiting, not even for that person that said they were going to be right there alongside you. I wish I could get back all of the time that I’ve wasted waiting around for something to happen, waiting for someone to get their act together, waiting for someone to give me great opportunities to exercise the talent that I possess, even waiting for inspiration to just strike (as I posted about yesterday).

The fact of the matter is that I can’t just sit and wait because there isn’t anymore time for that. Too much time has already gone by. Now it’s time to get my butt into high gear and get busy making what I want happen and not waiting around letting opportunities just fall through the cracks. Until tomorrow…Can you count how much time you’ve wasted just waiting around?

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

Looking for Inspirational Surroundings

January 9, 2012 jcladyluv

I am sitting in the corner of my room that is designated as ‘my office’ and looking at my empty bulletin board and I am not feeling inspired at the moment. I run into this problem at the beginning of every year. I want to put new and inspiring things up on my bulletin board but I don’t quite know what to put up there. I have some pictures up surrounding the bulletin board but I’m thinking about changing them. I am trying not to let the lack of inspiration in front of my desk stop me from being productive but it is easier said than done.

I had a battle with procrastination today and I think that procrastination may have won this one. I think that I am going to take a little time this evening to finally fill my bulletin board and the walls around my desk area full of inspiration and try again tomorrow to be my most productive self. I guess every day can’t always be a good writing day. Until tomorrow…What inspiration is surrounding you in your office?

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

Tired of the Uneventful Weekends

January 7, 2012 jcladyluv

Today has been uneventful and I suppose that could be a good thing except for people (like me) who find themselves saying that way too often. The weekends (at least) are supposed to be eventful and full of choices and endless opportunities of things to do and people to socialize with, and hobbies to get lost in. However, because I seem to be in a current state of having to rob Peter to pay Paul and having Peter begging for his money back I find that my options of weekend fun, both for me and my daughter, are extremely limited right now. She wants to go skating and bowling and do all of these fun things that cost more money than I have at the moment (that is, if I actually want to keep the lights on) and I hate having to tell her that we just don’t have the money right now. It is my hope that in the very (very) near future I will have many eventful weekends with so much fun and excitement packed into it and that they will give me many experiences to share with you all. In fact, because I know that 2012 holds bigger and better things for me, it is only a matter of time before my weekends (and some days thrown in during the week would be nice) will be nothing but adventurous and life changing. Well I am go catch up on some reading (again, uneventful) because I am really behind. Until tomorrow…Fill your life with adventurous moments because you only live once!

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

Taking Care of You

January 6, 2012 jcladyluv

Ms. L reminded me of something tonight; that you can’t take care of everyone else if you don’t first make time to take care of yourself. I have a hard time doing that. I had a conversation earlier today with someone about not knowing what to do with myself during the time that my daughter is with her father. I mean I know how to make use of the time when she’s in school because after dropping her off and going to the gym everyone morning (which is probably the only thing that I really do to take care of me) I am only left with a small amount of time before having to get her from school. But when she goes away to her dad’s house and spends the night I am left with all of this time and I don’t know what to do with it.

I mean sure I write and do housework but I don’t really do anything that is solely just for the sake of having fun (or pampering myself). It’s almost like I forgot how to be me. I’m just a mom and a writer. I don’t really know how to be anyone else. It’s programmed in me and I suppose I have to search and find that something that is just for me, just for my benefit, so that I can feel like I’m being taken care of too (and if I have a little fun along the way that’s good too).

For anyone out there is feels so caught up in what they do for a living and being someone’s parent, find a way to take care of you this year. You deserve to feel pampered and you deserve to have fun (fun outside of the kids) too. It’s time to take care of you so that you can be able to better take care of the ones you love around you. Until tomorrow…Try putting yourself first every once and a while.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”