Tag: characters

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NaNoWriMo Day 22: Rainy Days

November 22, 2011 jcladyluv

Rainy days always make me feel a little sad and lazy. Today was a rainy day and unfortunately I did succumb to the feeling of laziness and a touch of sadness (mainly for my character Mackenzie who is going through something right now). However, while it may be late, I have decided to show up. This post may be coming later than I would have normally posted it but I did show up to write it. I also did not write this morning but I plan on showing up tonight to sit down and write. I meant what I wrote yesterday about deciding to show up and I plan to hold myself to it. Granted I would have liked to have a whole day of work to show that I showed up but some is better than none and while I showed up late, it is better late than never. Tomorrow is another day and I already have it mapped out in my head what I need to do and work on to be productive. I am almost at 50,000 words (a little over 32,000) and I plan to be able to say I succeeded come November 30^th. I hope all of my fellow writers out there who are participating in this challenge are doing well in their novels. I’ve got to go now, Mackenzie is getting closer to the person who killed the Congressman. Until next time…Don’t let the rainy days hold you back.

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 20: When Business Trumps Art

November 20, 2011 jcladyluv

As a person who not only writes fiction for a living but who also edits fiction as well I find it sometimes hard to separate myself from the work that I am editing. This is most evident on the days that I am unable to write on my own novel. I am at the tail end of editing project on another work of fiction by one of my more steady clients and it is one of those stories that just captivates you and pulls you into wanting to learn more and more about its characters. I wish I could tell you more details about what is so amazing about this story but its confidential. I am still trying to get my word count done for today but I am just so moved by the work that I’m editing and after all business is still business and I must make money. Hopefully I will have more to tell you about what’s going on in my own novel tomorrow. Until next time…Do you think your novel will pull your editor in?

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 18: Every Character Deserves to Have Their Own Voice

November 18, 2011 jcladyluv

Okay so Mackenzie’s best friend, Leah, is beginning to tell me more of her story and she is deciding that she would like to have more of a voice here. So that leaves me to wonder whether I should give her a voice now or if I should make the second book that will be in this new series more focused on her and the story she is dying to tell. I think I might have actually figured out how to bring her more to the forefront in the second book but the question is, should I give my readers a glimpse of her now. I mean it’s not like I can just silence her in my head. She has gotten tired of sharing the attention with Mackenzie and of all of Mackenzie’s issues taking over and she wants to be heard. I guess if I promise her more of a feature in the next book she might be a little quieter until then, or at least wait until I finish this book and can capture her story with a little more detail. Don’t you just hate when the character you least expected to speak up decides they want to distract you from the original plan you started out with. Okay well if I’m being honest, I was actually waiting for someone else to decide they wanted to tell their story so I can’t really complain. I guess I have a lot of work ahead of me once I finish this novel because the next one won’t be far behind. Until next time…Go ahead, let your background characters have their moment too!

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 16: Just Trying to Keep Up

November 16, 2011 jcladyluv

Okay I have not been doing so well with the early morning sessions for the last three days. I’ve managed to get my words completed but it has been a struggle to get them out. There are added distractions once it reaches past a certain point in the morning. This is probably why it works better for me to write at5 inthe morning. I can’t understand how it was so easy for me to get up early in the beginning of National Novel Writing Month but now that it’s halfway through to the end it’s becoming more and more of a struggle. I suppose maybe it was the excitement of the new project. It is comforting to know that my struggle is not making it any harder for Mackenzie to communicate to me. She seems to always be ready to tell me something new. In fact she keeps trying to get me to get back with the program so that she doesn’t have to wait so long to tell me what’s going to happen with her next. I suppose I should try my best to keep up with my character rather then making her wait because you know how that goes. You make the characters wait and you might end up missing out on what they were trying to tell you. Until next time…have you been keeping up with all of your characters?

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 13: The Harry Potter Distraction

November 13, 2011 jcladyluv

Today was another struggle to write but it wasn’t because Mackenzie wasn’t talking to me or having some kind of dramatic meltdown, but rather it was due to the distractions that life holds, especially on the weekend. My daughter was quite upset that I couldn’t play with her for the majority of the day because I was writing but what was really distracting me was this movie on T.V. Actually it was not just one movie, but rather a particular series of movies. I hope no one laughs when I say this but I was caught up in the Harry Potter movies. I had tried to read the book several times but I could never really get into them and every time the movie would come on before I had always caught it in the middle and I just couldn’t catch on. I can usually get hooked to a movie even coming in the middle but for some reason not Harry Potter.

So I had just dismissed it as maybe it just wasn’t my cup of tea and that even though I am a huge fan of J.K. Rowling and her story, maybe I just could not catch on to it. But just as I was wrong with dismissing Twilight (which I came to love a lot later on), I was also wrong with dismissing Harry Potter. There has been a Harry Potter marathon on the ABC Family network all weekend and as soon as I started watching the first one from the absolute beginning I was hooked. However, it is literally one of those movies where if you miss even one scene you miss a lot and luckily for me I have the feature on my T.V. where I can rewind if I come back from a commercial too late because otherwise I would’ve gotten lost even after finding a love for it. I started with the first one and am up to the fourth one (although I’m using the DVR for 4 and 5 to watch later). Needless to say, I’m hooked. It’s a shame too because now after the last one, there will be no more. So Harry Potter was my distraction today, but a good one.

Movies that draw me in like that and keep me on the edge of my seat make me think a lot about my writing and my stories. Now I’m no science fiction writer (not saying I would ever dismiss the possibility) and I don’t generally watch movies about vampires and werewolves or witches and wizards but what captivated me about Twilight and Harry Potter is the back story, that mixed in with the intrigue of being able to have the ability to come up with a completely different world apart from the real one that already exist. I watch these movies and think about how I want to (and hope that I do) make stories that draw people in like that and have them sitting on the edge of their seats (or bed in my case) wondering what’s going to happen next and leaving them wanting more of that story. You empathize with them, and you are scared right along with them. You want to help them and you want them to be okay (or in the cases of the villains you want them to get what’s coming to them). I may have been a bit distracted by Harry Potter this weekend but I was also incredibly inspired. I hope to draw my readers in like that and I’m going to work really hard to do that. Until next time…What stories or movies inspire you to be a better writer?

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 10: The Toll of our Sacrifices

November 10, 2011 jcladyluv

Okay the early morning writing sessions are starting to take their toll on me. I am beginning to nod off at the keyboard while writing. My story isn’t slowing down, but that hour and a half earlier that I wake up every morning, that hour and a half of sleep that I am losing, is beginning to catch up with me. Nevertheless, November is not over yet and I must press on. This novel is not going to exactly write itself so it’s just a sacrifice I’m going to have to make. But we writers often make lots of sacrifices for the sake of our craft. There are some people that literally rearrange their whole routine during this month to write their novels and some people that lose a lot more sleep than an hour or so. They plan out simple, uncomplicated meals that don’t take up time that could be better spent writing, or they just buy T.V. dinners to fix during that month.

I think that sometimes people don’t realize what us writers go through and sacrifice just to put the words to paper and construct a story worthy enough of getting published, and interesting enough to get the readers attention. The books that people are so eager to buy from the stores or online take time and a lot of effort. But those same eager people are the one’s who just dismiss what we do and say that writing isn’t real work. I guess I say all of this because I have confronted by quite a few people lately that just shrug off my craft as just a simple hobby or something that everything else can be worked around. I see it as my work, my gift, my purpose, and something that everything else in my life (except my daughter) will have to be worked around.

Well I suppose I should get back to strategizing for tomorrow’s writing session. I like to prep for where I’m going next. Although sometimes where I intend to go in the story one day changes by the time I sit down the next morning but I at least try to be prepared. For all of you writer’s out there making huge sacrifices to be able to complete your novels this month, know that there are others doing the same thing and that your efforts do not go unappreciated. Until next time…Endure the sacrifice for right now to better enjoy the product that is yet to come!

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 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”