Jimmetta Carpenter – Page 37

That Voice Inside My Head That Just Won’t Be Quiet

March 25, 2013March 25, 2013 jcladyluv

The other day I met up with a writing friend of mine who I hadn’t seen in a while and of course we talked about our perspective projects and how our impending writing careers were coming along. Neither one of us have gotten to where we want to be in our writing careers but both of us were full of excitement over our ideas of how we can possibly get there. I didn’t have my optimism cap on that day so while I was excited about my ideas, I wasn’t able to express as much hope of them coming to fruition as she had for them.

She actually said that listening to all of my ideas and knowing how talented I am as a writer, she could see dollar signs when she looked at me. She said that I have so many great ideas and such a wealth of knowledge to impart on others and she didn’t see why I didn’t see all of the potential income that was there for me. All I could hear inside my head was that little nagging voice that keeps telling me that none of it will ever work.

Despite the fact that I have seen others with ideas similar to mine and some not even as great as mine that were maximizing their ideas into a steady and stable income for themselves all I could think to myself was that it would never work for me. I don’t know what it is that creeps in and keeps feeding me the notion that I am not good enough and not as good as other writers out there but every so often there it is. It just keeps whispering all of the negative thoughts about myself that I have thought for most of my life and have been working tirelessly to get away from thinking.

Some days it’s harder than others to think the best things and to see in myself what others seem to see in me. When I finished meeting with my friend I did feel more energized and like I had more ideas than I did when I first sat down. The problem with me has never been coming up with good ideas, but rather bringing those ideas to life and displaying them for all to see. It would be nice to get to a point where I am just always confident in my abilities as a writer, as a business person, and to stop doubting and questioning myself.

I know that if I could get there, to that point of confidence, then things would flow easier and with less fear. It’s funny because people will say, “well if you know that that’s all you need to do is have more confidence then why don’t you just have more confidence so you can do what needs to be done” but it is a lot easier said then done. I think it is interesting just how many writers there are that actually question how good they are at what they do. It’s nice to know that it’s not just me. How is your writer confidence level?

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.

The Perfect Retreat

March 21, 2013 jcladyluv

I have always wanted to go on a writer’s retreat and had hoped to one day just be able to get away, even just for a weekend, and do nothing but write. Often times I think that a weekend away writing, with no phone, no T.V. (okay maybe not no T.V. at all), and more importantly no child. I thought maybe that I would want to do one of those group writing retreats but I think that that is probably not the right direction for me. That would provide yet another distraction, a group of people to talk to.

I’m sure everyone has their own idea of what their perfect writer’s retreat would be. It probably would involve some cabin in the woods or a luxurious resort tucked away on some remote island somewhere. All of that sounds nice but for me I think I know what the perfect retreat would be for me (and it might sound like the opposite of retreating). I want to go to New York, book a luxurious hotel suite in a room that overlooks the view of Manhattan.

I know that New York is said to be noisy and busy and most likely what most people want to get away from when they think of the word retreat. I think it might just be because I have never been to New York and ever since I was a little girl I have dreamed of going there and living there and forming my writing career there and it just hasn’t happened yet (I’m not completely giving up hope on that). I can’t seem to get there and at this point going would probably seem like a vacation.

People warn me away from New York like it is the worst place to be but then again those people usually aren’t writers. They also don’t typically appreciate the views and the life that New York has to offer a writer who wants to be immersed in the artistic world. For just one weekend I would like to go to the city that never sleeps, that has been my visual inspiration for a lot of my projects that have yet to be started, and that has been calling me since I was a little girl. That would be my perfect writing retreat. What’s your idea of the perfect retreat?

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

The Image of Success: What Roles are We Really Teaching Our Children to Model?

March 19, 2013March 19, 2013 jcladyluv

There is this big controversy right now about some lyrics in a newly released song from singer/songwriter Beyonce’. Some of her so-called fans (I say so-called because her real fans would understand that it is directed towards the people who are “haters” of her) are saying that the language in it is out of character for her, a little vulgar, and a little hypocritical because although she claims to be about women empowerment the lyrics seem to be pitting women against one another. Some fans also state that because of this new song they no longer see her as a role model for their young daughters.

Let me say first say that I am a fan of Beyonce’s singing (I think she has an amazing voice) and I am a fan of her business savvy, but I am not a fan of the image that she has come to display throughout the years of her success. Her fans say that they no longer see her as a role model because of the song but I am wondering why they are just now starting to not see her as a role model as opposed to when she started promoting the image to young girls that sex sells and that if you want to be more successful you have to perform half naked to do so. I personally felt that she was more of a role model when she began her career or the moments when she performed with her clothes actually on because she showed class.

After thinking about that controversy for a while it got me thinking about why it is that the entertainers who go around performing half naked and with looks that are way too eccentric for young ladies are what these young girls are looking up to. Why, when we have such successful women like Oprah Winfrey, Sheryl Sandberg, J.K. Rowling, or even First Lady Michelle Obama, are we choosing to allow our kids to look up to entertainers who don’t know how to present themselves in a way of class. That train of thought made me wonder even further, why aren’t we encouraging our children to see us, their own parents, as role models instead of some outsider that has nothing to do with how they actually turn out in this world?

Someone asked my daughter one day who she considered to be her role model or her hero and she turned to them and said her mommy. It was the most wonderful moment (particularly because I was having one of my “I can’t do this for my child so I must be the worst parent” days) for me and it made me proud and let me know that despite the days where I think I’m not doing a good job, maybe I actually am. Now I know that all parents, plain and simple, are just not role models and clearly their children are going to need someone to look to for guidance but shouldn’t we be teaching our children that success is not equal to how much clothing we can take off for attention, or even that wealth does not necessarily equal success (although let’s be honest, money would be nice).

We have to stop relying on these celebrities to be the guidance for our children. It shouldn’t matter what the lyrics of Beyonce’s new song is because that particular fan that said that it made her no longer consider Beyonce as a role model for her young daughter, should be striving to be her own daughter’s role model and not leaving it in the hands of a total stranger. We have to be careful what we are telling (and not just with words but also with our actions) our children success is because if we are telling our young girls that Beyonce is what equals success, we can’t then wonder why they start imitating her half naked image as a way to reach it. We can’t allow our young boy’s to listen to rappers and other music that degrades women and disrespects them and who have become successful doing so and then wonder why they turn around and grow up to do the same things.

We can’t just keep saying do as I say and not as I do anymore because our children are watching us. They are paying attention to who we are listening to and what we are doing and allowing and they are taking their cues from us. We have got to get away from having our children look up to some celebrity that they don’t know and get back to the days where our children are looking to us for the guidance they need.

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

A Day for Promoting Oneself

March 18, 2013 jcladyluv

I am constantly told that I don’t market myself well enough (not a good tooter of my own horn) and that I don’t promote myself as much as I should. So every now and then I think it would be good to promote myself and some of the things that I am working on. Of course lately the two biggest things I am working on are my novel (which I plan on finishing during CampNaNoWriMo), and my new magazine. Speaking of the magazine, the third issue was just released on Friday and since it is International Women’s History Month, I dedicated this issue to women and their strength, honor, and power of words. All of the material in the issue is by women and the author interview is with Ms. LaMonique Hamilton, a future media mogul, is my personal favorite. Here are a few other things I wanted to share:

Write 2 Be Magazine is Seeking Authors to Interview

Write 2 Be Magazine is looking for authors to interview and who would like to bring attention to their published work and discuss their journey within their writing career. Please submit all requests for an email interview to write2bemagazine@yahoo.com and for those who live in the DMV area, you can request a face to face interview if you would prefer. I look forward to being able to help bring attention to the work of more talented writers and poets, in particular those who are just getting started on their journey.

March Writing Prompt

Every month there will be a writing prompt that will hopefully get you thinking about the beginning of a new story. In particular I thought this would be helpful for those who struggle with how they are going to start their next story. Perhaps you could find a prompt that you spark the next novel on your list. You might even produce a short story that you would like Write 2 Be to publish in the next issue.

Don’t Forget to like us on facebook https://www.facebook.com/Write2BeMagazine

and follow us on twitter https://twitter.com/write2bemag.

I have a few other projects that I have in the works, one being a collaborative project, but I am not quite ready to share and promote those just yet. Also I wanted to open my self-promotion posts up to any of you artists’ who have projects that you might want to share in the comments section. Feel free to let me and my readers know what you have coming down the pipeline, I’d love to check it out and I’m sure others would too!

I hope to see what wonderful artists’ you are soon!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

http://write2bemagazine.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Write2BeMagazine

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

Writer’s Block: Real or Figment of the Imagination?

March 14, 2013 jcladyluv

I read a blog post yesterday about writer’s block, actually more about how writer’s block does not exist. Of course everyone has their own opinions on the matter but I felt like I had to share mine. I would like to say that I agree with this blog post and that when you can’t write you should just (basically) suck it up and get over it and put some words on the page.

I would love to say that it is easy to move past the blank screen and produce greatness (or at least a first draft towards greatness anyway). I have a real problem with people who think that writer’s block is something that is just another excuse not to write or a procrastination technique. Granted there are some who do use it as an excuse and they are not genuinely blocked, however, this does not mean that every person with writer’s block is not truly blocked.

I have been through moments where I have gotten up at the designated time, prepared adequately for the work to get done, and planted my butt in the chair for hours just waiting for the words to come. They didn’t come. For a long time they just wouldn’t come. Maybe it was because I was depressed at that time or because of stress, or maybe the project just wasn’t right for me, but for whatever reason, the words wouldn’t come. I tried the “just put the words on the page” method but when the words were garbage and didn’t produce anything of value then they just didn’t mean as much.

I know that there are people who say that you should write even if what you are writing is garbage but I don’t agree with that. It is a waste of energy that could be saved up to produce work that can actually be crafted and molded into something of purpose. Sometimes your mind just needs a vacation and sometimes you are just emotionally unable to tap into that creative resource for a small period of time (not saying that it is okay for you to remain in that state) and that is what I consider a writer’s block.

I don’t determine writer’s block as just being too distracted to put the words on the paper. That is just you needed to buckle down and focus. I don’t count you choosing to party all night so then you can’t get up to show up to produce the words as a writer’s block. That just means that you need to straighten out your priorities. I don’t count the excuse of having the words trapped up in your head because you haven’t figured out how to get it on the paper (and I have made this excuse many times) as writer’s block. That is just being a little lazy and making a lot of excuses.

Writer’s block, to me, is when the words just won’t come; the struggle is there, the determination is there, the priority is there, the focus is there, but the words still won’t come. I believe that writer’s block is a lot more about a person’s emotional state when they are trying to produce work. Yes writing is typically about letting your emotions fuel the words but when they instead block the words then there might be some deep seeded issues that they have to deal with.

Writer’s block is very real to me and maybe this person who wrote the blog post expressing their view that it isn’t may never have had the displeasure of experiencing it, doesn’t make it any less real. What are your feelings about writer’s block? Do you feel like it’s real or do you think that it’s a figment of people’s imagination?

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

Live In the Moment of Resilience

March 13, 2013 jcladyluv

There are a lot of things that you must be to make it as an artists’, particularly a writer. Patience, courage, diligence, and perseverance, those are just a few of the qualities that someone who goes down the road of creativity is going to need to possess. However, the most necessary quality, the one that you absolutely can not do without in the creative field, is resilience.

You have to be able to bounce back from whatever comes your way, no matter what. It’s not the way that you fall that matters, it’s the way that you pull yourself back up. Think about the stories that you hear of the people who have succeeded. What’s the most memorable thing about their story? It’s the struggle that they went through to get to their success.

From J.K. Rowlings state of poverty and her dozens of rejections before she became one of the world’s richest women with her Harry Potter Series, to Tyler Perry’s homelessness and empty seats in a theater before owning his own multi-billion dollar production company. What you remember just as much as the way that they succeeded is what they went through to get there.

I was watching the television interview that actress Valerie Harper (from The Mary Tyler Moore Show) gave on the Doctors show the other day when she came on to discuss her diagnosis of terminal brain cancer. She wanted to show to the rest of the world that she was okay and that while she remained realistic about the time given to her (3 months to a year) to live, she also has not given up hope.

I watched in awe, and not just because I loved her on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Rhoda Show and I think she’s awesome, but because she was just so brave and so inspiring. I don’t know that I could be smiling if a doctor told me that I have a limited time left to be on this earth.

She said one thing (well there were many) that really stuck with me, “don’t go to the funeral before the day of the funeral.” That applies to every aspect of life but just as a writer, as someone who thrives off of creativity, I had to apply it to the artists’ world. You know that there are going to be rejections, but let’s not claim that rejection before it happens. There are going to be moments of defeat, but before the moment that we are defeated, let’s not live in that defeat.

There will be disappointments, times when our expectations aren’t met, both by other people and ourselves. There are going to be struggles so hard that we are going to assume that we can’t get past them, moments when we want to just throw up our hands and say I surrender. Those are the moments that we have to remind ourselves of why we are doing this in the first place.

We’re waiting for that yes, for that feeling of being on cloud nine because everything we ever imagined for ourselves is finally becoming a reality. That is what drives us to continually getting back up and we have to keep reminding ourselves of that. We must keep getting back up. We have to live in the moment that is now so that we can keep reaching for the destiny that awaits us. Let’s not ever forget, even when we are being told no, that there is a yes waiting if we keep getting up. Getting knocked down is inevitable, let’s just remember to always bounce back!

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

Has Your Big Idea Escaped You?

March 12, 2013 jcladyluv

Have you ever had that one idea that has stayed in the back of your mind for years and that for one reason or another you just never brought to a reality? I’ve had this business idea for a while now (I’ll share what it is at another point in time), something that will help to further my brand and that writers and book lovers everywhere would love, and something that could help to add to my income.

I was really excited about it when I first thought of it and in many ways I still am but what dimmed my excitement a little is the fact that I started to put all of the negatives I have going against me into play. For this idea I would need a business loan, and for that business loan I probably would need better credit. Those are the two biggest things stopping me from going ahead with my idea but there are other things too, such as will people actually like it, would they come to it, would I really make as much income as I think it has the potential to bring, will I market it right, and mostly what if I screw it all up somehow.

My best friend, Ms. L. told me the other day that I shouldn’t let those negative stop me and that it is an idea worth going after (and if you knew her you would know she will let you know when something is a bad idea) and that I should go for it. I’m excited about the idea again just envisioning it in my head but I am still a little worried about all of the barriers that can present themselves.

Is there a point where you should just know that something is outside of the realm of possibility? Or is there nothing that is outside of the realm of possibility unless you deem it that way? Do you have any big ideas that your internal barriers are keeping you from going after?

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

Organization Monday

March 11, 2013March 11, 2013 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

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

March 7, 2013 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

Is It Camp Season Already?

March 6, 2013 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