Tag: NaNoWriMo

Writers and Self-Care (A Preptober Post)

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During NaNoWriMo (that’s National Novel Writing Month in case you’ve been living under a rock lol) writers tend to kick it into overdrive and get so lost in their story that they start to forget to do some of the simplest and most basic things. We tend to start to neglect ourselves for the sake of the art. So this NaNoWriMo

1) Don’t forget your hygiene – I know that this sounds obvious, but how many of you writers get so immersed in your story that you look up at the clock and suddenly the whole day could be gone. There are some writers who even get so engulfed in their characters and the story that they forget to eat and just work straight through the day without taking any kind of break. On one hand if you are that writer I almost want to congratulate you because that’s a lot of writing but on the other hand it’s not good to neglect things like showering and brushing your teeth and doing your basic daily maintenance. The story will be there if you step away for a minute.

2) Remember to eat – As I mentioned in the above tip, forgetting to eat is a common thing that people do when they become engrossed in their story. This is not healthy for you or your writing. How clear is your mind in terms of creating story and developing characters if you are not nourishing your body properly?

3) Take a break when you start to feel stalled – There will inevitably come a time that you will find yourself stuck and at some kind of standstill (and if not I would really like to know your secret). You will stare at the page or computer screen and find yourself rereading over the last few lines or scenes that you’ve written and end up in a place where you may not know where to go from there. The urge to press on and try to write anyway is strong and I know that this is what a lot of writers tell you to do, to keep going and work through it. That method does not work all the time and it may not work for everyone and that is when you just need to push your chair away from the desk and computer, get up, and take a break from your project. Go take a walk, go sit in the park and take in your surroundings, sit in a coffee shop or bookstore and listen to your surroundings (and the conversations taking place around you lol). You never know what could jog your creativity back into place!

4) Keep your health in tact – NaNoWriMo is not the time to abandon your healthy habits. If you consistently workout, do not use NaNoWriMo as an excuse to ‘take a break’ from the gym (I speak from experience, trust me). This is not a good idea, in fact it is a terrible idea because if your body is used to feeling a certain way from the continuity of working out then you will only be confusing your brain by the drastic shift. Working out triggers the endorphins in your brain in a way that nothing else can (not even coffee, as much as it pains me to say that) and if anything it will actually help you in your story writing and in achieving your writing goal for the month of November. Now if you have to change your time around then do that!

5) Read – This one is simple. Stephen King has said thousands of times and I’m sure many other writers have said it as well, and it’s because it’s true. You CAN NOT be a good writer if you are not first a good reader. To write well you must read A LOT. When I say read, I don’t just mean the genre that you are writing in either. Read a little of everything. Broaden your scope of the things that you read because if you do it will definitely broaden the scope of your writing. So READ! Enough said.

6) Don’t forget to stay connected – I know it’s kind of against the grain for NaNoWriMo and coming from a person like myself who likes to stay to myself for the most part it will sound strange but don’t distance yourself too much during NaNoWriMo. Writing is a solitary act (although it doesn’t have to be) for sure but remaining connected to people and remaining in tune with the people and things going on around you could also be critical to keeping your writing fresh and interesting.

7) Sleep is important – Lastly, but absolutely one of the most important things on this list, is sleep. If you are sleep-deprived your brain can’t come up with anything usable. That is not to say that you have to get a full eight hours of sleep (but if you can then go for it), I haven’t gotten anything over six hours at any one given time (unless I was sick) since back when I was in high school, but a decent amount of sleep is critical.

Okay so that’s it for today. I hope that all of you are prepping and planning your novels for NaNoWriMo and that when November gets here you don’t forget to take care of yourself. Until next time…Happy Writing!!! #BeMindful #BeCaringtoYourself

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

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To Plan or Not to Plan?

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So you’ve got your story idea together right? You’ve started building your characters and molding and shaping their personalities? Now it’s time to decide whether you are a pantser or a planner when it comes to writing your novel. What’s a pantser, you ask? Well that’s when you are fortunate enough to be able to just sit down at the blank screen of your laptop and begin writing with no plot or course of action laid out before you. If you are one of those writers let me please just give you a virtual round of applause because I have tried writing that way before and the amount of time I had to use up to go back and forth to see if I had this detail or that detail just right, or to check the timeline and make sure that I hadn’t made some huge error and it just did not work for me.

I, like a lot of writers, am a planner and I try as much as I can to plan out every detail that I can. In terms of writing my novel I have realized that I have to have an outline. I typically do a short brief outline with just some of the major points of the story and where the plot twists are and the dramatic parts and the whodunit aspects of the story. After I get a general outline together then I take my character sketches and I begin the more detailed, chapter by chapter, plot twist by plot twist, part of outlining.

Now I think there’s a misconception that when people outline they follow the outline to the tee and I have heard a lot of people say that’s what they don’t like about outlining but the outline is just a general road map for you to follow but the story almost never follows the outline down to the letter. In fact I almost never stick directly to the outline but having that outline does help me stay more on track then I would if I were just writing without a blueprint.

Where the outlining process can get a little broad and diverse is in the method in which you choose to outline. I for one like just getting a legal notepad and writing my outline by hand (this and the character sketches are the only things I write by hand). The other methods of outlining that people typically use are creating a storyboard with a bulletin board or you can storyboard in a digital format now with Pintrest or whatever digital format works for you to create a visual idea of your story. Some people choose to do a graphing (or mind mapping) method. There are also programs that will help you outline in a particular digital format such as Scrivener.

Now you don’t have to outline in order to compose a good story for NaNoWriMo. Outlining doesn’t necessarily make your story any worse or better. Like I said in my last post, it’s just a matter of finding and doing what works well for you. I hope that some of this information helps you and the next post I will be giving you a few YouTue channels that I think you should check out that will help you in your Preptober adventures. Until next time… #HappyOutlining

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

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It’s the First Day of Preptober!!

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It’s the first day of October and we’re getting into that holiday season but for writers it’s also a special time of year for a whole other reason. This is the month that we as writers use to prepare for the marathon month that November has become called National Novel Writing Month. Realistically if you’re serious about participating in NaNoWriMo then you probably have already formulated the idea for the story that you’re going to work on in November and you may have even began sketching out the characters for your story. If you haven’t, don’t worry, that is what the month of October is here for. There are many aspects to prepping for the NaNoWriMo experience but I’m here to give you some suggestions over the course of this month that will hopefully help you in the many ways they have helped me.

Today I’m going to focus on the first step you really need which is the idea for the story and typically a main character to center the story around. Now there are many different ways to start your planning process. Some people like to think of the way their story is going to end and kind of work their way backwards. I for one have never been able to start at the end but it works for some people. There is also a very small group of writers who like to start with the middle and build the story outwards, usually building up to the end first and then back in the other direction to the beginning. Then there are those strange birds like myself who actually like to take a story idea from the very beginning (sometimes even thinking of the opening scene) through to the middle and work my way to the end in a chronological order.

Now I know plenty of writers who have to have their character first and I will admit that I have had some stories where the character literally spoke to me and told me the story they wanted told but those occasions were rare for me. Most of time the story that needs to be told comes first and then the character presents themselves to me afterwards. After you’ve built the story idea and this is not to be confused with an actual outline) then you want to begin developing your characters. Some create character sketches that give the basic details of those characters and their background and their personalities and some like to go all in and create a character bible of sorts where the spend several pages on each character.

You have to find what works for you because one writer’s method may not be what works for your story. Once you have your story idea built and your character sketches done the next step is creating your outline, but that I will discuss in more detail in the next post. Throughout this Preptober series I will also include tips and specific book suggestions, as well as sharing some YouTube channels with you that can be of some use and help to you. Until the next time… #BePrepared

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

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Despite My Urge to Give Up…

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Never give up

I tell you if it is not one thing it is another and when the devil is busy trying to get in my way he really does pull out all of the stops. So week one and two for me was plagued with technical difficulties that would just hit one by one, back to back.

Last week, while the week started off rather strong with a fair amount of productivity, I had a physical injury that kind of left me unable to sit up and type or write anything. I was in so much pain that it almost brought me to tears to even try and move to do anything. That physiccal injury has unfortunately carried over into this week and although I am trying to ignore the physical injury it is very hard to pretend I am not hindered by it.

It just would seem that there are mini obstacles stacking up in my path like mountains trying to keep me from moving forward. I am pushing through and while my goal will more than likely not be met by the end of November, I will take comfort in the fact that I didn’t (like last year) just completely throw in the towel and say the hell with it and just stop even trying. Last year was a bad year for me creatively and this year has not exactly proved to be much better but I am going to make the best of the rest of the days left in this year and kick 2015 off with these two projects that I’ve been taking on during NaNoWriMo and use them as my positive start for next year. Well back to my writing cave I go, hope all of you who are participating in NaNoWriMo are doing well.

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

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Due To Circumstances That Were Beyond My Control…

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Technical Difficulties 1

So last week was really rough, at least in the writing part of my life. As most of you know I am attempting to do dual projects this November for National Novel Writing Month. I posted last week about me getting off to a rocky start and after I posted that (maybe the very next day) my rocky start turned into a complete halt.

For some unknown reason my Microsoft Word program, in which I use to actually write (blog posts, novels, articles, etc.) just stopped working. Seriously every time I tried to save it would shut down automatically, then it started to just shut down when I tried to type, and then Microsoft Word just wouldn’t even open anymore. I was in writer’s hell (if there is one) and I could’ve literally cried because I felt like the control of whether I wanted to actually write or not was taken from me.

Now for my non-fiction (self-help) book that I am working on I could still manage to get some work done as far as research goes but when it came time for me to sit down and get back into my fiction novel (in which I was fully prepared to do) the program simply would not work. I don’t know how I got it working again for me to be able to type this blog post but of course I am hoping to be able to get quite a bit of work done this week to make up for the days that I was not able to last week.

I am wondering if there is anyone out there who has been in the middle of a project and had their programs just completely shut down on them? I have a lot of lost time to make up for but I will try to still keep up with you guys while I am recovering from my program failure. Hope all of you are being productive and writing your hearts out!

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

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Off To a Rocky Start

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NaNoWriMo 3

So as most of you know National Novel Writing Month started this past Saturday and we are already at day 5. I will admit that I thought that since I decided to take on the task of finishing up two projects that had already been started that I would have a bit of an easier time beginning this NaNoWriMo challenge. Sadly, nothing has been further from the truth. I think the first sign of trouble that I had was the fact that NaNoWriMo was beginning during a weekend which is typically the time during the week in which I opt not to write.

The weekend is normally when I like to relax, catch up on TV (which fuels my creativity even more), and do more reading for pleasure then actual writing or research. And while I did manage to write a little on my non-fiction (self-help) book and I tried to re-familiarize myself with my novel, I definitely did not get any real numbers stacked towards my end goal. The second issue is also that with my fiction novel, I haven’t touched it in quite some time and while I have been re-familiarizing myself with it, it’s not that easy to just jump back in it.

Nevertheless I am not going to give up and I am ready to really get underway on these projects. I completely underestimated how hard it is to re-start a project, let alone two. I would almost be willing to say that it is harder to re-start a project then to just start a brand new one. But I went into this NaNoWriMo knowing that my goal was not necessarily the 50,000 word goal that they traditionally set for participants but rather to complete these two projects, or at the very least, be closer to finishing by the end of November. So that does help take some of the pressure off of me because my goal is different than most people doing NaNoWriMo.

I hope that any of you who are participating are having an easier start than I am and hopefully you will leave a comment here and let me know how your project(s) are going. Happy writing everyone!

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

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The Day Before All Things Get Pushed To the Backburner

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Day before NaNoWriMo

It is a proven fact for me that I don’t work very well when I am stressed. I constantly worry about whatever obstacle it is that has me stressed out and there is little to no creative spark inside me to actually produce anything of merit. With the week I’ve had last week, and this week not bringing about any type of resolution for the problem the stressed does not even begin to express what I am feeling right now.

Nevertheless I really need to get into the National Novel Writing Month Spirit because I have not one, but two projects to complete this November and I have an opportunity coming up that relies heavily on me completing them. I suppose on the plus side of things, these are two projects that have already been started and it’s not a brand new project to tackle.

So my question to all of you who will be participating with me in this challenging task of completing a novel (or book) in just 30 days is are you ready to get this done? Do you have everything ready to go and are you clear on the direction that your project will be going in? What are some things that you are struggling with as you prepare to write your book? Feel free to share your plans here with me. I hope that all of you are ready and remain productive.

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

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The Challenge Ahead: Getting Mentally Prepared for National Novel Writing Month

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NaNoWriMo1

The good thing about working on two unfinished projects for National Novel Writing Month is that I don’t have to complete the task of writing an outline like I would normally do for a new project. However the challenging thing about it, aside from the fact that I will be working on two books at the same time, is that they are two different types of books. One book is my novel that I started about two years ago and the other book, which I started working on about nine months ago, is non-fiction, more of a self-help/motivational book for writers. The two projects couldn’t be more opposite of each other so I’m not sure how the contrast is going to affect my production.

While National Novel Writing Month will not be new to me, trying to complete two different projects at the same time that are not in the same genres. I am a little more confident about the non-fiction project because I started it more recently and it will be fairly easy to jump back into it. The fiction book, I’m afraid I might have taken too much of a break from that one to just jump back in. Either way I am determined to make the best of the month of November and to attack these projects as if my life depends on it (they really do, lol). Once November is over and I (hopefully) have my two finished projects I plan to immediately get them into the editing phase so I can get the ball rolling on getting these books published.

I have my work cut out for me and for any of you who have participated in NaNoWriMo, you already know it is not an easy task to accomplish. I will share the process with you as it goes along and I hope if any of you are doing NaNoWriMo this month please feel free to share with me your process and how you’re achieving the task. I guess November will be a pretty busy and productive month!

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

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It’s Time to Start Preparing for National Novel Writing Month

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Preparing for NaNoWriMo

It is October now and I typically take the month of October to prepare for whatever project I will be working on in the month of November for National Novel Writing Month. With me being so unable to really focus on my writing this year (and producing the work I should have) I wasn’t really sure that I wanted to even attempt to do NaNoWriMo this year. However, I have gotten so used to at least making the attempt that I think that I would feel like I would have failed at yet another task if I didn’t at least give it a shot. Last year’s attempt did not actually manage to bring about completion but it did give me quite a bit of blog material in my frustration for not being inspired last year.

So this year for NaNaWriMo I am literally going to double my efforts. I am going to finish up the novel I started two years ago that remains unfinished and I am going to finish up my ebook that I have been working on for the better part of this year. Yes I know that for someone who has been considerably off her writing A game this year it may seem like a daunting task and a possibly heart-wrenching one should I, once again, not be able to finish. But I am a glass half full type of woman who would rather look at the feeling that I will likely feel once the month of November is over and I have not one, but two finished products.

I think that it will fully reignite my creative spark that has been slowly inching its way back to me. I am excited to see what November will bring for my writing and of course I will be blogging about it but I would love to know what your plans are for National Novel Writing month so please feel free to share. Hopefully all of you will join in the challenge for NaNoWriMo with me!

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

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No More Excuses, I Have to Do Better

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No More Excuses

I need to do better. I was watching a video online the other day dealing with how to become more successful and attain your goals and one of the things the person in the video said to do was to write a new list of what your current goals are. Not look at your old list and revise according to your current circumstances but rather to look at where you are now, who you are now, and what you want in this moment, and write down what your goals are moving forward.

When I wrote down my list I realized that some of my old goals had fallen off of that list and there had also been some new additions that I didn’t even see as something that I would ever want but surprisingly found myself being called to it. Some things were on my old list but the idea has grown into something more than what it was before. It was a little eye opening to make this new list but also made me a little disappointed in myself.

I can’t count how many excuses I have made to not write or do something towards any of those goals on that list and at the time they felt like legitimate reasons (tired, sleep deprived, depressed, no energy, etc.) but in retrospect they were just excuses for one overall fact that I wasn’t feeling inspired and was riddled with self-doubt and fear.  I used to have a daily routine in which I at least wrote 1,000 words of whatever novel I was working on and then still wrote my blog and a couple of articles and that was in one day. I was so productive and it seems like that time was so long ago when it really wasn’t. I don’t know what happened in the last two years that made me somehow stall on everything but I have seemingly found myself stalled on everything that I want to accomplish and create.

I am not going to make excuses anymore because they don’t get me anywhere and they only result in me wishing for something that I can just change now before too much time has been wasted and too many things have gone undone. I feel like I might have been on some type of writing sabbatical that was neither planned for nor wanted and I am ready to get back into a normal rhythm of writing again. It’s time to throw away the excuses and put down some results. What excuses have you been making for yourself in your writing career?

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

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