Tag: National Novel Writing Month

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We Have Reached the Writing Holiday Portion of the Year

October 3, 2022 jcladyluv

It’s a new month and we have now entered a Writer’s favorite season, or at least this writer’s favorite season. It is Prep-Tober which is the month that we take to get ready and organized for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short) in which writers challenge themselves to essentially fast draft a novel in only a month. To people who aren’t writers it sounds absolutely crazy to take on this challenge but to a writer this is our holiday season, and we get totally hyped up for it.

Now the secret that I’m not sure a lot of writers will really tell you is that it’s not really about whether we can finish the novel, in actuality it is about the community of writers that we have built up and the support that we give to one another throughout the entire month. That’s not to say that we don’t support one another every other month in the year but during Prep-Tober and NaNoWriMo that community outreach and support is multiplied times a hundred because it’s the one time a year where all of our goals are pretty much synced up in the same way.

I love this time of year because typically it is when I get to map out a brand-new project (I have done a couple of NaNo’s as a rebel before though) and I get to flesh out one of the many shiny new ideas that plague me throughout the year. I’m excited to get back to writing in my mystery series as I will be writing the fourth book in that series. Mystery is where my heart really is in terms of writing, well mystery and contemporary fiction, but mostly mystery. I do want to also write a historical fiction romance book but I’m not mentally or emotionally ready to write that one just yet, maybe next year.

If you too are writing a novel this November, I hope that you will come join the AuthorTube Community over on YouTube and perhaps subscribe to my channel (link is below) and some other wonderful channels over there to get your dose of community and, if you need it, help with your stories and overall motivation for the task at hand. Writing is not an easy feat, and it is inherently a solitary act, but it doesn’t always have to be. I hope that you all have a wonderful first week of October and if you are also a writer and are joining in on the excitement of our season, that your Prep-Tober kicks off in spectacular fashion.

Until next time… #BeBold #BeMotivated #BeInspired

Jimmetta Carpenter

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

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Don’t Forget to Take Care of Yourself

November 8, 2021 jcladyluv

It is the beginning of week 2 of NaNoWriMo and I just wanted to take some time to remind all of those participating to make sure that you are taking some time for self care. I was reminded from a fellow writer that self-care should not be something that we put on a reward system but rather something that is built in to our normal regular routine. You could take an hour or so every day to just do something for you that doesn’t involve exerting your creative energy. Or you could do something more like what I do and take an entire day each week (Sunday) to just relax, watch TV, read, whatever does not expel more creative energy, but instead refills that well.

Writing is something can take a lot of mental energy out of you (contrary to what some non-writers think) and it is not something that is easy or for the faint of heart. No matter what you have decided to do as your project for NaNoWriMo, whether a full length novel, a few short stories, or some scripts for a screenplay or a stage play, make sure that you don’t take for granted your physical health as well as your mental health.

Also, lean on your writer friends and your writing community. Whether you have a writer’s group you go to in person (if you’re back to that now) or over on YouTube in the AuthorTube community where there are hundreds, possibly even thousands of other writers going through the same things that you are with your project, there are people in your corner. I hope that you have a good week 2 of NaNo and take some time for you!

Until next time… #BeMotivated #BeDiligent #BeMindful

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

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NaNoWriMo Is Right Around the Corner…And I am Not Quite Ready!

October 25, 2021 jcladyluv

It is just about that time of year again! No, not the holiday season (in which the Christmas displays get put up before Halloween can even pass) but rather the NaNoWriMo month long challenge to write a book in 30 days (well 50,000 words of it anyway). This particular NaNoWriMo is going to be even more challenging for me because I am tackling the Middle Grade genre for the first time ever.

I have wanted to write this middle grade book, or series rather, for many, many years now (since my daughter was in middle school and she is now a high school graduate) but I kept letting the words of others influence me. Those who said that you’re not supposed to write in multiple genres using the same name for every genre you write in. Or the whispers of those who say that I don’t know anything about writing middle grade. Well duh, of course I don’t, but how else am I supposed to gain experience in writing in that genre without, you know, actually writing in it.

It is intimidating to write in a genre you’re only read for pleasure and have never written and writing for kids period is just incredibly scary because kids are harsh critics. However, I would be doing myself, and more importantly God, a disservice if I didn’t go after everything that I want to do and that I feel He has put a purpose in my heart to do. I don’t know how good (or bad) I’ll be at writing it until I actually sit down and write it.

So that’s my project for NaNoWriMo this year, the first book in a middle grade series (for more information about my project my video on it will be released on my YouTube channel on Thursday) and I’m pretty excited about. The only thing that has me a bit more anxious this NaNo (well more anxious than I am on a regular basis) is that I am not nearly as prepared as I usually am when I get ready to start a new book.

I’m sure that I will be by the end of this week, I’ll make sure of it, but I’m a bit nervous that I haven’t yet figured out my outline and everything at this point. I am having fun going back and watch shows I watched as a middle school kid, or just shows that I liked that are for middle grade children to try and get in the mindset of writing for a 12 year old. Nevertheless, I will start with what I have because in life that’s what you have to do right. Start where you are!

Until next time… #BeMotivated #Be Productive #BeConsistent

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

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Writing While Distracted

November 9, 2020 jcladyluv

So week 1 of NaNoWriMo felt like an entire year! Monday felt like a complete and total blur and then I voted on Tuesday and then the rest of the week felt like an eternity. I was a bit distracted by the news and by a bit I mean A LOT. Make no mistake I did make sure to get my words done each day of the week, that just seemed to be all that I managed to be able to get done. Well that and a new Author Interview up on the magazine and of course new videos up on my YouTube channel.

So this week has been a test about writing with distractions and while I am happy at the fact that I was able to complete my daily word count goals for NaNoWriMo I was not terribly happy about the other projects that I am also supposed to be working on simultaneously that didn’t get any attention last week. So my overall lesson from week 1 was that I have to know when to shut off the rest of the world and the distractions that come with it.

This is a new week and I have goals for this week, both writing in the novel project that I’m working on for NaNoWriMo and ones for my other projects as well as the Magazine, and those goals must be met, or at least met with good effort. So if you want to check out more in detail how my week 1 of NaNoWriMo went just click on the link here or below and go check it out. Until next time… #BeProductive #BeFocused #BeMotivated

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

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It’s Almost Drafting Time!!!

October 26, 2020 jcladyluv

So who’s ready to draft an entirely new novel? Me!!! That’s who! I’m spending the vast majority of the week finishing up my outline for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and there’s still so much to get ready. I am so excited because writing on a new novel is my favorite part of writing (well outlining might actually be my favorite but anywho) and it feels like it’s been so long since I’ve worked on a brand new book.

Realistically, it’s only been about six months or so since I finished up my second mystery book but that’s a long time in a writer’s world. Now this book isn’t going to be a mystery, it’s more contemporary women’s fiction, and it deals with childhood trauma, healing, and forgiveness. I have described the story more in depth over on my YouTube channel and detailing some of my writing process so if you would like to check that out the link is also in the signature.

If any of you are also writers I hope that you are entering in the challenge of doing NaNoWriMo and I hope that you check out the channels on YouTube of so many other writers who are participating and who do live writing streams as well. It’s a wonderful writing community over there and I hope I see you there! Until next time… #BeProductive #BeMotivated #BeInspired

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

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It’s That Time Again—A Writer’s Favorite Time of Year

October 5, 2020 jcladyluv

It’s that time of the year again! It’s a writer’s favorite time of year! Well at least it’s the month of Prep for a writer’s favorite time of the year which would be NaNoWriMo! That’s right, it is Prep-Tober! It’s the month where all the planning either begins or continues in an effort to be as ready as possible to go on day one of National Novel Writing Month.

I am so excited and after the year that 2020 has been, it’s nice to have something to be really excited about. NaNoWriMo is pretty much my Christmas (not to say that I don’t also love Christmas because that is my absolute favorite holiday) and I love everything about, including the pressure that it forces you to put on yourself to finish an entire novel in a month.

When I say pressure I mean good pressure (and yes pressure can be good) because I happen to be one of those weird people who perform even better when under a deadline and nearly impossible time constraints. It kind of makes me push past the limited expectations that I sometimes impose on myself and allow me to see what I can really do because truthfully sometimes I forget.

I haven’t worked on a brand new novel since last year’s NaNoWriMo and I am beyond excited to get started. Drafting is my absolute favorite part of writing, well second to outlining (I am really detailed with my outlines and they sometimes take longer to write than the actual book) and I’m ready to join all of the live writing streams, and drink an unhealthy amount of coffee (for the purpose of writing of course lol), and get all of these ideas out of my head and finally onto the page. By the end of November I will have a new book baby and I am so thrilled.

I don’t know how many of you out there will be participating in NaNoWriMo but if you are please let me know and I wish you all the luck. If you want to know what project I’m working on specifically for NaNoWriMo then please feel free to check out my YouTube channel under Author J.C. Carpenter (it’s also linked in the signature below) and if you are on YouTube let me know so I can find you. With that said I have some planning to go do. Until next time… #BeProductive #BeInspired #BeMotivated

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

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NaNoWriMo Post Day 20

November 20, 2019 jcladyluv

We’re only ten days away from the end of NaNoWriMo! I hope that everyone is being as productive as they can possibly be and at the same time are not beating themselves up if they have somehow fallen behind or gotten stuck. While I know that NaNoWriMo’s purpose is to have you complete a novel (or at least get a good chunk of the novel done), I think that underlying goal of this month long writing event is to get people motivated to write again, or keep them motivated. In my case I hadn’t really felt like writing recently (well before November) and while I have never lost my love of writing so many things had been going on in my personal life that had affected my writing ability and my drive to put the stories storing themselves up in my head down on paper.

This month has rejuvenated me again and now I find myself looking for any opportunity to write. It’s almost like it was when I was younger when I could think of nothing else but writing and I am loving it. I don’t think that I’m going to have an issue with completing the 50,000 words by the end of this month but even if I don’t I have formed the habit of writing everyday again. I have fallen back in love with the patterned routine of sitting down to my desk to write again and if that’s all that I get out of this month it would be more than enough. I hope that all of you are getting as much out of this NaNoWriMo experience this year that I have gotten and I wish you luck in completing the journey! Until next time… #BeCreativelyInspired #BeMotivated

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

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NaNoWriMoPost Day 14

November 14, 2019November 14, 2019 jcladyluv

We’re almost halfway there!!! So I hope everyone is having a productive NaNoWriMo experience. I know that it gets daunting to try and write so many words in what seems like such a short time but the important thing that I have found that doing NaNoWriMo helps with is creating the habitual routine of sitting down in your chair (or floor or couch, wherever you choose to write) and writing every single day.

This is especially helpful for those of us who had found ourselves in a rut or blocked or even just lacking in sheer motivation. It gets us back in the mood to really produce good content again and for me it has reenergized me and gotten me excited, not just about writing the current story that I am working on for NaNoWriMo but it has me excited for creating period, in terms of writing my blog posts, or in terms of thinking of ideas on how to best structure the podcast I will be starting in January of 2020. It even has me thinking (perhaps foolishly) that I might actually want to give writing for television a shot and go for it because I’ve always wanted to write two specific things, novels and television shows, but I’ve just always talked myself out of trying to write for TV because I had convinced myself I wasn’t really good enough to do that (which is crazy given the fact that I can predict an entire show and how it’s going to go in the first two minutes of the show most of the time lol).

Now I won’t be long because I have a story to get back to and hopefully you do too. I just stopped in to check in on you and to let you know that there are going to be videos to help get you through the rest of NaNoWriMo and hopefully to help keep you motivated past that point over on my online magazine, Write 2 Be Magazine, so when you get some time go check out the specific writing videos to help you in your writing journey! I’ll check back again near the end of the stretch and of course my normal blog posts will appear weekly. Until next time… #BeConsistent #BeMotivated

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

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NaNoWriMo Day 5—The Beauty of Writing Sprints

November 5, 2019 jcladyluv

So I discovered something important for my future writing success in these first few days of NaNo! Writing sprints are super effective. I know that writing sprints are nothing new but I was resistant to trying them because that hadn’t been the way I had ever written before and I just thought why can’t I just sit down and write non-stop until the words are done for the day. I mean most days I’ve never had an issue getting words down but I can tend to get stalled a bit at times and then frustration sets in. So I thought that this NaNoWriMo I would give writing sprints a try.

I have been watching a lot of writing videos lately and live streams so I just thought why not. So that’s what I’ve been doing differently this NaNoWriMo and I have been very pleasantly surprised at just how helpful doing these sprints are. They keep me focused, they keep me on track, and they have boosted my creativity. So if you’re looking for something new to try to liven up your writing sessions and maybe your old way of doing your sessions is leaving you stalled a bit, try doing writing sprints. Now you can do them in whatever increments work for you. Some do ten minutes, some do fifteen or even thirty, but I have found that twenty minute sprints seem to work for me. So hopefully you are doing well in your writing so far and you will give writing sprints a try but for now I must go back to write! I’ll include a list of a few AuthorTubers that have some live stream writing sessions with writing sprints so you can give them a try as well.

Until next time… #BeEncouraged #BeInspired

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor