Tag: Novel

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The Reasons Why My Novel Might Not Be Finished Yet

February 19, 2013February 19, 2013 jcladyluv

I started my current novel some time ago (I’m embarrassed to even say how long ago it was) and it should’ve been finished by now. In fact I should’ve not only finished that novel but have already been well into the next one. Nevertheless, I am still not finished yet. I think that these are some of the reasons that I haven’t finished my novel yet:

Too many ideas
Can’t balance my time effectively
Too ambitious with the projects that I want to accomplish
Too much time spent not writing

In the end they all boil down to excuses that just aren’t good enough but I thought identifying with them would possibly help me finally get to the point where I could perhaps finish the novel. I believe the biggest reason I can’t seem to finish is the fact that I just have one too many ideas running around in my head; too many characters; too many plots. I did what I seem to always do. I get to that point where I am almost at the end (literally, I’m on Chapter 22 of a novel that is supposed to go to chapter 29—of course that could change) and then another idea that I’ve had in my head for sometime starts to become a stronger presence in my subconscious and then it’s the only idea I can concentrate on.

It’s a terrible habit that I have and it almost makes me wish that my problem was having a lack of ideas so the ones I have won’t take over every other project that I am working on. Perhaps this is another form of writer’s block. I always thought that it pertained to not having any ideas or inspiration to write at all but I think it might be just as bad to have so many ideas that you can’t focus on just one. Maybe I can’t seem to finish because it is my first attempt at writing a mystery and I’m nervous it won’t turn out as good as I am hoping. This is the point where I chuckle at people who seem to think that writing is easy and that all writers do is come up with stories. It’s so much harder then people think it is.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

NaNoWriMo Day # 30: We’re Finally Here!

November 30, 2012 jcladyluv

The day has come. This is the last and final day for National Novel Writing Month. For the most part it is over but for the few stragglers out there that are hovering just at that 50,000 word benchmark, this is your last opportunity to get there. These are the last few hours that you will have so if you are really aiming for that goal of completion then you might want to sit down now and finish it up.

Congratulations to everyone, not only those who finished but also to those of you who simply signed up and got into the ring for the fight. Reward yourself for your efforts and for your tenacity and, for the vast majority of you, for completing the task. Go out and do something for yourself and give your fingers and your story a break for a little while or a couple of days.

Celebrate, You Just Finished A Novel… Yay!!!!

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 # 29: The Final Push

November 29, 2012 jcladyluv

So by now if you are not already finished your 50,000 word goal then you are very close. So why not take a few minutes to start imagining what the cover of your book is going to look like. Even those of you who are not as close as you thought you would be to the end goal. Think about your story and what the best way to depict that story within a picture would be. How do you want your readers to view your story for the very first time?

Visualizing the end product sometimes helps give us that final push that we need to make it across the finish line and accomplish our goals. So if it takes seeing your book cover and visualizing your book in the hands of your readers to get you through to tomorrow night and get you over that goal line, then daydream just a little while (really only a small amount of daydreaming—don’t get carried away here) about that vision.

You’re really almost there, just one more day. You can do this. And for those of you who are already there, you’re all finished up and ready to jump straight into the editing phase, just shut that inner editor living in your head off for just a few more days. You want to take a few days away from your novel before getting into editing it. Going into the editing phase with fresh eyes and a fresher perspective is not only better for you and your inner editor, but in the end better for your overall story.

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 # 28: “Winning” the NaNoWriMo Challenge

November 28, 2012 jcladyluv

The end is approaching along with the winner’s circle that everyone speaks of in reference to the NaNoWriMo challenge. Of course that entails completing the 50,000 words that you signed up to finish in 30 days. But is that really the only thing that winning the NaNoWriMo challenge means?

Isn’t it winning to just sign up and participate in the NaNoWriMo challenge? Isn’t it winning to plan out a routine and follow through with carrying out that plan? Even if you don’t reach 50,000 words, or you get blocked just as you are nearing the finish line, you are still winning the challenge just by trying in the first place.

So many people just think about doing NaNoWriMo and wonder what it would be like to achieve those 50,000 words but they never actually follow through and just do it. You took that step. You signed up, you participated, you steadily logged your words in the word count updater, and you hung in there even when your story felt stalled and you probably wanted to give up. For that, you are every bit the winner regardless of whether you actually made it to 50,000 words.

Of course, if you made it to that ultimate word count goal (or are really close and will make it by the 30^th) then congratulations. But don’t, for one second, think that you not getting there makes you any less of a winner. You are a winner just for trying in the first 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

NaNoWriMo Day # 27: When It’s All Said and Done, Don’t Forget the Reward

November 27, 2012 jcladyluv

Three more days. It will all be over in three more days, or will it? Truthfully, NaNoWriMo is an event that only gets you started and steered in the right direction.

In case you haven’t realized it just yet, writing is a lot of work, and it’s work that extends far beyond the actual writing of the novel (or book if it’s non-fiction). Writing, and being successful with your writing, involves not only a good quality of writing, but marketing and promotion (and I’ve learned you have to start this one early), the actual publishing of the book itself, and in today’s society social media networking.

These are the things that you now have to begin to think about as you are wrapping up your novel. But there are a few things that I think you should do for yourself after finishing up National Novel Writing Month before having to jump into all of the heavy and very serious thoughts of the business side of being a writer.

1) Celebrate your accomplishment. Tell your friends and family that you have finally finished and perhaps even do a happy dance if you can. You’ve accomplished something big and it is something to really shout for joy about.

2) Treat yourself. You’ve probably been depriving yourself of certain treats that you’ve wanted this month. You may have been depriving yourself of going out to your favorite restaurant or just going out with your friends. You’ve done what you set out to do and you should reward yourself accordingly. You deserve it!

3) Take a step back from your novel for a couple of days (or at least one if you really can’t stay away from your story any longer). Notice I did not say take a step back from writing altogether, just your novel that you have had etched in your brain every day for the past 30 days. Your mind needs a break and so do you. Maybe you could even catch up on some reading that you haven’t had a chance to do in the last 30 days. Just do something that doesn’t involve your novel for a couple of days. You’ll be better for having done it.

4) Take a day or two and just chill out and watch some T.V. (maybe those T.V. shows you DVR’d during your 30 day novel writing adventure) or watch some movies you have been dying to get to. Contrary to popular belief it is okay to take a small break (and by small I only mean a few days) from writing as long as you don’t plan on making the break more permanent.

No matter what your form of reward is, please don’t forget that you do deserve to reward yourself after accomplishing something so big.

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 # 26: When the Idea Fairy Strikes!

November 26, 2012 jcladyluv

If any of you out there are anything like me, you get a heavy stream of new ideas just as you are entering the home stretch of a current project and need to stay focused solely on that project alone. If that is the case then just as you are finishing up your 50,000 words for your NaNoWriMo Novel in these last four days you will all of a sudden start to be hit with new wonderful ideas for the next novel.

Soon those ideas will invade your head space and you may find yourself unable to maintain your focus on the NaNoWriMo novel that you are currently finishing. This is going to be hard to do but you have to ignore those ideas for these next four (well probably three by the time most of you read this) days just until you have finished what you set out to do in the beginning of November.

Now of course I’m not saying to ignore 100% and not at least jot something about those ideas down quickly (operative word being quickly) but you can’t afford to go into long drawn out plans and outlines here. Not when you have another novel that you’ve already started to finish up.

I know how hard that is for us writers to do, just scribble some notes with no full detail about an idea without elaborating on it as badly as you want to (this would be why I have so many started and not finished novels) but your job for these last few days of NaNoWriMo is to stay focused on the task at hand. So remember that you are almost there, only three more days to go after this one, and you will have completed this goal.

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 # 25: Have You Thought About What Comes Next?

November 25, 2012 jcladyluv

Now that you are almost finished with your NaNoWriMo Novel you have to force yourself to begin to think about what the next phase in this project will be. That’s right, you guessed it, the editing.

Well let me back up a bit, odds are that, unless you are writing a novella, you will not be entirely done with your whole novel by November 30^th because novels do tend to be more than 50,000 words long. Most novels are double that. So your first order of business (if you are not in fact writing a novella) is to actually finish up the rest of your novel. But once that is done it is on to the editing.

Of course there will be many phases of editing but this will be your first crack at what you have just written and the first opportunity to change up your story and go back in and add things that you might have forgotten before. This is where the business side of writing kicks in because you have to not only think about what makes your story the best it can be, but you have to think strategically as if you were a reader buying the book.

I know you still have four days left after today to only be consumed with NaNoWriMo but if you don’t start thinking about what comes next it will overwhelm you. It’s time to start thinking about what comes next when you are finished with your novel; the marketing, the target audience, all of that. You don’t want to find yourself finished, questioning what’s next, without a plan.

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 # 24: Are We There Yet?

November 24, 2012 jcladyluv

The short and simple answer, No! I know that has to be the question in almost everyone’s mind right now as we approach the 5 day countdown (maybe that’s just me who does the countdown near the end).

Some of you are nearing burnout from the sleep you aren’t getting to finish this novel. Some of you are just delirious from all of the ideas that have just been streaming through your mind. Some of you might just be ready for this to be over because you are just fresh out of a direction for your novel to go in and the pressure of NaNoWriMo is not helping your creative flow. There are even some of you who, miracle of miracles, are already done (Congratulations if this is you!).

No matter what stage you are at in your NaNoWriMo novel, you are at the same point as everyone else, 5 days left. Even if you have reached your 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo, you most likely still aren’t finished with the first draft. I wish all of you luck in finishing your projects with these last few days approaching. I wish I can say that all of my efforts in NaNoWriMo have been what I wanted them to be but I’m still hanging in there. Let’s finish up strong everyone.

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