Tag: time to write

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Hidden on Purpose

December 5, 2011December 5, 2011 jcladyluv

“The greatest thing about being hidden is that you can be underestimated.”

~Tyler Perry

I admit that I am guilty of watching (probably what most writers would consider) way too much T.V. I am a soap opera junky and I love movies (mostly suspense and drama), and yes I love my drama TV shows as well, such as Law and Order SVU and Unforgettable and many others. I know the saying is that if you want to carve out more time to write and be an all around better writer then you need to cut out the unnecessary time wasters, which most would (arguably) consider television to be one of them. But I have my reasons for watching so much television.

I watch it not so much for the entertainment value (okay I will admit soap operas are entertaining to me) but from the standpoint of a writer. I watch with the knowledge that I would love to write for a lot of these shows and quite frankly in terms of soap operas I think that being a lifetime watcher of a lot of them I would be a great asset as a writer because they change writers so often I think that the new writers don’t research the show and its history very well. Some of the inconsistencies are really just ridiculous.

I sit back and look at some of these shows and movies thinking I could write stuff like that, hell I can write some things better than that. And then I find myself being a tad bit (okay maybe a lot) envious. I wonder, why is my talent going unnoticed? Why are there so-called writers (you know the ones, those with good story but bad writing technique) who are making millions of dollars off a book, and then movie when I not only have good stories but I can actually convey them well in written form. Why am I going unnoticed?

Every time I get this feeling of envy (which I know that it is wrong to be even somewhat envious of others successes) I remind myself of something I came across on Tyler Perry’s website in his inspirational corner. He does these motivational segments via video and sends out emails of them every so often. There was one particular video segment that made me see things a little differently. He spoke about a friend of his who also wondered why his talents and his hard work continued to go unnoticed and he couldn’t seem to get to where he was trying to get to. That he would get close but then it just wouldn’t pan out somehow.

Tyler’s words of wisdom to his friend, was that maybe he was being hidden on purpose. He told him that it just wasn’t his time to be seen yet. He said “sometimes in life, God wants your story to be such a miracle that she shuts down every avenue, so that you can only go to him for the answer.” He pointed out that there is an appointed time for everything and that everything that is supposed to happen in your life will happen.

The best thing that he said that really stuck with me was that “if you walk in the path that you are supposed to at this point in time, then at the right time, God will reveal you, your talents, and everything you’ve done to the world.” So when I am sitting back and wondering what all of my hard work and good writing is for when it continues to go unnoticed, I just have to keep thinking to myself, it’s not my time to be seen yet.

I am going to continue to walk in the path in which I am supposed to walk, carrying out the purpose that God put me on this earth for, knowing that when God feels it is my time to be seen then I will shine the brightest that I could ever possibly shine. Of course I have to keep reminding myself of this constantly when I am feeling a little envious of those writers who are already where I feel I should be right now. I suppose I should just feel pure joy for those who are shining and being seen right now because they are paving the way for me to be seen when it is my time and when it is my time I will certainly be ready. Until tomorrow…Get ready, your time is coming 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 19: Silenced

November 19, 2011 jcladyluv

Today was not a good day for writing. I tried to get my thoughts together but nothing was really coming out, at least not right anyway. I’ve been thinking about other things pertaining to my writing, such as what happens after November is over and my novel is done. I’m not necessarily talking about my future projects, I’m thinking more so of the freelance aspect of my writing career. Today the stresses of life have been bogging me down so much that the words would not come together but I am going to make sure to double up on my writing tomorrow to make up for what I missed today. Hopefully in tomorrow’s post I will feel more accomplished in my word count for the day. Until tomorrow…Missing one day won’t hurt, I hope.

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 1: Early Awakening

November 1, 2011 jcladyluv

So I set out to wake up at 5 this morning and begin writing for the first day of National Novel Writing Month and to accomplish my word count for the day in the little time before I whisked my daughter off to school and headed to the gym for my morning workout. I had suspected that I might not be able to get up that early because I am in no way, shape, or form, a morning person. I typically tend to set three different times for my alarm to go off in the morning because I make plans on hitting the snooze button. In fact I have two other alarm clocks aside from the one with three different times set and those other two are also set at two different times. See I try to get the maximum amount of sleep possible in the morning because I tend to go to bed so late.

However, I am very proud to say that I did in fact not hit the snooze button this morning and I got out of my bed, headed straight for the computer (well there might have been a pit stop to the bathroom first) and pulled out my book with my outline and character sketches and notes and began writing. Not only did I reach the 1,667 words that is estimated for each day of November, but I wrote 1,709 (not really that much more) words. I wrote for about an hour and a half and then when I was finished I charted my time and then I was off to get my daughter ready and off to school. I had a great, awesome, workout at the gym and have had a pretty good day so far (the day is still young).

I think that my writing is sharper and flows better when I work in the morning and it makes my day start off well knowing that I have gotten in a good bit of work done first thing in the morning. It’s quiet in the morning and my mind is very clear (although somewhat sleepy). Now I don’t mean to make it sound like I am not going to try to get more words done today but I want to at least make sure that the amount I definitely need to reach is met. I just hope that I can continue getting up at5amand that I can continue working smoothly to get this novel done, but done well.

Well I guess I better save my words for tomorrow’s morning writing session and the next blog post. Maybe tomorrow I’ll tell you a little bit about my character Mackenzie Brown and the murder mystery she’s getting herself all wrapped up in. Until tomorrow…What are your characters up to lately?

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

For the Busy Writers

September 9, 2011 jcladyluv

I was so engulfed in trying to be productive and finish my goal list for this week that I almost forgot to do this blog post which is also on my list of goals. So I thought I would share some time management tips that may help those writers out there are that are trying to figure out how to deal with their everyday busy lives and incorporate writing into that mix. Hope some of these tips are helpful to you.

Publicize your writing goals- Tell your friends and family, even your kids, what your goals are that you need to accomplish for the week, or for the month. Put a list of those goals up on the bulletin board in front of your desk (because all writers should have one) or on a post it note and stick it on your computer. If you have a blog share some of those goals with your readers. This will help you to hold yourself accountable to the tasks you set out to achieve because if you don’t, now someone else will.
Do the more time consuming tasks first- You may be tempted to check all the smaller things off your list first but none of those smaller things help you to accomplish the few bigger things on that list then you may still get to the end of the week with those things unfinished and it will feel less gratifying. If you knock the big things out of the way you will feel more accomplished by the end of the week.
Be flexible- You will probably never complete an entire writing project without having something go wrong along the way, or not necessarily wrong, just not as you originally planned them to go. Make some back up plans for when things get thrown off track. This will help you to bounce back quicker than you would if you were just left without some sense of knowing what to do next.
Track where your time goes- Often times we don’t even know where the time goes or what we have done with that time. If this is the case with you, it may be beneficial to chart out your day and make notes of what you do and when. See where you can cut some things out that may not be so necessary in order for you to implement for time for writing.
Just Say No- Distractions are just a part of life and for a writer it is often that people will dismiss your need to actually sit down and write. They expect you to always be available to talk or go out and it’s hard to say no and justify why you’re not spending time with them so you can write. If you start telling them NO and letting them know that this is something serious for you and that it matters, they will eventually get the message and respect your craft. But you have to say No first.

I hope that some of these tips are helpful to you. I am still working on practicing some of them myself. Well I better get back to my craft now. Until next time…be blessed!

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

Passionate Writer

September 7, 2011 jcladyluv

“A strong passion for anything will ensure success, for the desire of the end will point out the means.”
~William Hazlitt

Very seldom do I ever wish that I could go back in time to when I was younger, perhaps in high school, and just live in that moment for while. Perhaps I would enjoy and take stock in the moments when I wrote simply because it was all I could do to get my feelings out, or when writing was not so much of a job or chore and more of a past time that I didn’t have to actually think about anything past the point of writing the actual story.

Now don’t get me wrong, I still absolutely love to write and I could never imagine anything else that I should be doing in this life or the next other than writing. But before there was the business aspect of writing (the hardest part of being a writer), and the marketing and publicity aspect, and the managing sales figures and making sure you are actually making money off of your passion, there was simply just the passion of it all.

I remember rushing to get home to just get the words of my characters out on paper (because back then I wrote long-hand), and I remember the feeling of accomplishment when the story was finished and when someone else told me that my words meant something to them. I didn’t worry so much back then about how to get my words published and how to market and how to make actual profits off of my work. I just knew that writing was my life’s dream and that was how I wanted to make my living. I knew that I wanted to make the best seller’s lists and write movies and write for magazines and television shows and that I wanted my living to be made from what I loved to do more than anything in the world.

Now I am making schedule’s to try and fit what I love into the rest of my life and reading and teaching myself about things pertaining to marketing and publicity, which are things I really don’t care about, but I have to know these things to make what I love to do work for me. I would just love to get to that point again where all I have to think about is the sheer enjoyment of writing my words down on paper and telling the story of my characters; back to the moment when I first fell in love with writing to begin with.

However, in reality, I want my words to be seen by the world and that part of my dream takes work and hard labor. But it is definitely a labor of love and one that I am willing to make many sacrifices for. So what are you most passionate about and are you willing to put in the hard labor to make it happen? Until next time…be blessed and make your labor of love count!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”