Tag: time

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Write 2 Be Magazine will be debuting on January 15^th, 2013 so please go join the magazine on twitter before it debuts on https://twitter.com/write2bemag and join the email listing for the magazine at Write2bemagazine@yahoo.com. Also please feel free to go and friend me on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310 and like my Write 2 Be Magazine fan page. Please help support my endeavor and my new journey and help me spread the word about Write 2 Be and its meaning.

Being Optimistic Is Giving Me More Drive

January 4, 2013 jcladyluv

The first week of the New Year has actually started off pretty good. I mean nothing miraculous happened, nothing earth shattering or life altering, but on the up side nothing terribly bad happened (at least nothing that I couldn’t handle). I’ve actually been rather productive, at least more than normal, and while there are still things on my to-do list for the week that haven’t been completed yet, I would say that I am very proud of what I’ve accomplished so far.

That’s not saying that I don’t have a lot of improvement to do, especially in my time management skills, but I am a work in progress (as we all are) and I have progressed into not beating myself up over the things that didn’t get done. I just know that I have to be more determined and more persistent in getting my list completed next week. I do have some major things that I have to tackle over the weekend in the efforts to finish putting the magazine together and that is actually going to be my main focus for the weekend.

I don’t know why I have not mastered the art of time management yet but I really hope that I can shuffle things around a lot better in the coming weeks. I have been replacing most of my negative thoughts and fears with positive outlooks and all in all (unlike the last few years) I am feeling very optimistic for this year. Well I hope all of you have had a very productive first week of the New Year and that all of your projects are off and running.

I have the Write 2 Be Productive and Prosperous… What is your Write 2 Be?

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

What If the World Were to End Tomorrow?

December 20, 2012 jcladyluv

The New Year is approaching and, as you know, I am one of those people that like to plan things out thoroughly. Of course I know that there are only so many things that I can actually plan but I do like to pretty much plan out the things that I need to accomplish step by step to get the bigger goals completed.

This year there is some skepticism around whether or not any of us will even make it to the New Year seeing as though the Mayan calendar has the world ending tomorrow. While I do not actually believe that the world is going to end tomorrow (although God might have other plans, and in that case I’ll be very surprised) it did get me thinking about how many people there must be out there scrambling to get their life in order before tomorrow gets here.

I am interested to know how many people are suddenly doing the things that they said they would never do before just because they think they won’t be around after tomorrow. How many of us would actually be doing the things that we are supposed to be doing (while we’re busy procrastinating) if we knew we wouldn’t have time to complete our goals and satisfy our purpose.

I must admit, I almost wished that I believed that the world was ending tomorrow, because even though I have managed to kick my plans into high gear lately, I imagine I might be in overdrive if I thought for one second that what I would have to do tomorrow is explain to God at the gate leading to heaven why I didn’t do all the things he told me to do with all of the time he had given me.

If the world were to end tomorrow I’m not sure that I would be happy with what I had done with the time that I was here. It makes me just want to strive even harder then I had already planned to next year to make sure that I start actually fulfilling my purpose. I suppose I had better go and get busy before the real doomsday actually does get here. Have you all done what you feel you were sent here to do? If the world were to end tomorrow, would you be happy with the legacy you are leaving behind?

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

Shifting the Focus

December 6, 2012December 6, 2012 jcladyluv

So every year in December I try to prepare for the year that is coming. I can’t help it, I’m a planner, that’s just who I am. I make lists (yes I am an extreme list maker) for different avenues of things in my life. Typically I make 3 lists (goals for the year, books to read for the year, and writing projects to accomplish for the year) but this year I added a list (goals towards better health) which only adds to the expectations I place on myself.

There is one thing that I am changing about how I make my lists. Usually I push the envelope with the lists I make in the fact that I make them highly unattainable and marginally off focus, hoping to push myself to a higher standard to achieve them. This time I am making the lists not only with a more realistic expectation of completion in mind, but also with a different focal perspective in my sights as well.

I think that a part of my problem in the previous years (also one’s that just did not go as great as I had planned) is that my focus was on the wrong things. My focus was shifted on things that I just didn’t have any actual control over; things that required me trying to work my way around the plans that God already has worked out for me. I’m realizing now that there were things that I should have been directing my focus towards, things that are actually in my power to control, things that are where my focus needs to be, that I just wasn’t concentrating on the way I should have been.

Quite possibly, the reason why all of my plans for previous years were not going accordingly is due to the fact that they were my plans for me and not God’s plans for me. It’s not that I don’t also want the things that God has mapped out for me, it’s just that my focus got off track on other things that I thought I wanted and they weren’t necessarily what was right for me to have (at least not at this time). I was focusing on the wrong things. I was placing my energy into things that weren’t right for me. I was putting time into forcing something that was out of the realm of God’s plans. I was getting off track.

Now that I’m in a better place, a place where I can clearly see that the direction I was going in was leading to the wrong destination, my focus has shifted. My mind is clear. I know where my energy and time needs to be placed and everything else that comes as a result of that, is whatever is meant to come to me. My writing career hasn’t been what it should have been by now because I wasn’t focused on that. I thought I was. I had even managed to convince myself that I was steadily focused on that. However, my actions were just not matching what I was saying.

I wasn’t putting the energy and time into doing the things that I, as a dedicated and passionate writer, need to put into it. I was focused on other things that just weren’t worth my time. I wasn’t focused on the number one thing for my life (besides my daughter of course) which is my writing and my career. I’ve got it now and I’m back on track. Next year should be really interesting!

I have the Write 2 Be Ambitious and Driven…

What is your Write 2 Be?

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

Write 2 Be Magazine will be debuting on January 15^th, 2013 so please go join the magazine on twitter before it debuts https://twitter.com/write2bemag and join the email listing for the magazine at Write2bemagazine@yahoo.com. Also please feel free to go and friend me on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/people/Jimmetta-Carpenter/1069480310 and like my Write 2 Be Magazine fan page. Please help support my endeavor and my new journey and help me spread the word about Write 2 Be and its meaning.

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 # 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 # 20: Have You Learned How to Balance and Weave?

November 20, 2012 jcladyluv

It’s hard to find balance when you are trying to juggle so many tasks at once. Writing a novel is not an easy task and when you take on the added pressure of participating in National Novel Writing Month and having to write every single day and write a specific amount of words just to meet one specific goal.

If you add to that the pressure of completing the other projects and tasks that you have to do that also concern your writing career such as keeping up with your blog, making that deadline for the novel or non-fiction book that you need to get to your editor, or the articles that you are being paid to write by a specific time, it can be extremely hard to find that balance to handle it all. Here are a few suggestions on how you can balance your Novel and your other writing projects and weave them into one another, if you can.

1) Separate your writing tasks and times over different days. For instance, choose to work on your novel for NaNoWriMo at one time period of the day (in the morning or in the evening) and work on one of your other writing assignments in the opposite time period of the day. If you have multiple tasks aside from your NaNoWriMo novel then split it up and do one task on one day and another on another day.

2) If your main writing tasks aside from doing your NaNoWriMo novel is doing your blog then weave the two tasks together. Blog about your NaNoWriMo experience. Blog about your novel and how the process of writing your novel is going. Blog about your characters and allow your readers to get to know them before your novel even gets published and comes out. This will allow your blog posts to come a little easier to you while under the pressure of writing your novel and still keep you on course with maintaining your blog.

3) Write your articles that have to be written about your experience of NaNoWriMo. Write articles about your process of writing your novel. Write the articles that you are submitting for payment about having to balance your novel with your other tasks of being a writer, a business person, and a parent. These articles will not only come easier because you are living that experience but they won’t take too much extra thought process and research (that it would take to do the health related article you would normally be writing right now) which would be time taken away from writing your novel.

4) If you honestly are not good at balancing the multiple writing tasks then focus on the novel and write notes regarding the other projects you need to work on in a notepad. This allows you to focus on that novel, get it done, and still not lose the ideas that you have for your other projects. That way when you are finished with NaNoWriMo and your novel you can immediately go implement the ideas and notes that you jotted down with your other projects.

I hope some of these suggestions help you keep that balance and get that novel done. There’s only ten more days so hang in there. You can do this!

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: Don’t Turn and Run, You Can Actually Do This!

November 1, 2012 jcladyluv

Okay so it’s Day 1 of National Novel Writing Month. Even though it’s only the first day you are already thinking “what in the world did I get myself into here?” You are re-thinking the whole idea and pondering what the point of it all is.

Thoughts of doubt are starting to seep in and you are beginning to realize just how many words 50,000 is and the time you will have to invest to get it done. For those of you who have never done this before you may be starting to realize just how hard it really is to write a novel.

Coming from someone who has had all of these thoughts racing through their head before, and all at once, from the times I have done NaNoWriMo before, I’m here to tell you DON’T LISTEN TO THOSE VOICES! Those are the voices that are trying to get you to give up before you even begin. I know it seems like it can’t be done and like there is no point to all of this but it just isn’t true. The point is that your novel is closer to being done then it was before you started.

No matter what you’re inner critic is telling you, you can’t listen. You Can Do This. Hang in there, it does get easier. Soon (maybe even tomorrow) you will start to fall in love with your story as well as your characters and the plot will be all you can think about. Don’t run away from your story now, it needs you to convey it to the rest of the world!

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

7 Ways for You to Get Ready for National Novel Writing Month

October 17, 2012 jcladyluv

So as I stated in my last post I will not be doing NaNoWriMo this year, at least not in the traditional sense, but I thought for all of you out there who are planning on participating in the crazy notion of attempting to complete a novel in 30 days that I would make a few suggestions on getting ready for the month of November. Obviously the first thing that anyone getting into the novel writing spirit needs to do is to sign up by registering on the National Novel Writing Month website at http://www.nanowrimo.org/. That’s the easy part. Other things to better prepare for this month are:

1.) Brainstorm a clear idea for your novel: Hopefully you already know what you want to write about but if not that is the first thing that you need to figure out.

2.) Know the most important details of your novel upfront: You may or may not be a person that likes to outline. If you are an outliner, this is what your next move needs to be. Outline the major points of your novel so that you know where your story is going to start, and where you think it might end up. If you are more of a detailed person then you will want to detail ALL of the major and somewhat minor parts of the novel in this outline. If you are not a person who likes to outline, at the very least you will want to know that major plot points in your story.

3.) Get to know your characters: Some might consider this to be a part of outlining but I see it as being totally separate but just as complex as creating an outline. You have to know who your characters because if you don’t know who your characters are your soon to be readers won’t know who they are either.

4.) Research now rather than later: Do as much research for your novel that you can do before starting your novel. Once you get started writing, you are not going to have the time to really go back and do extensive research so get most of your research out of the way now.

5.) Begin mapping out a workable plan: Come up with a schedule that works for you to write during the month of November. If you are a morning person then you will want to make time available so that you can write in the mornings and get your best work done. Whatever time of day works better for you, you are going to want to maximize to produce your best work. This is also when you will want to let the people around you know that you may not have as much time as you normally do because you will be busy…Writing.

6.) When November 1^st comes around, be prepared to start writing and be prepared to be very busy for those thirty days.

7.) One final thing: If you should happen to get stuck or have a bad day and are not able to write, don’t be too hard on yourself. Putting extra pressure on yourself to write only makes it harder for you to produce good solid work.

I hope that these tips were somehow helpful to anyone who is getting ready to embark on their 30 day journey into novel-land. I know that following these steps helped me last year when I participated and all of the years prior to that. I will be cheering all of you NaNo-er’s on from the sidelines but don’t think I won’t be getting some writing done on my part. I just have to focus on the business end of things right now, as well as putting my Write 2 Be Magazine together for its launch in January 2013. I wish all of you well in November!

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 Love of Reading

September 25, 2012 jcladyluv

I forget to read sometimes. I’m not talking about reading the important books and articles on the craft of writing, or the blog posts from other writers about their successes and failures, or even books and articles about the business of being a writer. I’m talking about reading for the sheer enjoyment of reading and some of the genres that I am interested in writing in.

I was reminded when I read a blog posts by author Jody Hedlund today about the importance of reading, especially for a writer. She wrote about reading being an important tool in your writer’s toolkit because in order to be a good writer, in particular a fiction writer, you have to actually find the time to read just for your enjoyment. She also stressed the importance of not feeling guilty about taking time to read something that has absolutely nothing to do with researching whatever your next project is because reading in the end helps you learn other techniques of other writers and methods of storytelling that you might not have discovered before.

Reading her blog post made me think of just how many times I felt guilty for even reading a book that had nothing to do with what I was working on, or something to do with developing other techniques and skills that I need to as a writer. But I didn’t use to be that way. I used to always make sure I had a book in my hands, in fact there was a point in time where I would read two books at a time, one about my craft and one that I just wanted to read for enjoyment. I could breeze through a book in about two days and now I can barely get through a book in a couple of months.

I realized in reading Jody’s blog post that I shouldn’t feel guilty for wanting to just block out a space of time to read. It was reading that made me fall in love with writing in the first place. It was reading that made me want to be a storyteller that captivated people with just my words. It was reading that allowed me to get lost in other people’s stories when I didn’t want to be in my own reality. I forgot how much I loved to read and that I shouldn’t feel guilty about just wanting to curl up with a good book and get lost in a reality that is not my own.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”