Tag: words

NaNoWriMo Reminder: It Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect On the First Draft

jcladyluv

I was reading blog posts this morning, catching up on posts from the last couple of days of some of the blogs that I subscribe to.  I came across one by Catherine Ryan Howard discussing National Novel Writing Month and some of the backlash that the yearly event gets from “real writers” who turn down their noses at the idea of creating a novel in 30 days.  Her blog post listed a whole host of reasons why she discarded the notion that NaNoWriMo is just nonsense and somehow belittles the profession of writing.

Until reading her blog post I had never known anyone to say anything bad about NaNoWriMo or that indicated that NaNoWriMo was something that was not for “real writers”.  After all, I’ve done NaNoWriMo for many years and I don’t consider myself anything less than a real writer.  It got me to thinking about just how many people that we don’t realize actually get the novels that they began writing during a National Novel Writing Month event published and just how important something like NaNoWriMo really is.

It also made me think about how many people do themselves in by trying to actually complete a novel (writing, editing, rewriting, and re-editing again many times over) in those 30 days.  Maybe that’s where people get overwhelmed at with the thought of NaNoWriMo.  So many people (myself included) have tried to complete the impossible task of writing and actually finishing a novel in 30 days that they forget to have fun while they are doing it.

Yes writing is (hard) work, but I think that a lot of times what we writers tend to forget during the month of November is that it should still be fun as well.  There should still be passion behind the words we write and not just a continuous rush to get it done no matter what.  If you are striving for a perfect draft the first time out the gate during NaNoWriMo then you may just be disappointed.

Don’t get caught up in exactly what the end product is supposed to be.  After you’ve come up with the plot, you’ve done your outline, and you’ve mapped out your schedule, just sit down and write.

Don’t try and make it perfect, don’t go back and edit while you’re writing, don’t agonize over whether you’re going to be able to get it published once it’s done.  Just sit down, enjoy the characters that are honoring you with telling their story, and write!  I promise you that if you enjoy what you are writing, then people will almost certainly enjoy reading what you have written.

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

The Life You Breathe Into the Words That You Speak

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“As it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.”

~Romans 4:17

Words have a lot of power.  Not just the words that we write down, but also the words that we speak.  Not just to other people but the words that we tell ourselves.  I was watching an interview between Dr. Wayne Dyer and Oprah Winfrey on her Super Soul Sunday show the other morning and he was speaking about the Art of manifestation and placing into our imagination who it is that we are and not stressing who it is that we are not. 

That really hit me when he said that.  No really, I was actually still asleep when the interview was on and I could hear the T.V. in my state of being still half sleep and half awake, but when I heard him say that it woke me up.  I quickly sat up in my bed as I heard him talk about how people who constantly say I am depressed, I am sick, I am sad, I am broke, I am not good enough, are inadvertently breathing life into those words and those feelings.  I thought to myself, I am one of those people. 

Not because I ever wanted to be.  Just because I think I spend way too much time professing the circumstances that I am stuck in instead of approaching it in the manner of claiming the end result.  Something so simple as taking the phrase ‘I am broke’ out of your vocabulary, and claiming the prosperity that lies ahead of you and that is within your reach could change the journey for any one of us.  Instead of reminding ourselves of what it is that we don’t have, or the not so positive feelings that we might be feeling, we have to lay claim to what it is that we want to be true. 

It’s not that you should pretend that you are not depressed, rather that you can choose another thought to have.  You can make the choice not to put into your imagination something that you don’t want to materialize.  If I am feeling like I am just (as I felt all last week) not very much in the writing mood, and I breathe those words into life, then of course no writing is going to get done. 

I am going to work very hard to start practicing those words of wisdom from Mr. Wayne Dyer in regards to manifesting what I want in my life by speaking it and making it so.  I have to keep in mind that when God said that all things are possible through him, he didn’t mean some things and not others.  He meant exactly what he said, ALL.  I want to breathe life into much more positive ways of seeing things. 

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

Only A Few Words Tonight

jcladyluv

I don’t have much to say tonight.  This week has been a busy one because my daughter’s birthday was Tuesday and although her actual birthday party is not until Saturday I have been trying my best to make this whole week a special one for her.  

Needless to say, being a freelance writer who hasn’t quite hit her stride yet (with the income part of freelancing) and is on a never-ending tight budget, it’s kind of hard to come up with exciting things to do for a nine year old all week.  You would think that a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese would be enough, and truth be told it probably is, but I always find the need to overcompensate for what I lack (you know money to do much bigger things for her birthday).  

Well hopefully I will have more to talk about tomorrow and not be completely monopolized by all things birthday.  I can be proud that I did at least show up today, because I almost didn’t.  

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

What Do You Say On the Days You Don’t Know What To Say?

jcladyluv

I made a promise to myself that I would really focus on writing a blog post on a very regular basis.  At first it was everyday but then I realized that I wanted my weekends to be about reading, or doing research, or marketing myself in some way.  I still have work to do on the marketing part of that equation.  

However, I won’t pretend like it is not a struggle to produce words that will be thought provoking and inspirational (hopefully you guys do consider them inspirational) on a consistent basis.  Some days I really just don’t know what to say.  Some days I go through the whole day and I don’t hear anything that inspires me or gives me an insight into what to write for you guys.  

I tend to feel really inadequate as a writer on those days when I don’t know what to say.  People have this misconception that writers know exactly the right things to say and sometimes we just don’t.  Sometimes our minds are focused on whatever project we are working on and that is what consumes us.  Today is one of those days for me.  

I have thoughts of finishing my novel going through my head and where to go next with it.  I have thoughts of the next novel project that can either be a Young Adult novel or an Adult fiction novel but I haven’t quite decided which way to take it just yet.  I have a non-fiction book that I am trying to figure out what direction I want to go with it because it is a book that will be about my weight loss journey which is more about becoming a healthier and happier version of myself but it will also incorporate details of my childhood so it might actually border on something close to a memoir.  

That is what has been on my mind all day and thus I couldn’t really come up with anything to say today.  So I hope that you will understand my lack of inspiration in my blog post today but I did keep my promise I made to myself to continue posting on a daily basis.  Maybe tomorrow I will know exactly what words to say. 

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

Structuring Ourselves In Order to Sustain His Blessings

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“Your real strength, your guts, your tenacity, your staying power, your discipline, is in the things God did for you when nobody was looking.”

~Bishop T.D. Jakes 

I realized last night that my post yesterday was a little unfinished.  I don’t think that the message that I was trying to convey was finished yet.  I was reading Ms. L’s blog post this morning and realized that there was more I needed to say.  She spoke of having doubts in her mission and her purpose with what she is trying to do with her company and her new magazine, PIEhole, and in reading her post I thought all of these doubts sounded all too familiar for me.  

I hadn’t realized that she was experiencing this much doubt.  I always see her as so well put together and it just always seems that she is fearless and ready to take on the world.  I started thinking back to the Bishop T.D. Jakes sermon that I listened to yesterday and the particular part that I wanted to convey to Ms. L. in her time of doubt, and what I have to get through to my own mind as well, is that greatness takes time.  

“The best miracles in your life take time; can not be driven by hunger, or need, or necessity.  Sometimes you have to get yourself structured and in order so that you are ready to receive the magnitude of what God has for you.  Just because you have a driving need does not mean that you can disperse with the order and the time and the structure that is necessary to hold the weight of what God is going to do.  Some people are so busy trying to get what God has that they don’t provide the structure that is necessary to sustain what they have been given.”  

This quote struck me when I heard it in his sermon.  It hit me like a ton of bricks because I thought about the fact that I have not necessarily built up a stable structure.  I have not yet gotten the order that I need to have to sustain the kind of structure that I need.  It makes sense that God would want to hold onto the overflow of blessings that he has stored up for me until he sees that I have built up a stable enough structure to hold the weight of those blessings.  

I am still working on the order and my structure and perhaps I should stop rushing God along to give me what he knows that I am not ready to sustain.  “Until you can be thankful for something that is not enough, then what you have can not be multiplied into what is more than enough.”  Perhaps my time would be better spent preparing my structure and being thankful for the things that he has already blessed me with and seen me through instead of just waiting for him to do what he has in his plans to do for me.  

So that’s what I’m going to continue to strive for and work on.  I am going to be building up my structure and getting my ‘house’ in order and enjoy and be thankful for what God has already blessed me with on an everyday basis.  He has blessed me with so many things in my life thus far, among them a purpose, knowledge of how to go after that purpose, and the ability to carry out that purpose.  I know that once he feels I am ready for the overflow, my cup will runneth over.  

*(And Ms. L., your cup is already nearing the edge.)*   

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://write-2-be.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

At A Loss for Words

jcladyluv

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.”

~Robert Louis Stevenson 

Tonight I am at a loss for words.  I have had certain inspirations come to me and I have notes written down but they haven’t completely formulated into complete posts for me yet.  But I promised that I would write and post no matter what so even though the words won’t come tonight (not completely anyway) I still had to put myself out there in some way, shape, or form.  

So while I promise that tomorrow the words will be much more profound, and much more inspiring and hopefully motivational, tonight these are all the words that I have to offer.  It may not be much but it’s something and it’s the effort that counts.  Until tomorrow…I hope your words come easy for you but know that if they don’t just put in the effort anyway and something beautiful will come. 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

Just a Few Words

jcladyluv

I don’t have too many words to say tonight so I will just share some words that inspired me yesterday morning about wisdom.  

“Wisdom comes from a willingness to be a student of life, a willingness to be a life long learner.  Wise people learn that success does not come from a certain set of circumstances, but rather from a certain set of attitudes.”

~Willie Jolley 

Until tomorrow! 

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

What We Take Away From Our Childhood

jcladyluv

This is going to be short (I hope) but I felt that I needed to share this today.  I was talking to Ms. L. earlier today and we were talking about (in short) expectations and what we will and will not accept from people, or as far as standards, period.  I had an epiphany in the middle of the conversation and it was something that I had always known deep down inside but had never brought myself to say out loud where someone else would actually hear it.  Now I don’t want to get too far into detail because it’s a little too personal but it had to do with things that were carried over from my childhood.  

Parents we must watch what we say to our children, but more importantly, what we don’t say to them.  I hear and read stories about children being bullied in schools, young girls becoming promiscuous, or children just acting like they have no respect for any adult, and when you actually listen to what they have to say you realize that the shortcomings are sometimes within the parents.  In my conversation with Ms. L I remembered about all of the things that my mother said to me and mostly what she didn’t say to me.  Those words, and those lack of words still live deeply within me today and they have affected my choices and my decisions and sometimes the rough situations I found myself in were a result of what I wasn’t told and shown when I was younger.  

I know we teach our children to be independent and that the belief has to come from them that they are smart, and beautiful, and that they are worth more than the hand they are sometimes dealt, and that they don’t have to just settle for what seems to be okay when they could have better.  But children need to be told this, and they need to be told constantly because it stays with them.  How many times do you hear when someone tells you they are the way they are because that’s what they were taught and brought up to know and do.  Now when they are speaking of something good and respectable we congratulate their upbringing, but we forget that that answer applies to those that do things that are not respectable as well.  

The children out here being bullied by other, or worse, bullying others and being promiscuous and disrespectful are doing what they are taught, and what was instilled in them somewhere.  Either they aren’t being told that they deserve better or they aren’t being made to believe it.  Our childhood does stick with us into our adulthood and while you quite possibly should leave some childish things in the past, the things that are ingrained in you, they stick, whether we want them to or not.  That’s my thought for today and I hope that someone gets something out of this.  Until tomorrow…Let your children know that they are worth, and deserve the very best! 

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

NaNoWriMo Day 17: Having a Backwards Kind of Day

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Okay today has been one lacking in productivity.  I was supposed to write this morning but the bed wouldn’t let me go.  So I resolved to write later in the morning but alas nothing was moving me to write.  Now I make a promise to myself that by the end of the day I will have my minimum words written for the day but right now things feel a little backwards.  I would normally have my words done for the day by the time I got around to writing up my blog post but today will just have to be different.  I have actually, in lieu of writing, started thinking about the second book in the series that this book is going to be the beginning of.  I was thinking about the kind of case Mackenzie will be encountering in the next book and what else Mackenzie is going to reveal about herself in that one because something tells me that this book will not spill all of the secrets in her life.  I was also thinking about what I might want the cover to look like and what the book trailer might consists of.  I think I might have to go ahead and put together a marketing plan for this book before all of the ideas leave my mind and before it is too late to start thinking about this aspect of the novel.  I have big things planned for this book, at least in my mind anyway.  Well I guess I’m going to go actually do my word count for the day.  Until next time…What would your book trailer look like? 

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

NaNoWriMo Day 15: I’m Halfway There!

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I was supposed to have some kind of reward or treat planned for this moment.  The moment when I have made it past 25,000 words of my novel and am halfway to the finish line of NaNoWriMo.  Sadly, I did not get my chocolate reward that I had originally planned on (but I’ll get it tomorrow) but I suppose the reward in itself is actually hitting the word count button and seeing that number go over 25,000.  What’s funny is that I don’t feel like I’m halfway there, I feel like I still have a long ways to go.  I feel like there is still so much more of the story to tell before I make it to the end.  Truthfully I probably won’t be finished with the novel even when NaNoWriMo is over.  I think that Mackenzie is only just beginning in this novel and that there might in fact be a series in store for her.  I’m having so much fun telling her story and she is opening up a lot.  She is going to have a lot of things to deal with and it is going to be way too much for just one book.  I hope that all of you are at the halfway point too, or at least almost there.  I gotta go find me some chocolate now!  Until tomorrow…How do you plan on rewarding your halfway mark? 

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

http://www.passionatewriterpublishing.com/thediary.htm

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress