Tag: Write 2 Be blog

Lessons to Be Learned From a Media Mogul—Steve Harvey

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I probably would never have put Steve Harvey on this list of people I admire as a Media Mogul about a year ago.  Mostly because I hadn’t really saw him that way until I started researching just how many things he had a role in within the media industry.  There was once a time where you would here the name Steve Harvey and the first word that came to mind was Comedian.  Now there are so many other things that would fit in a description of him.

He fought hard to be noticed for something other than just being a Comedian and to be respected as a true change within the media industry.  And he did so with some simple principles that he follows from lessons that he has learned while on his journey.  I wanted to share some of those simple principles and lessons with you and hopefully they will help you in your journey as they are beginning to help me in mine.

1.)    Taking Care of You Has to Take Precedence— If you don’t take care of yourself, then you won’t be around to take care of the family and people that you love. You won’t be able to accomplish the things you dream of doing.  Health is a priority that far too many people take for granted and keeping yourself healthy is going to allow you to build up your endurance and stamina to work hard to get the things that you want and to hold onto the things that you want.

2.)    Some Rules Are Meant to Be Broken for All the Right Reasons— Of course most rules should be adhered to in general.  However, there are times when it is okay to toss the rule book out the window.  Rules like “don’t put all of your eggs in one basket,” or “always have a plan B,” are rules that people will tell you to live by because it’s the practical thing to do.  It makes sense for some, but for those out of the ordinary people whose dreams go way beyond the scope of anyone’s imagination, those particular rules only set you up to fail.  Some rules truly were made to be broken.

3.)    Just Because Other People Place You in a Box Doesn’t Mean You Have to Remain There— Just because people label you as one thing, doesn’t mean that is the label you have to accept.  Everyone put Steve Harvey in the box as Comedian and that was it.  Just another one trick pony.  But that is not where he chose to stay.  He didn’t want to just be known as a comedian.  So he stepped out of that box and became an Actor who not only went and took on acting roles but who actually got his own television show, a Radio Host of a nationally syndicated radio program, an Author of a book that is now a major motion picture, and now a television game show and talk show host.  See what can happen when you think outside of the box.

4.)    If You Don’t Work Hard for Your Dream, No One Else is Going To— You can’t expect other people to work hard to help you get where you want to be if you aren’t willing to work ten times as hard.  The goals and dreams you are working towards are yours, no one else’s.  If it means you have to wake up early and go to bed late in order to make things happen, then that’s what you are going to have to do.  Yes it is wonderful if you manage to surround yourself with a team of people who are on your side and are working to help you further your dreams, but they’re not going to work any harder then they see you working.  You can’t really rely on anyone else to help you get to that place of success, just yourself.  Your work ethic is what is going to get you there and it’s what’s going to keep you there.

5.)    Everyone That is Around You is Not There to Help You— When you are younger you thrive on how big your social circle is.  When you get older you start to realize that your circle of “friends” may be too big.  What will hold you back from becoming successful like you are striving to be more than anything is having the wrong people around you.  Some people are just simply too toxic to have in your life.  They want to ride on your coat tales and if you don’t take them with you they will try effortlessly to drag you down right back to where you started.  These are the people who, while they say they want to see you succeed, what they are really hoping you do is fail.  These are the people that you don’t need around you, but you have to know that and realize that before it’s too late.

There are so many rules that you aren’t supposed to break.  There are practicalities that everyone is supposed to take with you through life.  But sometimes being practical is just another way of playing things safe.  There is nothing wrong with saying that you have a plan for your future, you know what you want to do, what you want to be, and where you want to go in life, and focusing on that goal and that dream, without a back-up plan.

I heard once that sometimes back up plans are for those who are not really sure what it is that they want.  Now I don’t mean people with multiple roles within life such as being a singer, an author, and an actress.  That is simply a person who had a broad vision for their future.  I mean those who go down one path and then prepare something to fall back on that is practical but not necessarily something that they are passionate about.

Why isn’t it okay to put all of your eggs in one basket if there is no other basket that you are interested in pursuing?  There are all kinds of rules that people will try to make you adhere to and labels that people will place on you.  Who says that you have to live by anyone else’s rules or labels but your own?

I have the Write 2 Be Different…What is your Write 2 Be?

 

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

Write 2 Be Magazine will be debuting on January 15th, 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.

Lessons to Be Learned From a Media Mogul—Oprah Winfrey

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Who hasn’t ever admired all of the accomplishments that Oprah Winfrey has been able to achieve.  I sure have a lot of respect and admiration for the empire that she has created and built up, literally from nothing.  What I admire most I think is the humble beginnings that she came from and how, not only did she never let any of that get in her way, but she in fact let it drive her forward.

Her success came in small doses and she savored those lessons that she learned along the way.  She didn’t rush her success and she didn’t hold onto any of the negative criticism that she received from others who tried to make her be someone she wasn’t.  I wanted to share some of those lessons that I have learned from Oprah Winfrey and plan on implementing on my journey to where I want to go.

  1. There’s No Sin in Failing, the Sin is in Never Trying—  You always hear people use the excuse “What if I Fail” when it comes to trying something different but you rarely here anyone ask the question “What if I actually Succeed”.  Not trying is the greatest harm that people can do to their dreams.  It is always better to try and to fail than to have never tried at all.
  2. There’s Nothing Wrong with Setting the Bar High for Yourself and Your Life— I’ve always had people tell me that people shouldn’t have such high standards for what they are going to get out of life.  For a moment I’ll admit that it seemed that the higher I set my standards the more I ended up being disappointed by the outcome.  I’ve come to realize that it wasn’t the high standards that ended up disappointing me, it was the lack of belief that I had in accomplishing those high standards that left me disappointed.  Now I realize, the higher the standards the better, so long as you believe that you can attain them.
  3. Having the Ability to Forgive Can Allow Your Journey to Move Forward— Oprah particularly likes to drive home the fact that forgiveness is not for the other person, it is for you.  It made sense to me when she pointed out that if you don’t allow yourself to forgive the people that have hurt you in your past you will remain stuck in your past with all of that hurt and anger.  Forgiving others for their mistakes allows you to move forward and become a better version of yourself.
  4. Always Be the Best You— You can’t really get anywhere trying to be what everyone else wants you to be and trying to live up to other people’s expectations for you.  All you can ever really do is be the best you and fulfill the purpose and expectations that you have for yourself.
  5. Do Something that Scares You— If you never do anything that scares you, something that is different from your normal activities, then that means you’re never really taking any risks.  Taking risks is scary.  Starting a brand new company and working for yourself is      scary.  Putting yourself out there to market your business or the book you’ve written is scary.  Doing something that you’ve always      dreamed of doing but never took the chance to do (like sing in front of a room full of people) is scary.  But in the end all of those things bring you to an end result that could be amazing if you are not too scared to take the risks.

You know there are so many people out there (myself included) who were always told to be more like someone else and so that’s what we aimed for.  I can remember so many times saying that I want to be the next Oprah Winfrey, or that I want to write as beautifully as Maya Angelou.  I was always striving to be a version of someone else that I thought was so great and so talented when the reality is that I can never be anything other than myself.  Why spend so much time trying to emulate someone else’s talent, someone else’s goals, someone else’s dreams, when that will never get me what I want.

Truthfully, just as there is no one that is ever going to be like that one person you strive to be like or that person whose talent you wished you had, there is also never going to be anyone like you either.  You have a talent and a uniqueness that is all your own and that no one else could master but you.

I am just going to take what I admire about the people who are where I want to be and the lessons that I have gained from them and fuel my journey with that knowledge.  While I may never be as successful as Oprah and I may never change the world in the ways that she has, who knows, I may be more successful and I may change the world in a whole different and remarkable way.

I have the Write 2 Be Unique…What is your Write 2 Be?

 

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

Write 2 Be Magazine will be debuting on January 15th, 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.

Lessons to Be Learned From a Media Mogul—Tyler Perry

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In reading about Tyler Perry’s journey; both his struggles and humble beginnings, as well as his rise to success and his eventual triumph; I can always point out a lesson that he has learned along his road to success that I can apply to what I am currently going through now.  Some of the things that I have learned from reading and just watching his journey are things and words that were never spoken to me growing up.

They are things that I have been struggling to comprehend for a long time now.  They are things that are finally starting to sink in and I am realizing that these are things that will help propel me to where it is that I want to be, and where it is that I need to be.  So I wanted to share with you a few lessons that I have learned from observing Tyler Perry that could help steer you on a more sturdy road to success.

1)      Don’t Let Anybody Define You— People have hated on Tyler Perry since he became a success.  They’ve tried to tear him down, say what they think he should be doing.  Even some people in the industry still don’t take him seriously enough just because he started off in the comedy arena.  None of that matters to him.  He has never tried to be anything that other people wanted him to be.  He has never tried to be anyone other than himself.  And look at where you can go just defining your own identity instead of letting others define it for you.

2)      Guard Your Heart—When Tyler Perry speaks of guarding your heart he isn’t talking about heartbreak (like I initially thought).  He is speaking of keeping your heart in tact when others continue to try and change you.  On your road to success people are going to do cruel and unforgivable things to you, things that you never thought they would do.  Guarding your heart is going to keep you from allowing those cruelties and those unforgivable things to change your heart and turn you into someone that you are not.

3)      Never let the word NO stop you from succeeding anyway—Tyler Perry’s first play that he wrote in 1992 and took his whole life savings to produce and put on was not well received and it placed him back into the poverty that he dealt with in his childhood.  He spent months sleeping in seedy motels and eventually in his car.  He never let the No’s keep him from powering through the rough times and eventually someone said Yes!  The rest is history.

4)      Don’t let the bad that’s in your past hold you back from receiving the good that is in your future—Tyler Perry had an abusive and poverty stricken childhood that could’ve made him shut down and give up.  He took his painful and hurtful past and let it be the fuel that drove him to succeed and to make his life better.  He refused to let his past hold him back from all of the blessings that he was due in his future.

5)      Never question what God has in store for you—No matter what hard times he faced and no matter how bad it got, Tyler Perry didn’t just maintain a strong belief in himself and his talent, but he maintained his faith that he had in God and what God had planned for him.  He maintained his desire to fulfill the purpose that God had given him in life.

I know that they say success is all in who you know, and I do believe that to an extent.  However, in observing some of these powerful media moguls and seeing what lessons they have to teach along the way, that may be an over-exaggerated phrase that everyone just would like to be true.  I mean it’s a good excuse to use for why you’re not where you want to be right?  You don’t know anyone so that’s why you’re not where you want to be.  It’s the excuse I’ve been using for quite a while now.

It’s more about knowing yourself and knowing what your purpose is and never questioning it.  It’s about not letting other people’s ideals for you turn you against what you know is right for you.  It doesn’t help to know all the right people, if all they’re going to do is tell you all of the wrong things and lead you down the wrong path.  You are your best bet to get where it is that you desire to be.

 I have the Write 2 Be Authentic…What is your Write 2 Be?

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

 

Write 2 Be Magazine will be debuting on January 15th, 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.

 

What’s It Going to Take to Become a Media Mogul

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I’ve been thinking a lot over this past weekend about what it’s going to take to become the media mogul that I have always dreamed of being.  I know that it’s not going to be a piece of cake and frankly in the cases of most people it probably would have already happened by now.  Perhaps if I hadn’t spent so much time standing in my own way I’d already be halfway to that point by now.

But nevertheless, I am not there yet.  Largely due to the fact that I spent most of this year (a lot of years really) telling myself and convincing myself that I had took too long, and I had let too many opportunities pass me be, or that I didn’t have what it takes like Oprah or Tyler Perry and other impressive moguls (some still in the making) have, and that for those reasons it was just too late for me.  Ever since I heard that message that I watched by Bishop T.D. Jakes about opportunities presenting themselves in chaos and about not counting up all of the things that I didn’t have or that I couldn’t do instead of relying on what I do have, I have shifted my focus into a different place.

I plan on taking this year and focusing on the things I can control and the things and more importantly the opportunities that I do have.  There’s a reason why people say that it is never too late to accomplish your dream and I am going to stop telling myself that it is too late.  Of course I have a lot of ground to make up for and a lot of hard work to do but I have also realized something else.  I have to start paying closer attention to those media moguls that have essentially paved the way and laid the ground work for those that will come behind them (I will be one of those people).

So this week I wanted to share with all of you some of the media moguls (and one’s in the making) that I admire and some lessons that I’ve taken away from them that can help propel the next generation of media moguls to come.  Tomorrow I will share with you what I admire most about Tyler Perry and the lessons from his journey.

I have the Write 2 Be Motivating and Inspiring… What is your Write 2 Be?

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

Write 2 Be Magazine will be debuting on January 15th, 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.

Shifting the Focus

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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”

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

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

Write 2 Be Magazine will be debuting on January 15th, 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.

Opportunity in Chaos

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“You will not be challenged in your convenience you will be challenged in your chaos”

~ Bishop T.D. Jakes

The other evening I was home, at a moment that I would not have ordinarily been home.  My daughter wasn’t feeling well and even though we were supposed to be going skating, as we do every Sunday, at the last moment she decided that we should stay home.  I for one had some homework to finish so I wasn’t full of disappointment.  Needless to say, I think that God had somehow orchestrated this turn of events from what had become my normal because he needed me to sit down and hear a message that I believe he’s been trying to give me, but that I was too hard-headed to listen to.

So there I sat, trying to do my homework, flipping through the channels on the TV for something that could provide some background noise but that wouldn’t distract me from what I needed to do.  I came across a program on a channel that showed religious programs and there was Bishop T.D. Jakes discussing opportunities that are given even in your chaos.  Now the program was halfway over but I believe that I turned to the channel at the precise moment that I needed to turn to it so that I could hear exactly what God needed for me to hear.  In fact just as I turned to it he was saying that it is the insecurity of the times that defines who you really are.  That caught my attention.

He went on to discuss about how in a moment of chaos, God will send you an opportunity.  In a moment where you are counting up how many mistakes you have made, there will be a turning point in which you can choose to stand up, make the u-turn on the path that you are on, and get yourself back on track.  There will be an opportunity where you will be given to get things right.

Perhaps the most hard-hitting thing that Bishop T.D. Jakes said in his message was that, in general, we keep telling God what you don’t have, from friends, a husband, or even the degree you feel is necessary, that we keep missing the moment for that opportunity to happen.  He stated that “the devil’s got you counting up what you don’t have when you ought to be looking at what you do have.  What you do have is an opportunity.  God is setting you up to completely turn your life around.”

Immediately I called my best friend, Ms. L.  She knew how important this message was to me because it’s the same one that I’m sure God was sending her to tell me so many times before that I was just too depressed to hear.  I was just in such a bad place about where things stood in my life and about the “chaos” that seemed to be surrounding me.  Nothing seemed to be going the way that I thought it should’ve been going.  But I don’t think that the cloud that I was under was allowing me to see the opportunity that was right there this whole time.

In fact it was because of Ms. L. that I finally felt that cloud lift.  It was her that pointed out that my brand for Write 2 Be wasn’t as clearly defined as I thought it was.  It was her that helped me put into better words what my brand really stands for (yes writers can benefit from the help of other writers).  I suppose in a way I was listening to the message that God was sending through her, but I just missed a large and necessary portion of it.  Ms. L. has told me before to stop counting up the things that are going against me, to stop checking off all of the things I didn’t have in my favor, and to focus my energy and time and attention on the things that I do have going for me, the things that are being placed in my path, and in my favor.  I just didn’t hear it before.

So hear me when I tell whoever it is out there, that person who is sitting there with those thoughts of everything that they can’t do, and all of the decks of cards that are stacked against you, there is, in the midst of all of that, an opportunity that you have not chosen to take yet.  No matter what chaos you think you are in, you are being handed an opportunity, you just have to choose to take it.

Be whoever it is that you feel you have… the Write 2 Be!

Write 2 Be Magazine will be debuting on January 15th, 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.

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

(Re)Defining a Brand: The Message Behind Write 2 Be

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It was brought to my attention the other day that the mission of my company was not made terribly clear.  There were some questions as to what exactly is the message behind the Write 2 Be name and more importantly the Write 2 Be brand.  It is important that I take this month before launching the debut issue of my new online magazine, titled Write 2 Be, to make sure every one of my readers (as well as my soon to be readers) knows and understands what Write 2 Be is really all about and to hopefully get across why I feel it delivers such a message of impact.

There are so many people who hold themselves back from doing so many things in their lives because they are afraid of going outside of a certain box.  People expect so many things from us and we waste so much time not being ourselves because we’re too busy trying to be what someone else wants us to be.

It’s as if we don’t feel that we have that right to be the person that we feel we were meant to be because we’re worried we’re going to let someone else down.  Instead we let ourselves down and let others define us.  Often times we begin to desire the acceptance of others, at the expense of our own individuality and our own creativity.  We sometimes even tend to pass those traits down to our children and they then repeat our cycle.

Write 2 Be is about not fitting inside the mold that other people want you to fit into.  It’s about not letting other people’s thoughts and opinions of you define who it is that you are.  It’s about making the unexpected and sometimes unpopular choices in order to stay true to yourself.  Write 2 Be is about defining yourself as whatever you feel you have the Write 2 Be…

Write 2 Be Magazine will be debuting on January 15th, 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.

I have the Write 2 Be Empowered and Innovative….What is your Write 2 Be?

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

NaNoWriMo Day # 29: The Final Push

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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”

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

NaNoWriMo Day # 28: “Winning” the NaNoWriMo Challenge

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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 30th) 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”

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

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

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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”

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