Tag: Write 2 Be blog

Spring Cleaning for Creativity’s Sake

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Ms. L.’s post yesterday reminded me that it’s that time of year again.  You know, the time when everyone starts to begin thinking about all of the spring cleaning they have to do.  I am really big on getting into the whole spring cleaning vibe and going through and tossing out old clothes, doing a big clean up around the house that involves not only mopping all floors but also wiping down all surfaces until they are spotless, and tackling the re-organizing my tiny little corner of an office in my room.  But spring cleaning should not stop after the household messes that we have been putting off for just such a time for mass clean-up are actually done.  

For us creative types spring cleaning doesn’t just end at the household, but it transcends to spring cleaning your mind, your spirit, and your body, in an effort to spark your creativity and become even more productive.  For me, there are three things that affect my creativity in a negative way; if my house is a mess, if my body isn’t feeling its best, and if my mind is cluttered with conflicting and contradicting thoughts.  

I feel like it’s not just my house that I have to get in order (as far as cleaning), but that I need to amplify my efforts on maintaining good healthy habits (helps with the stress), and most of all I need to really get my head in the right frame of mind and focused on what’s important and what needs to be done.  As you all know I am really concentrating on getting that fire back about my writing goals and making the things happen that I want to happen.  Hopefully spring cleaning on all fronts will help me do that.  

 

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

Proceed Without Caution

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“I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.”

~Diane Ackerman 

So I am on a mission this week to re-ignite my fire and drive to become more productive in my writing career and I came across this article by Sage Cohen on ways to harness your fear and make that fear fuel your writing.  There was a specific tip about focusing on the process instead of the results and it struck a chord with me.  I am always focused on the end result of any and everything.  I have always been a planner (at least in my adult post-motherhood days) I suppose I am overly cautious that way.  I have this need to know how things are going to turn out primarily because I just can’t stand the not knowing. 

The reality of any situation and of life really, is that there is absolutely no way of knowing how anything is going to turn out.  There’s no predetermined outcome for things (well there is but only God knows what they are), it’s just a game of wait and see.  I don’t exactly know when I became so obsessed with being cautious about everything because I never used to be that way, at least not with my writing.  My writing was always the one thing where I just wrote and whatever came of it when I was done was what became of it.  I wrote and believed that whatever I wanted to make happen with it would become a reality as long as I put in the work.  

Over the years it seemed like I put in more and more work with my writing and nothing grand (the way I dreamt it up in my mind) was happening and I just started to doubt a little bit more and believed that caution was the way to go.  The problem with that is that caution and creativity don’t really mix well together.  I somehow forgot how to just enjoy the process and deal with the results of that process when they needed to be dealt with.  Now of course results do indeed matter, but not at the expense of the sheer joy of working your way through the process.  

Writing is an extremely rewarding, healing, and invigorating process.  However, by constantly agonizing over what the results are going to be when I am done, I have somehow stopped enjoying the actual process of it.  Maybe that means I need to take a step back and just fall in love with the process again, minus all of the cautionary measures.  Old habits are hard to break but I am certainly going to try to get back to that place where I didn’t worry so much about what was on the other side of the bridge I was crossing, just so long as I made it there.  

Caution can be good sometimes on your way to any destination in life but too much apprehension for anything can hinder you from enjoying the journey you are taking to get there.  I think I just have to accept that I can’t know the end to every story, especially when I am not the author of it.  What God has planned for me is what he has planned and the only part that I can control is the lessons I take away from the process.  I think God has been trying to tell me to enjoy the journey and let him worry about where I end up.  It’s about time that I start to listen! 

 

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

Reigniting an Old Flame

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“Putting off an easy thing makes it hard.  Putting off a hard thing makes it impossible.” 

~George Claude Lorimer 

I listened to Ms. L. the other day as she talked about the series of articles that she just had published in her city’s local newspaper and the projects that she has coming up (let me add, paying projects), and how she is really starting to make some pretty good income with her writing just as she wanted to do with her business.  Just as we both had hoped to do with our businesses.  She is beginning to flourish and I am really proud of her.  But honestly I am a tad bit jealous as well (but not in the bad way).  It’s not that I don’t want her to succeed but I just wish that I was flourishing just as much as her, alongside her. 

When I listen to her and hear her talk about her daily activities and just how productive she has been I see the same fire lit under her and the same drive inside of her that I used to have.  She’s always on the go and pulling all-nighters and I can remember when I used to be the same way.  My drive was so intense that I barely slept and I would skip meals just so that I could work on my writing.  I have no idea when that fire in me started to die down.  I didn’t mean for it to.  

I know that I haven’t loss my passion for writing or for any of the things that I hope to do with my writing and my media company that I am currently trying to build up.  I have a multitude of plans and my brain is constantly turning with more and more ideas by the hour, sometimes by the minute.  But yet when it comes to actually executing those ideas and plans, after I’ve done all of the normal things that need to be done during my day, I sit down and the act of execution on those plans falls by the waist-side.  I get tired and at times I accidentally fall asleep without ever tackling any of the things on my to-do list.  

I don’t mean to be such a full blown procrastinator and I certainly don’t mean to have a head (and notebook) full of plans and ideas and never accomplishing even a tenth of them.  I wish I had an explanation (at least a good one) for falling down on the job of making my dreams happen and I wish I understood why my drive and my fire isn’t naturally there the way it used to be, but I don’t.  All I know is that this week I plan to get it together because I will only have myself to blame if I fail and no one else can make this happen for me.  

I suppose I will just have to do what people do when they go to start their stove and they hear the clicking sound but yet the fire doesn’t immediately come on like it used to.  They don’t just stop cooking their food, they go light a match or a lighter and get the fire started again themselves.  I know that I still love what I do and I know I still have the passion for it and now I am just going to find a way to reignite the fire so that my dreams don’t burn out too.  If any of you out there are feeling like the biggest procrastinator in the world, you are not alone and it does not have to stay that way.  The flame can always be reignited, even if it has to be done manually.  

 

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

15 Freedom Truths

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These fifteen truths should be confessed daily to build the believer’s self-esteem. It is critical for the believer to see himself as God looks at him. John the Baptist saw himself and spoke in agreement with the way God saw him. The discipline to speak God’s word will transform your thinking; it will change how you see yourself and your faith level will soar. As you see yourself differently, you will respond to others differently. Always remember, there are two (2) true’s. What man or circumstances say and then what God says. Choose to believe God because your circumstance is only temporary. 

1. I am a New Creature predestined for greatness. (2Corinthians5:17)

2. I am a Child of God fully accepted by the Father. (John 1:12)

3. I am loved by God regardless of how I perform. (Romans 5:8)

4. I am forgiven and will not be tormented by my past errors. (1 John 1:9)

5. I am an over comer and my faith is changing my circumstances. (1 John 5:4)

6. I am a giver and God is causing people to help me prosper. (2 Corinthians 9:8)

7. I have authority over the devil and no demon power can hurt me. (Luke 10:17,18)

8. Abundance is God’s will for me and I will not settle for less. (John 10:10)

9. I am healed and sickness will not lord over my body. (1 Peter 2:24)

10. God is on my side; I will not fear. (Psalm 118:6)

11. The Holy Spirit is my helper; I’m never alone and I have the peace of God.  (Philippians 4:7)                            

12. I am blessed and it’s a matter of time before things change. What I see now is only temporary. (Ephesians 1:3 and 2 Corinthians 4:18)

13. I have the wisdom of God; I hear the Father’s voice; my steps ordered by God and the voice of a stranger I will not follow. (1 Corinthians 1:30)

14. I am set in the body of Christ and I know that I am valuable and important to the work of God. (1 Corinthians 12:20-25 and Ephesians 4:11-12)

15. I choose not to be offended and I am being delivered out of all afflictions and persecutions. (Matthew 5:1-12)

http://www.gracecommunityfellowship.com/wp-content/pdf/15%20Freedom%20Truths.pdf 

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 40 I Am’s

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Along with all of the thought provoking conversation that I had with my trainer yesterday he shared some things for me to look up for my own spiritual guidance on my own time.  I was so touched by these things that I of course wanted to share them with all of you.  So I am posting the 40 I Am’s today and the tomorrow I will be posting the 15 Freedom Truths.  I hope that all of you get as much out of it as I have. 

Confessing the Forty (40) I am’s on a daily basis will cause you to see yourself the way God sees you. When you begin to see yourself from God’s perspective, the opinions of others don’t offend you. You are who God says you are. 

1. AChild of God. (Romans 8:16)

2. Redeemed from the Hand of the Enemy. (Psalms 107:2)

3. Forgiven. (Colossians 1:13-14)

4. Saved by Grace through Faith. (Ephesians 2:8)

5. Justified. (Romans 5:1)

6. Sanctified. (1 Corinthians 1:2)

7. ANew Creature. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

8. Partaker of His Divine Nature. (2 Peter 1:4)

9. Redeemed from the Curse of the Law. (Galatians 3:13)

10. Delivered from the Powers of Darkness. (Colossians 1:13)

11. Led by the Spirit of God. (Romans 8:14)

12. ASon of God. (Romans 8:14)

13. Kept in Safety wherever I go. (Psalms 91:11)

14. Getting all my needs met by Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

15. Casting all my cares on Jesus. (1 Peter 5:7)

16. Strong in the Lord and in the Power of His might. (Ephesians 6:10)

17. Doing all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)

18. An heir of God and a Joint heir with Jesus. (Romans 8:17)

19. An heir to the blessing of Abraham. (Galatians 3:13-14)

20. Observing and doing the Lord’s Commandments. (Deuteronomy 28:12)

21. Blessed coming in and blessed going out. (Deuteronomy 28:6)

22. An heir of eternal life. (1 John 5:11-12)

23. Blessed with all spiritual blessings. (Ephesians 1:3)

24. Healed by His stripes. (1 Peter 2:24)

25. Exercising my authority over the enemy. (Luke 10:19)

26. Above only and not beneath. (Deuteronomy 28:13)

27. More than a conqueror. (Romans 8:37)

28. Establishing God’s Word here on Earth. (Matthew 16:19)

29. An over comer by the blood of the Lamb and the Word of my testimony.

      (Revelation 12:11)

30. Daily overcoming the devil. (1 John 4:4)

31. Not moved by what I see. (2 Corinthians 4:18)

32. Walking by Faith and not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

33. Casting down vain imaginations. (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)

34. Bringing every thought into captivity. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

35. Being transformed by renewing my mind. (Romans 12:1-2)

36. Alaborer together with God. (1 Corinthians 3:9)

37. The righteousness of God in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

38. An imitator of Jesus. (Ephesians 5:1)

39. The light of the World. (Matthew 5:14)

40. Blessing the Lord at all times and continually praising Him with my mouth.

      (Psalms 34:1) 

http://www.gracecommunityfellowship.com/wp-content/pdf/40%20I%20AMS.pdf

 

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

Am I Letting the Devil Steal What is Rightfully Mine?

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“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

-1 Peter 5:8 

I had one of those deep thought provoking conversations today at the gym with the guy that’s training me.  It always seems like we have those conversation exactly when my mind is filling itself with a bunch of doubt and lack of motivation.  As the conversation went on and I shared more of my doubts (fears really) he asked me a very important question that stumped me for a minute but was one that I think all of us self-doubters need to ask ourselves.  He asked me ‘Why are you letting Satan steal what’s yours?’  

He went on to say that with all of the gifts that I possess and the purpose that I was placed here on this earth to do I am in line for so many great successes and abundant rewards, but every time I let that doubt settle in my mind I am allowing Satan to steal what’s mine, little by little.  I had never thought about my many bouts of doubt that way.  He’s right.  I never realized that that was what I was doing.  I never knew that I was giving the Devil that much authority over the journey of my life, and inevitably, over the destination that I arrive at.  

I feel like I do follow the guidance of God on my path but it didn’t dawn on me that those obstacles and bumps on the road that I keep hitting were the Devil capitalizing on my own self-doubt.  I don’t always doubt myself but on the days that I do I seem to be continuously leaving a crack in the door for Satan to work his way in there and steal my successes and my rewards, leaving me feeling more doubtful than ever.  I get what the Devil is trying to do now and I don’t plan on leaving that door open anymore, not even a tiny crack.  

I know what I’m worth and I know what my words are worth.  I know that God has given me a purpose to fulfill and I can not continue to doubt what he has told me I should be doing.  If he didn’t feel that I was up to the task, he wouldn’t have constructed the task solely for me.  It is nothing but the Devil that has me doubting myself and I admit that he was been really busy with me lately.  Well the Devil can continue to be busy, but just not with me, not anymore. 

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

Is It Really Worth Taking the Leap?

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“Man cannot discover new oceans until he has courage to lose sight of the shore.”
~Unknown 

So last week I sent off for some more of my books.  I couldn’t get that many because, well, I just don’t have the cash flow right now to get a whole case load, but I got a few that I could sell to make some more ‘seed’ money.  However, there are at least three books that I had planned on setting aside to send to three very important people (to me), Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, and Zane.  

Now I know what some people would think as they are reading this, ‘why send it to people who might never actually read it?’  It’s the same thing I was thinking at first but someone advised me that I never know whether they would read it or not, or whether someone on their staff would read it and like it enough to do things with it that I can’t do with it, not yet anyway.  So I was anxiously waiting for my books and today they came (earlier then expected) and now I sit here rethinking whether I should send it to those three important people or not.  

What if my book just sits in some pile of what they deem to be junk mail or ordinary fan mail and never gets looked at?  What if they look at it and just toss it away in the trash somewhere?  I mean who am I to them that they would find any interest in my book?  What would they find so special about my book that they would pay attention to it?  But then I am reminded of what I posted yesterday and what I am trying to put into a more consistent practice.   

I have to step out on faith and believe in myself to know that not only am I good enough but my book is too, so why wouldn’t they want to pay attention to it.  I said that this stepping out on faith thing was going to take me some time to actually do without questioning it.  But then there are the questions that are going to pop into my head if I don’t send them off.  What if they were to get my book, and read it, and love it?  What if I would be passing up an opportunity that God is placing on my path?  I guess I won’t find out exactly what would happen with my giant leap of faith if I never take that leap. 

 

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

Stepping Out on Faith and Sowing Seeds into Your Own Success

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22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. 25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. 27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” 32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
–Matthew 14: 22-33

 

I have so much trouble with investing in myself, in particular, in the business that I am trying to build up.  It seems every time that I actually take the initiative and have the faith to go ahead and make an investment towards getting my business firmly off the ground, I turn around and face the almost immediate needs of my daughter.  Now of course children need things all the time and I always make sure she’s taken care of first.  However, it seems like just when I’m at a point where she appears to have everything she needs for the time being and I feel I can actually put money into myself (my writing career) then a sudden need arises and I start to feel guilty that I’ve just put this money into me and not into her where it clearly needed to go.  

Now Ms. L. lectured me about feeling guilty last night and reminded me that taking care of me first sometimes is the best way to take care of her all the time but it doesn’t always feel that way.  When I was in the gym this morning the guys were having a specific conversation that seemed to be perfect for the guilt (or possible lack of faith) that I was feeling.  Oddly enough, I almost did not go to the gym this morning because it was raining and I had planned on using the rain as my excuse to stay home.  But God had other plans and made sure that I went anyway.  

They were talking about the story from the bible of when Jesus walked on water and he walked out to the boat with his disciples in it and Peter told Jesus that if it was in fact him to call him over to him, and he went and Peter was walking to Jesus on water.  He was doing fine until he felt a gust of wind and a burst of fear and lost sight of Jesus and his faith in him and he began to sink into the water, drowing.  He cried out for Jesus to save him and Jesus reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”  If Peter had felt the wind and still had faith and kept his eyes on Jesus he would have been fine.  If he had just kept his faith and had not doubted, not even for a second, he would not have felt the fear of drowning.  

I feel that story not only applies to what I am dealing with, but also anyone out there who is struggling with their faith in what it is they are trying to do, what they may be called to do.  If I were to stop taking my focus off of God and his plans for me, if I were to stop letting every little gusts of wind throw me off and make me afraid, I could only imagine how far I might be in my journey by now.  I could imagine the voice of God in my head as he talks to me saying something to the effect of ‘If you would just have faith in what I have planned for you and follow through without getting afraid then you could be halfway there by now’.  If he did say that, he would one hundred percent right.  

I don’t always have a good track record of trusting in the unknown and the things that have no guarantees.  It’s not that I don’t have faith in God and his plan for me, it’s that my nature to worry about all of the what ifs has a tendency to take me off the faith driven path (just a bit).  It’s something that I struggle with and am constantly working on, not taking my eyes off of God and his plans for me, learning not to worry about all of the what ifs that pop into my head and knowing that God has never let me down yet and wouldn’t start now.  I struggle with not having the comfort of knowing what’s waiting for me on the other side.  The truth is that I have to realize that it’s not always for me to know, but for me to trust in the guidance of God and know that he would never steer me wrong.  

Oftentimes we tend to get caught up in the worrying of it all that we forget to just let go and have some faith.  Whatever is going to happen, whatever God is going to do, will be one anyway, whether it’s what we expected or not.  We can’t be so riddled with doubt in ourselves and in his plans that we never even step out of the boat.  We’ve got to have faith and know that God would not lead us on the water only to let us drown.    

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

Sometimes the Mission Chooses You

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“You may think your actions are meaningless and that they won’t help, but that is no excuse, you must still act.”
~Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi 

It’s hard for anyone to know as a small child what they will be when they grow up.  Lots of children say they want to be a doctor or a teacher and then they change their minds when they find another thing they are more passionate about.  Some children (like me) discover a passion and it never goes away.  I’m not sure how many people aspired to be an activist when they were younger but it is amazing how the experiences in your childhood could fuel a mission that you never even knew was waiting for you. 

When I was younger I was bullied and picked on a lot and not just by the kids at school.  Mostly it was because of my weight but a lot of it was also because I didn’t necessarily fit in with the other kids at school.  I was always a creative, artsy, type and most of the kids didn’t really understand me.  I had hoped that when I had a child that the bullying would skip over her and that she would not have to endure that kind of hell.  Unfortunately kids have not changed much since I was little, in fact, they’ve only gotten worse. 

Seeing the bullying that goes on in today’s society makes what I went through (at least by the kids at school anyway) look like it was nothing.  Kids now just really like to humiliate other kids that have even the slightest appearance of a weakness or a difference.  They don’t stop at just hurtful and derogatory words, they are getting physical and their attitude is nonchalant about anyone else’s feelings but their own.  The kids in my daughters class literally make me want to forget that I am a Christian because when I see how they act I want to shake them and ask them what their problem is.  They are bullies and they are proud of it. 

I started thinking about what I could do to change things if I was in the position that I had planned on being by now.  If I were someone like Oprah or Lady GaGa, with their money, their prestige, and their power (in a sense) just imagine what I could do as far as taking a stand against the bullying that is relentless in schools today.  But when I watched Oprah’s next chapter last night, which was a special on Lady GaGa and her Born This Way Foundation (fighting against bullying), I realized that someone without all of that money, prestige, and power, can still be effective right where they live.  

I started to realize, with all of the bullying that is getting worse as the years go on, and the kids who are literally pushed so far that they sometimes take their own life, it doesn’t matter who is taking a stand as long as someone takes one.  Just as I am sure that Lady GaGa and Oprah never set out to be an activist of any kind, I am also sure that the experiences that they went through in their youth were somehow, even then, preparing them for that exact journey.  

I myself would have never thought that there would be anything good that could’ve possibly come from my childhood experiences.  However, I am starting to feel something inside me that is pulling me in the direction of using those experiences to take a stand against bullying.  I may not be able to reach people on a national level but I most certainly think that there has to be something that I can do, or get the right people to do, for the schools in my immediate area (starting with my daughter’s school).  

I’m no Oprah or Lady GaGa, but I am me and I think that if I wait until I am in the position that they are in (because I do believe I will get there someday in the near future) that it may just be too late (especially for my own daughter).  I think that I want to start looking into the ways that ordinary people like me can do something about this epidemic (because that’s what it’s becoming).  Who knew that I would ever want to be an activist of any kind?  I guess sometimes those childhood traumas you thought you would never get past can be used to help prevent someone else from going through the same kind of pain that you did. 

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

Building a Better Relationship with Your Writer Self

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On my post the other day I wrote about my “marriage” to writing and my wanting to improve my relationship.  Well I wanted to share with all of you, some of the different ways that any writer can improve their relationship to their writing and become more harmonious and at ease with their craft.  I hope that some of these tips help you the way they are helping me. 

1)      Read, read, read!  Don’t forget that you have to still be a good reader too.  A writer can not be so caught up with trying to write their great work of art that they forget to read others great works of art as well.

2)      Keep a separate notebook that is just for the ideas that come to your mind sporadically.  You have to be ready to capture those thoughts at a moment’s notice because if you wait too long you can lose them (trust me I know).

3)      For all of those techno-savvy people out there who have completely given up the (seemingly) dying art of paper and pen, put down the ipad from time to time and remind yourself what it feels like to put pen to paper.  There is nothing like writing longhand to get your thoughts flowing so don’t lose sight of that.

4)      If you are a planner (like me) and you know that planning things out works better for you then don’t give into the advice that some writers will give you about writing without a plan.  That does not work for everyone and if you know that having a list of what projects you need to work on will help you get it done quicker, then make that list.  If you know that outlining will help you write that novel better and quicker then write that outline.  Good advice is only good if it actually works for you and not against you.

5)      Sign up for a writing course or a writing networking event or conference.  It gives you the opportunity to talk to and get to know other writers who may be struggling with some of the same things you are, or writers that you can help as well.  It will also give you a chance to make contacts that you will be thankful you have in the future.

 

I hope that something on the list above helps someone else out there other than me.  Of course what is important for every writer out there to do to have a good relationship with their writer selves is to actually write.  I hope you are all crafting some wonderful stories this weekend!

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

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