Tag: Writers

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Could the Answer Lie in Going Back to the Basics?

August 29, 2014 jcladyluv

Some days I feel like maybe the technology might be hindering my ability to get writing done. I know that that we as evolving writers have to stay connected to social media and network with other writers. We have to, in a sense, keep our name out in the internet atmosphere or else people will forget who you are and move on to the next writer almost without a second thought. But there are times that I feel if I just got back to basics, how I wrote and produced material before I got so heavily into trying to make sure my name stays out there somehow, I think that maybe I might actually be able to re-embrace what made me fall in love with writing to begin with.

When I started writing I only used a notepad and my pen, occasionally a pencil. Sometimes I used a typewriter, even with the option of a computer at my fingertips. It was so easy for me to write then, and I wonder if all of this increased use of technology and increased pressure to know how to navigate my way through social media in order to stay relevant has somehow impaired my creative abilities. I had such an easier time writing and fleshing out storylines when it was just me, my ideas, a pen, and some paper. Words seem to just flow easier to me when I write that way.

I think I stopped using old fashioned pen and paper because it seemed so absurd to do double work by writing with pen and paper only to have to type in on the computer anyway. However, in retrospect, perhaps it wasn’t as absurd as I originally thought. Everything doesn’t work the same for every writer and while I tried to joined to new age technology infused world and not seem so out of touch with the evolution of things, it doesn’t feel like this works for me. The lack of production in my work, I think, is proof that old fashioned works better for me.

This revelation has sparked me to conduct an experiment for my own personal knowledge. For the betterment of my writing career I am going to go very basic, back to my paper and pen for writing (with the exception of my blog posts), for thirty days (starting September 1^st) and highly limiting my social media usage during those thirty days. Of course I will do the necessary marketing via social media but as far as obsessively checking stats and Facebook to see if anyone liked my posts or my fan page, that will be eliminated for at least these thirty days. Now I have no idea if this will jolt my creativity and help me get focused again but nothing is harmed by trying it and I truly think it will open my creativity back up again.

Of course I will keep you updated on how this experiment works and if any of you want to join me in my back to basics challenge please feel free to keep me updated on how it’s working out for you. Keeping my fingers crossed that by the end of thirty days I will have finished my novel and started on the next one. Perhaps a little overly ambitious thinking but I have never been one to dream small.

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

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

You Can’t Plan For Everything

July 24, 2014 jcladyluv

Sometimes I wonder am I missing out on something. I am a planner by nature. I like to know things ahead of time so that I can carefully plan things out around that event. I like to know just how something is going to go, or at the very least how it’s supposed to go, so that I can prepare everything that I possibly can to make sure that it in fact goes that way.

When it comes to events I plan prefer to plan things out weeks in advance so that I can not only prepare for the event but also prepare for all of the obstacles that could pop up along the way. Now there are instances, particularly in business, where being a planner can work to my benefit and help out in the long run in terms of efficiency. However, I’m not sure how much being a planner helps in the benefit of me living my best life.

I wasn’t always so thought out, so analytical, so methodical with the things that I do. I mean I’ve always been the type of person that wants to be able to know what’s around the corner before I actually reach the corner but I used to know how to be spontaneous too. It makes me wonder if the traumatic and disheartening experiences that I had my childhood turned me into someone who doesn’t really know how to live for today. In fact I think it made me more obsessive about my future. It has gotten to the point where I make lists for the lists that I need to make for the plans that haven’t even happened yet.

Now I am not saying that it is a bad thing to plan for your future. But it is another to get obsessive about it. I think that, without even realizing it, I had become obsessed about my past and making my future that much brighter that I forgot that the present is right in front of me, here, today. I am missing out on what is right in front of me trying to prepare for a tomorrow that hasn’t even got here yet.

So if you are a planner like me, please try not to get so caught up in preparing for the future that you don’t take in and enjoy the here and now. It’s one thing to plan for the future but I have to think is it planning the future out too much if you forget to be present in the moment that you’re in? Enjoy today. That doesn’t mean don’t plan, it just means don’t get stuck in the act of planning.

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

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

Will Write For…

July 23, 2014 jcladyluv

I am continually shocked at the questions that I get asked when it comes to my writing career, even more so at the assumptions that people make about it. When I say I am a writer people tend to respond “okay but what do you do for a living, as your day job” and my response is the same, I am a writer. I swear that it seems that unless you are on the New York Times Bestseller list (of which I plan to be on someday) or unless you are writing for a television show or a script for a movie that is already in production, then people don’t seem to take a person being a writer seriously. As if the people who got all of those accolades arrived there magically without putting in the hard work for little to nothing.

I am what some may call a starving artists’ except that I make sure that neither I nor my child, are never starving. Yes I might live from paycheck to paycheck, or in this instance, from assignment to assignment, but if I am going to survive (sometimes barely) that way then at least I am proud to be struggling to survive by doing something that I love and am so passionate about. Of course there are hundreds and thousands of people who do the regular job by day and then work on their dream by night and I did that for a while but I couldn’t keep that up because what ended up suffering was my dream and I just couldn’t allow that to happen.

When asked (repeatedly might I add) why would I struggle at solely being a writer, give up so many of the luxury things that I would love to do, both by myself and with my daughter, have to decline so many activities that I would love to be able to do, just to make barely enough to cover my bills and most of my necessary needs. My answer is always simple. Because it was what I was meant to do with my life, it is my calling, and I can’t devote fully to my calling and purpose if I’m devoting half of my time to someone else’s calling and purpose.

I write for many reasons. I write to say all of things that I can’t say out loud. I write to express feelings that I think no one else will care about. I write to deal with the hurt that I have felt for most of my life. I write to invent a life that I have always wanted and have not managed to attain yet. I write to cope with the harshness of this world. I write to get away from the criticism of others. I write to survive. But mostly I write for those who feel what I feel, go through what I have gone through, and can’t express what they really want to say, because I want to be a change in their lives. I want to inspire and help others heal. I want to give pieces of myself so that others can realize that it’s not just them that feel that way. I became a writer because I want to be the change in this world that I want to see and I use my words to do that.

Every time that I was working on someone else’s dream by day and had to minimize the work on my dream to the few hours a night that I got it was like dying a slow death, a little every day. Now that I don’t do that, now that my dream is my sole focus, yes I may not have things as easy as I would like to, the struggle some days might even feel too overwhelming, but I come alive more and more with the nurturing of my dream. I may not be wealthy (and not saying that wealth is not in my future) in terms of money but I am wealthy in my peace of mind, and in my heart, and in the joy that I feel from knowing that each day I am that much closer to my dream.

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

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

Not All At Once: Multitasking Does Not Always Equal Productivity

July 1, 2014 jcladyluv

I am one of those people that feels like they should be doing about twenty different things at one time. We all know that multitasking is something that writers have to have a handle on if they want to get an extraordinary amount of things accomplished. However, there does come a point in working on various different projects in your writing career, or any career really, where you are going to have to make one thing the focal point and everything else is going to have to fade to the background, just a little bit.

My problem is that I still want to believe that I am as excellent at multitasking as I once used to be (in my teens and twenties) when I could balance four or five different projects at the same time and devote equal time to them. Now it feels as if the more I try to balance different projects the more I end up slacking on something. I think that I am being productive to work on several things at once and try to give equal time to all but it just isn’t possible (not for me anyway).

Now I am in no way saying that multitasking is not in some ways productive. What I’m saying is thinking that you can devote an equal amount of time to all of the projects that you are working on isn’t. I think that if you are working on about three projects at a time (and I think that it should be kept to three) you have to know which project to place the priority on and let the other two be the secondary concern. That way the most important project gets accomplished.

This is a lesson that I am learning now and am going to start trying implement myself because trying to place priority on every project equally has caused me to fall behind on a project that should’ve been done already. So for all you multitasking writers out there remember that you can’t accomplish everything at once. Some things are going to have to wait so don’t end up accomplishing nothing by trying to accomplish everything.

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

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

5 Things to Help Me Become a Better Writer

April 22, 2014 jcladyluv

I read an article the other day on Writer’s Relief detailing five things that a writer can do this week to become a better writer. It was a very interesting read and got me thinking about my own improvement that needs to be done as a writer. I believe that I am a very good writer (at least I hope so) and that I have a lot to offer the literary world but I am not naïve or bold enough in my confidence to think that there isn’t always some way that I can become even better. In fact I think that I can stand to get a lot better, if in no other area but the sheer discipline of writing.

My routine has suffered dramatically in the last few years, due to many things, one of them being overcome with deep depression. I am trying to get back to some normalcy of a routine as far as writing because I know if I don’t produce work then I might as well not call myself a writer. In reading this article, I didn’t necessarily feel that all of the points could be applied to me personally but I did write out the five things that I feel I could do to make me become better at my craft.

1) Pledge to write at least 15 minutes every day. (Seems easy enough but harder than one might think)

2) Divide each project to having their own separate time to be worked on instead of trying to work on several different points of each project at the same time (Multi-tasking)

3) Take one day a week to focus on the social media marketing/networking aspect of my writing business. (obviously marketing needs to be continuous but I need to at least devote 1 day to the planning of how that marketing needs to go)

4) Take one day to specifically dedicate towards submitting pitches and articles and querying agents and local publications. (Again needs to be ongoing but one day to make sure to get those submissions out there)

5) Take one day specifically for reading and researching. (Reading is so important to the craft of writing and I need to make sure I don’t neglect that)

I think these are the things that I really struggle with maintaining as a writer so I am going to be working on these things. A personal thing I want to work on that’s not on this list is a health thing that I think would work in favor of my writing career as well. I need to make sure to get the proper amount of sleep because I haven’t been and my level of energy has diminished which is affecting my rate of production.

As writers we tend to keep late hours, often times even pulling all-nighters, and sometimes don’t realize the long term damage all of those late nights can do to our energy levels, and health overall. So writers take some time this week and think of at least five things you can be doing differently to improve your craft and the amount of writing you produce. If you have any suggestions please feel free to leave a comment and let me know. Take care of yourself and take care of your craft!

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

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

Leaders Must First Learn To Follow

April 2, 2014 jcladyluv

I know that you’ve heard the saying “Be a leader, and not a follower” a lot, probably more often than you even care to count. This saying is particularly used towards those who are aspiring to run their own businesses and striving for successes of great measure. I always believed in that saying, for the most part and have always tried to steer clear from ever being put in the category of being a follower. However, I recently have come to a realization that you can’t really be a true leader if you have never known what it is to follow.

I mean following is essentially being a team player. Learning how to work within a setting where it is not just your opinion that matters and things don’t just rely on what you say but on what others say or do as well. After all, once you reach your leadership status, you are asking others that are working for you to be that team player right, and follow you on your journey to help build your dream and your legacy up. Is it not only fair that you, the leader, would have some knowledge of what it is like to be a part of a team, to work with others to form a well working collaboration, to in essence, follow.

How can you blindly ask people to do something for you that you have never at one time had to do for anyone else? You can’t. In all actuality, unless someone was just born into wealth and an already built legacy, you have to follow for quite some time before you ever get to lead anyone. So where did this saying come from? Where did people get the idea that following at some point in your life, is a bad thing? Yes you have people who are natural born leaders but they too must first be followers before they can learn how to lead anyone.

I think that sometimes people get hung up on this saying and pass up on many opportunities that would allow growth within themselves because they don’t want to be labeled as a follower. I myself have done that. Passed on something that would mean I am helping someone else build up their dream but yet taking away from working on building up my own. Not even realizing at the time that those whose dreams that I help to build can then show me the way to in turn build up my own. I may have not seen certain situations for the opportunities that they truly were, all because I didn’t want anyone to ever see me as a follower and not the leader I know I was destined to be.

But see the good thing about getting older and making certain mistakes is that you also get wiser and learn how to work smarter. One of the bigger lessons that I am learning now is that in order to lead you must first learn how to follow. It is the lessons that you learn while following others that you can then take into your journey of leadership. So remember that before you turn your back on opportunities that require you to follow all because you don’t like that label. All leaders were once followers. Stay focused and pay attention!

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

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

Productivity Doesn’t Always Come Easy

April 1, 2014 jcladyluv

Last week was just not a very productive week for me. Well maybe I should say that in terms of actual writing being done, it was not a week of progress. I actually managed to read quite a bit more than I normally get to do but that was mainly because I felt so guilty about not being able to get anything done, writing wise. But the question is should I feel guilty?

Every week is not going to be perfect for a writer. We don’t always know the words we want to say and we aren’t always able to just sit down in front of a computer and just start writing non-stop until the work is done. We have really good weeks where we get all the work we set out to do and more, we have those weeks where we get just what we needed done but nothing more.

And then there are those weeks where nothing (seemingly) gets accomplished and we are sitting there banging our heads against a wall trying to figure out why nothing is coming to mind and your fingers just don’t want to more across the keys of the keyboard. Those are those moments when you have to remind yourself that your mind sometimes needs a break too.

We are not machines, no matter what profession, but particularly writers. It is hard to take mental breaks when so much of what you do lives inside your head. You have characters screaming at you all the time (lol) and ideas just popping in your mind at a moment’s notice and sometimes your mind just needs a break. So I guess last week was my mental vacation. I caught up on some reading and I even caught up on some TV shows.

However, this week, I am ready to get back to the business of writing and working on these projects and finishing up others. Hope your week is starting off right and that you’re ready to get your hustle on this week. Stay focused and be blessed!

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

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

Tooting My Own Horn!

March 21, 2014 jcladyluv

It’s Friday and as I get prepared to work on quite a few of my projects this weekend as I know a lot of you are as well, I did not want to go into the weekend without updating and promoting some things within Write 2 Be Media and without extending an All Call to all the writers and artists out there who read my blog. As someone who is constantly working on trying to become a better marketer of my business and my brand it is important for me to have days where the focus is on the sole aspect of marketing and not so much the creativity of writing.

Upcoming Releases

Of course some things that I have mentioned before and that I am still in steady progress of, my ebook series, which is tentatively called “For the Crazy Makers, focusing on motivating and inspiring writers and artists who constantly struggle with their own fear and insecurities which holds them back from following through with their creative goals. The first book in this ebook series is set to be released this Spring and details on how to get a copy will follow soon. I also have at least two novel releases that are due out later this year, one being the re-release of my first novel, The Diary: Succession of Lies. The other novel, titled When Love Calls, will be released soon after.

How Write 2 Be Media Can Help You?

If you have recently finished your novel and are looking for an editor? If you are in the editing phase and you’re not sure how to go about getting the promotion started? If you have a blog that you just don’t have the time to maintain or promote? If you have just launched your business and have yet to create a solid social media marketing platform in order to get noticed?

Write 2 Be Media can help you with those things and much more. To read more about our services just click the “Hire Me” tab to your right or email me at jcladyluv@yahoo.com.

The Magazine

Write 2 Be Magazine is a magazine is back as of last month and I will be publishing it every month. You can go check out the latest issue of Write 2 Be Magazine and follow the magazine by clicking on this link or finding the link to the magazine to the right of your screen. You can also check out and like the Write 2 Be Magazine fan page for updates on what’s coming soon for the Magazine.

Now here is where the all call comes in. Of course a lot of you that read my blog are writers, artists, or photographers. Well Write 2 Be Magazine is looking for more writers and photographers and artists work to be able to showcase. We are also looking for authors who would like to be interviewed as well because as I stated in a previous post this week, I love author interviews and I especially love being the one who does them. So if you have poetry, short stories, articles, artwork and photographs that you want to display, please feel free to email write2bemagazine@yahoo.com or leave a comment below to inquire more. If you are an author who would like to do an email interview with me please email me at jcladyluv@yahoo.com. Also for anyone who goes and like the Write 2 Be Magazine fan page once you have liked the page you are more than welcome to promote your books, or projects on the page for free. I look forward to hearing from you and would love to see what some of you are working on!

Promoting Others

I would also like to take this time to promote the work of a great photographer. If you are looking for a photographer for your project then please go check out Rashaad Amed McNeil’s page, R&M Photography. He does absolutely amazing work for all of his clients, one of which happens to be LaMonique Hamilton, the CEO and Editor-in-Chief at PIEhole Magazine, a new magazine on the rise. So if you are in need of a photographer and want outstanding results then head on over to his page, R&M Photography, and hit the like button and find out how you can get the best photographer for your next project!

I would also like to promote Next Up Media Consulting, Inc. Founder and CEO Jocelynn Drawhorn, also a freelance photographer and the social media coordinator of WEEN (the Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network), launched this company with the intention and purpose of helping to shape the innovative brands of the future. Next Up Media Consulting, Inc. provides services such as copywriting, resume, and interview services. Contact them today for a consultation!

I hope all of you out there are working hard on your projects and that they are moving forward. Have a blessed weekend and hustle hard!

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

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

What’s Your Habit?

March 20, 2014 jcladyluv

I was reading this article this morning in preparation to get started with my work about the routines and habits of famous writers. It got me to thinking about how much my routine and habits as a writer have changed over the years. When I was younger I used to stay up all night to write (I’ve never been a morning person) because that was usually when the inspiration struck, plus I always had a hard time sleeping at night. As I became a mother I had to adjust that crazy schedule because all-nighters and motherhood just didn’t go well together (at least not for me). So when my daughter was an infant I slept (as long as she was sleeping) at night (even though I still stayed up later than I should have) and during the day I would try to write while she made gurgling noises at the cartoons on TV or when she napped.

There was even a six month period when I wrote my first novel in which I didn’t talk to anyone for that whole 6 months, to the point where people sent people to check on me because I had to get the novel out. Now as my daughter is getting older, I still feel more inspired at night and so I stay up late most nights (even though I really shouldn’t) but I also try to work in the morning hours as well (mornings still are not my thing, lol).

I find it fascinating when reading of others who have somehow managed to keep their routines and habits the exact same (or with very little variance) throughout their writing career because although I have tried to keep things the same (because I hate change) my routine somehow ended up changing regardless. I guess as we grow as writers, or artists so must the way that we do things but I wonder if a person’s routine has never changed does that mean that they haven’t grown as an artist.

Does the lack of change symbolize the lack of growth in your work ethic or your writing or art? Or does it just mean that the person whose habits and routines haven’t changed, that they are the more disciplined ones within their craft? And what about those of us who waste an exorbitant amount of time procrastinating, or rather productively procrastinating (which makes it a part of their routine as well) and then have spurts in which we are vigilant and pour out a novel or task in a month or two? Does this mean that the habit of procrastinating can possibly be seen as helpful to some more than others? I suppose we all have our own vices and rituals of what works and what doesn’t.

I think it’s fascinating sometimes to see or rather, to read how another person harnesses their talents and to see what kind of discipline they have in getting what they want accomplished. So what are your habits or routines? How have they changed throughout your writing career? Do you consider yourself the disciplined and diligent writer or the productive procrastinating writer? Let me know what’s your habit? I hope to hear from you….stay blessed!

Jimmetta Carpenter

My Write 2 Be is…

CEO/Writer/Editor

Write 2 Be Media/Write 2 Be Magazine

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