Writers – Page 22 – Write 2 Be

Tapping Into the Inner Child In All of Us

January 3, 2013 jcladyluv

I wrote yesterday about the fears that hold me back and releasing those fears. Writing it down was quite therapeutic in many ways. Then I read a blog post this morning from one of the many that I follow that made me think about when I was a child.

When we are children there is rarely anything that we are afraid of. We are told (well I wasn’t told this but most children were and I believed it was true as well) that anything that you want is possible if you put your mind to it and go after it. Children don’t really see the negative when it comes to their dreams and the future that they think up for themselves. They try time and time again and they NEVER give up.

Think of how many times your children have tried to persuade you into getting something that they wanted and were relentless until (most likely) you finally gave in or miraculously made it happen. My best friend Ms. L. and I are always having the situation where our kids are asking for something that they really want (because everything kids want is a matter of life or death in their mind) and it usually seems impossible for us to get them those things but their faith is unshakable and they hold firm to the fact that they are going to win out in the end.

Meanwhile we are both scratching our heads trying to think of how to make what they want possible. Needless to say, some miraculous way we manage to be able to give them their hearts desire and all the while they never had any doubt that we would. In their minds it was always going to work out to their benefit and just the way they wanted it. Now that’s some kind of faith. Just imagine if we could all tap back into that childlike faith when it comes to our dreams and our hearts desires.

I go to the skating rink all the time and I watch these kids do all of these tricks and amazing things on skates and it’s not that they are all trained to do them, it’s that they are fearless in trying. They don’t care if they fall because they’ll just get back up and try it again. They don’t care if they don’t get it the first, second, or third time around, they will just keep going until they finally do get it. Meanwhile the adults (myself included) are watching in awe, wishing that we could do just half of the things they are able to do instead of actually just going out and trying it.

If we could all just stop standing by and watching while everyone else is doing the things that we long to be doing then just imagine what we could do in this world, for our lives, for our children’s lives. We keep limiting the things that we can do but should we be. I mean obviously we can’t miraculously (by ourselves) make the world the better place that I’m sure we all desire it to be and yeah sure we can’t actually hold the whole world in the palm of our hands but why the hell can’t we at least try.

Perhaps we could try looking at obstacles and struggles from a child’s point of view; with unyielding faith and unstoppable determination. Think about it this way, children seem to get everything that they want simply because they believe that they will. So let’s try having a little more faith and a lot less wonder. They more you keep wondering about whether or not something is going to happen, the more you are actually wondering away from the very thing that you want. Don’t wonder away from your dreams, just have faith that they ARE going to come true.

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

What If the World Were to End Tomorrow?

December 20, 2012 jcladyluv

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

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

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

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

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

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

What a Better Writer I Will Be…

December 19, 2012 jcladyluv

As the New Year approaches I become a little more anxious for the year to come. Not necessarily because I think that something miraculous will happen (one can still hope though) but because I am going into the year more focused on what needs to be done, and more importantly on what I have to do to get those things done. One thing is for sure, I could stand to become a much better writer because as a writer, your learning is never done. Below I listed several things that I will plan on doing in the year 2013 to become a better writer and maybe some of these things can be things that help some of you as well.

1.) Write Every Day— I know that there are some that would argue that you should never force yourself to write if you are not feeling “the muse” to write. However, I believe that writing everyday is important in becoming a more effective and insightful writer. It’s just like a regular job. You can’t wake up and just say I don’t feel like going so I’m not going to go. This is my job and I will make a stronger effort in the New Year to treat it as such.

2.) Read Every Day— Okay lately I have not been the avid reader that I once was and that I still would like to be. There’s been this reason, or that reason, why I haven’t been able to plant my but in a chair and read, but really there’s no valid excuse. I know that reading more makes an even stronger writer. So in this year I am going to not only make a promise to just read more, but rather to read everyday. Whether it’s just a couple of pages, or even just a page, so long as I read.

3.) Share My Writing More— I’ve always been apprehensive about joining a writing critique group or any type of writing community. It’s not that I haven’t but I just haven’t embraced the concept as much as I should have been. So in my effort to make my writing better and stronger, I will share my work with others more this year.

4.) Take Better Care of Myself— I am already learning that taking care of myself will make it even more possible for me to do those things that I strive to do in a successful way. I feel myself becoming stronger as a person as I begin to place more priority in taking care of me, and that is making me an even stronger writer. It also makes me a more confident writer. I have to keep reminding myself to take better care of me so that in the long run I become stronger and more successful in everything else I want to do.

5.) Don’t Let Writer’s Block Get In My Way— I have had my struggles with writer’s block in the past and I have allowed this to be the reason why things were not able to get done. Because of that excuse, I have many novels started and not finished and many missed opportunities that I have let slip through my fingers. I am not going to use this excuse anymore because it is just that, an excuse. If I have to balance multiple projects so that if I get blocked on one project, I can simply move to the other project, then that’s what I am going to do.

6.) Take a Writing Course— As a writer it is also important to keep the knowledge of the craft sharp. This requires honing your craft more, not only by reading on the craft of writing, but also in taking a course on writing. I would like to say that I can take several courses in the next year to be able to sharpen my writing skills, but realistically, I may not have the money for that. But I think I can manage one course at the very least.

7.) Research More— I have always loved research. From historical events and historical figures, to the places in the world that I dream of traveling to. I have to admit I haven’t done much of it in this past year but that’s what I want to get back to.

8.) Become a Better Marketer of Myself— Okay I know that it doesn’t sound like this has anything to do with actually writing but if I’ve learned nothing else over the past year it is that if no one sees all of your hard work then you don’t get your writing noticed. In order to get more of your writing out there for all to see I have to become better at marketing my writing myself, and my brand. I admit I have A LOT of work to do in the area of marketing myself but it is definitely a focus for me in the year to come.

9.) Attend Writer’s Conferences and Events— This goal may present some challenges because a lot of writer’s conferences and events these days are just not as affordable as they once were. They actually used to have writing conferences that were free (go figure!) for those who, like me, just couldn’t afford it. However, I am going to make an extra effort to at least make it possible to attend one at some point this coming year.

10.) Do Things That Scare Me— Fear is something that I struggle with so much. There’s so many things that I haven’t done, simply out of fear. So if I can do something that scares me, not just one thing, maybe something every month or every week, then perhaps I can learn to stop being so scared of things that I just can’t control. Perhaps then I will actually achieve all that I want.

You won’t find too many writers who will say that they are at a point where they don’t need to learn more, do more, or be better than what they already are. If you do they are either the greatest writer that has ever lived or they are fooling themselves. We all get comfortable sometimes in the accomplishments that we have made and in how far we have already come. Often times we forget that there is still so much more left to learn, and more left to do, and even further to go. We grow as writers, when we acknowledge that we have a lot of growing left to do!

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

December 18, 2012December 18, 2012 jcladyluv

Behind every great movie, television show, or even a song, is a great director, but there’s an even greater writer. While writers do get slightly more recognition than they have in the past, they are still very under-acknowledged throughout the media industry. I wrote this article for Piehole Magazine expressing not only my appreciation for the writers of the industry that I am striving to be a part of, but in frustration that writers are not showcased as they should be.

PIEhole Magazine

There are awards shows for almost every avenue of the arts. Musicians have awards ceremonies for their accomplishments in the music industry such as the Grammys, the AMAs (American Music Awards), the CMAs (Country Music Awards), the Billboard Awards, and even the MTV Video Music Awards. Actors and actresses are deservingly acknowledged for their works in film, television (both daytime and primetime), and animated programs with awards shows such as the Golden Globes, the SAG awards (Screen Actors Guild), the Oscars, Emmy’s and the Daytime Emmy Awards.

However, I have noticed there are no award shows for writers. True enough, writers get slight nods during the Oscars and other awards shows in specialized smaller segments, and that is wonderful. It is a wonder, with all of the attention paid to the actors, actresses, and singers, that writers get acknowledged at all. Why don’t writers have an awards show that is all their…

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

December 10, 2012December 10, 2012 jcladyluv

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

Shifting the Focus

December 6, 2012December 6, 2012 jcladyluv

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

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

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

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

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

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

I have the Write 2 Be Ambitious and Driven…

What is your Write 2 Be?

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

Opportunity in Chaos

December 5, 2012December 5, 2012 jcladyluv

“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!

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

December 3, 2012 jcladyluv

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…

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 # 30: We’re Finally Here!

November 30, 2012 jcladyluv

The day has come. This is the last and final day for National Novel Writing Month. For the most part it is over but for the few stragglers out there that are hovering just at that 50,000 word benchmark, this is your last opportunity to get there. These are the last few hours that you will have so if you are really aiming for that goal of completion then you might want to sit down now and finish it up.

Congratulations to everyone, not only those who finished but also to those of you who simply signed up and got into the ring for the fight. Reward yourself for your efforts and for your tenacity and, for the vast majority of you, for completing the task. Go out and do something for yourself and give your fingers and your story a break for a little while or a couple of days.

Celebrate, You Just Finished A Novel… Yay!!!!

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 # 29: The Final Push

November 29, 2012 jcladyluv

So by now if you are not already finished your 50,000 word goal then you are very close. So why not take a few minutes to start imagining what the cover of your book is going to look like. Even those of you who are not as close as you thought you would be to the end goal. Think about your story and what the best way to depict that story within a picture would be. How do you want your readers to view your story for the very first time?

Visualizing the end product sometimes helps give us that final push that we need to make it across the finish line and accomplish our goals. So if it takes seeing your book cover and visualizing your book in the hands of your readers to get you through to tomorrow night and get you over that goal line, then daydream just a little while (really only a small amount of daydreaming—don’t get carried away here) about that vision.

You’re really almost there, just one more day. You can do this. And for those of you who are already there, you’re all finished up and ready to jump straight into the editing phase, just shut that inner editor living in your head off for just a few more days. You want to take a few days away from your novel before getting into editing it. Going into the editing phase with fresh eyes and a fresher perspective is not only better for you and your inner editor, but in the end better for your overall story.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

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