Tag: Writers

No More Negative Nancy’s

jcladyluv

“Dwelling on the negative simply contributes to its power.”

~Shirley MacLaine 

In life you tend to get back what you give out.  At least that is what most people will say about how a person should perceive things.  I was watching the news this morning and they have these motivational minutes where the guy will give a tip for success for the day.  Today’s tip, in so many words, was that in order to have and attract success in your life that you have to wipe out the negativity surrounding you and get rid of those thoughts of what you can’t do and what you don’t have and just focus on what you can do and what you do have.  

This ties into getting back what you give out because I suppose if all you hear is people around you telling you that you can’t do something, or that what you want to happen for yourself can’t happen, you start to believe it then you are putting out that negative energy.  In turn all you are going to get back is negative results.  This struck a nerve with me because it seems that the more positive I try to be about my circumstances, and about my dreams and what I want out of life, the more I get negative backlash from other people, one of whom happens to be my mother, who I should get the most support from.  

When people say that you have to cut out the negativity from your life in order to really make your way towards success you never want that to include family.  I am sadly realizing, or should I say accepting, that my mother is one of those people.  When I make the mistake of sharing my ambitions with her she never fails to tell me that she thinks my dreams are impossible and that I am not living in reality.  But if I only focus on what isn’t going right and what I have not managed to accomplish just yet then I would never move forward and enjoy all that I do have and the things that I have managed to achieve.  

It’s true that lately everything has not fallen in line the way that I wanted them to, especially within this last year.  However, no matter what, I will always keep pushing through and propelling myself towards accomplishing what it is I want.  A person’s dreams are not just going to magically come true overnight but complaining about the bumps along the road is not going to change things one way or the other, so why waste that time that could be better spent.  

There is always going to be that one person around you that will make sure to run down the list of the things that you can’t get done and rub in your face what you don’t have.  But instead of listening to them you have to ask yourself why it is that they feel the need to tear you down and what is it that they don’t have that they are trying so hard to take away from you.  Until the next time…try to enjoy the things that you have accomplished and keep building on those accomplishments!  

 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

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

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

It’s All About Accountability

jcladyluv

“It is not only what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable.”

~Moliere 

So today I had planned on working on so many different things pertaining to my writing and my many other ideas.  I even made a list for the week of the specific goals that I really want to get accomplished this week and my best friend made a list too in which we emailed to each other so that we can hold each other accountable for them.  

Now I know the week’s just gotten started and there is plenty of time during the week to actually accomplish those things but I guess I just thought that as excited as I was to get started this morning, I wouldn’t get stalled as soon as I sat down at the computer.  However, that is exactly what happened.  

So I decided to write this post because it is actually one of the only steps that I have made thus far today towards my goals for this week which include posting here at least 3 times this week.  I suppose you could say I used my lack of focus and concentration to my advantage specifically for this blog post.  That way if I do nothing else today then I have at least posted 1 of my 3 blog posts for the week.  

Now I am not completely giving up hope for producing something else over the course of the rest of the day but I really hope that tomorrow will be more eventful and more productive.  I have a very ambitious list for the week but I have the very best friend and motivator in the world, which happens to be one hell of a writer, with very high standards that will hold me accountable for anything that I do not get accomplished.  

On that note I guess I better go continue staring at the computer hoping that the words will somehow begin to flow and that my mind won’t continue to wonder.  Until next time…..How do you hold yourself accountable? 

 
Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

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

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

The Writer and Their Distractions

jcladyluv

“Work is hard. Distractions are plentiful. And time is short.”
~ Adam Hochschild 

I have come to realize and accept the fact that writing completely without distractions is essentially impossible.  From the television, to social media, and just life in general, distractions are just a part of anyone’s career path.  I’ve also discovered that there are in fact some distractions that are not really a distraction, simply background material for you next story, or inspiration for your next article.  When writers go to coffee shops to get some work done, most people would wonder how that is conducive to one’s writing because there is so much noise and so many different conversations going on at the same time around you.  What non-writers fail to realize is that those multiple conversations can work their way in to so much of your stories or inspire new one’s.  

Those aren’t the distractions that hinder me when it comes to my productivity.  One of the biggest distractions that can be my downfall, yet can also be my inspiration, is the television.  I try to escape it but there’s always something on it that intrigues me and gets the wheels in my mind turning and thinking of other ideas.  Now this would be good if I was struggling with coming up with ideas but the problem is I have way too many ideas.  But if I turn the television off then the complete silence becomes an even bigger distraction than the TV itself.  

I guess a writer can never really get away from their distractions completely.  There are many ways that they could probably limit or eliminate them in an effort to become more productive but maybe the key is in figuring out how to make the distractions work for you.  I haven’t quite mastered that part yet but I am working on it everyday.  I did manage to come up with a small list of a few things that hopefully will enable those writers who are having the same struggles with distractions that I’m having: 

  1. Write By Hand- This enables you to get away from the computer completely, and all of the distractions that the computer holds.  Also having to actually write out your words allows you to examine them as you go along and sometimes the words flow easier. 
  1. Turn off the Phone- No one can help but to look at their phone when it rings or when you get a text message and of course if you look at the phone when it rings then you are most likely going to answer it.  To avoid this timely distraction turn the cell phone off for the amount of your time that you decide to write. 
  1. Close out the window with the Internet- If you absolutely can not see yourself writing long-hand and must use the computer then be sure to close all other windows besides the one with your project.  While you are typing out your story, or whatever project you are working on, have no other screen up or minimized waiting on you to click on.  If you can see the other window (even minimized) you will want to click on it.  It almost sounds too simple but it really works! 
  1. Write every Morning- Getting up an hour earlier in the morning allows you time when the rest of the world, and your household, is still sleep and you can have complete concentration on your work before your day even really gets started.  Now this one is hard for me to do but I think I am even going to put more effort into making this one work for me. 
  1. Find your Place- Now some writers have certain places where they have to write.  They literally can not write anything if they are not in their special writing place.  So if there is a place that the words just flow easier and naturally then that’s where you should probably try to write all of the time.  I believe I am one of those writers but economically it just isn’t possible for me to go where I need to go everyday to write.  

If any of you writer’s out there has any tips and ideas on how I, or any other writer with this same problem, can minimize their distractions, or make them work for them, please feel free to share.  Until next time…I will be busy fighting off my current distraction, the TV!  

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

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

Are You Waiting for the Muse To Strike?

jcladyluv

“It is by sitting down to write every morning that one becomes a writer.”

~Gerald Brenan~ 

There are a lot of notions and fantasies about being a writer.  The idea of waiting for the muse to suddenly walk into your atmosphere and only writing when inspired is a nice way to look at the life of a writer and a very nice fantasy.  It’s the way I looked at writing once upon a time, largely due to the fact that at one point in my life it seemed as if the muse never left me and I was always inspired in one way or another.  I never had a problem with only writing when inspiration struck because with me it always seemed to strike.  It was when the muse left and the inspiration was no longer an everyday occurrence that I started to wonder, “If the inspiration isn’t there and the muse is gone and I am not writing at a steady flow, can I still consider myself a writer?”  

There are still those writers’ who are always inspired and the muse seems to always be there for them and that is a wonderful thing.  But that alone is not the only thing makes a person a writer.  A person can still be a writer even if it means them having to appoint a designated time to write and put together a schedule of the projects that they need to work on.  Scheduling a time to write does not remove the artistic creativity in writing like so many people seem to think.  I mean if you think about it, that makes more sense doesn’t it?  A person who makes a living as a freelance writer can not simply wait to be inspired.  They have to make a plan of action and follow through with it or they don’t make a living.  

When I think of all of the time I have wasted waiting for some miraculous moment of inspiration to just jump up and hit me, I try not to think about the amount of novels I could’ve finished, or all of the magazines that I could’ve queried by now, or all of the many ideas I could have made come into fruition.  What makes a writer is someone who puts tenacity and determination behind their drive to write and sitting in that chair behind that desk in front of that computer even though the words might not come that day.  

Well if you are out there, sitting around and waiting for your muse and inspiration to suddenly strike like lightening, I am going to tell you that while you are waiting your ideas are going to waste.  Your characters are going to stop speaking to you, and the stories that they are trying to tell you are disappearing and losing ground.  While you are waiting, the ideas for those articles that you want to pitch to those prestigious magazines are being written by someone else who knew better then to wait.  The screenplays that you are dreaming about writing are already being written by some other writer and you will no doubt be seeing them on the big screen wishing you had woken up out of your sleep and put those ideas down on paper.  

It’s always nice when you can get inspired by something or someone and when you can find that perfect moment of uninterrupted inspiration.  But how many novels could you have written while you were waiting for that moment?  How many magazines could you have seen your articles placed in waiting for that one thing that inspires you to sit down and write?  Shouldn’t seeing your name in print be inspiration enough?  It is for me.  Until next time….make every moment count, even the uninspired ones!  

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

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

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

In the Land of Writer’s Block

jcladyluv

For a long time I thought that writer’s block was simply a person being unable to write anything at all and unable to come up with ideas for things to write about.  While that is an aspect of the term writer’s block.  I didn’t think of the alternative which was that a person would be able to write, just not producing anything worth publishing. 

For a few months now I have been able to come up with ideas, research projects, and even create details for my writing projects for when I get back to actually writing.  The problem was that I wasn’t feeling motivated to actually write.  It was simply a bad case of letting life’s road blocks get in my way and affect my inspiration. 

Even as I am writing this and trying to get back into the swing of things I still feel somewhat blocked.  I mean I am beginning to feel more motivated and inspired to write and I am actually able to produce some wonderful work worth sharing when I get ready but I still feel that in many ways I am not back to my old self, full of inspiration and letting the muse take me on it’s many journey’s.  I still feel somewhat blocked. 

I am not sure which one is worse, being blocked in a way of not being able to create anything whatsoever, or being blocked in the sense of I can produce work but have it not be worth showcasing or up to your own expected standard of work.  I guess I’ll have to get back to you on that one once I figure it out.  Well I’m off to trying to be more productive today.  Until next time, be blessed!!! 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://spokenlikeaqueen.wordpress.com/

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

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

http://jayceedurant.wordpress.com/

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

Write 2 Be Magazine…Coming in January!!!

jcladyluv

Okay I was going to try and come up with some profound and thought provoking blog post today but I am actually not feeling so blocked today and have been working on putting together the contents of my new project.  I am creating a new online magazine called Write 2 Be.  This magazine will be completely digital and available for free online only.  There will be print versions quarterly for subscribers who choose to receive them.  It will be designed to give writers and artists a broad platform to showcase their work and share their experiences in dealing with the ins and outs of both the creative and business side of writing and the publishing industry.  

I am currently looking for writers who would like to showcase their work, be it fiction or informative articles, artists who would like to display their artwork, spoken word artists who would like to share video clips of their performances, and author’s who would like to be interviewed and who would like their books to be featured in the magazine.  It is set to debut in January of 2012 and I am excited about what I feel it will bring and the knowledge that will be shared.  Anyone who would like more details or to share in this new venture please send an e-mail to write2bemagazine@yahoo.com.    

I am going to go ahead and get back to working on my new project before my motivation dies down and will provide further details at a later date.  I will be writing again soon.  Be blessed! 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

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

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

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

Am I All Out Of Miracles?

jcladyluv

Faith isn’t the ability to believe long and far into the misty future.  It’s simply taking God at his word and taking the next step.

~Joni Erickson Tada

There comes a point when you decide to make the decision that you want to be an artists full time, but you don’t entirely have the means and resources to make that work, in which you realize that there are going to be an insurmountable amount of stumbles and falls along the way.  You might have even romanticized the whole starving artists’ concept and thought it might be cool to rise up from the ashes of despair and make it big proving all of the naysayers wrong.  You have probably had more than your fair share of tiny miracles along the way that you didn’t expect but were lifesavers when they presented themselves.  Well lately I’ve been feeling defeated and like I might actually be all out of my share of miracles. 

In the creative world, we rely a lot on the favor of others and more importantly on the miracles that God provides us with.  It’s not like other fields and industries where things are more certain and definitive.  For us creative types it is more of a, go where the wind blows, kind of thing.  I have went for quite some time now, not really knowing how things were going to work themselves out, just knowing that they would.  I have had many moments where I didn’t know what was on the other side but I could see the bright, or sometimes dim, light at the end of a very long tunnel.  So what do you do when you can’t see that light anymore and the length of the tunnel has become indefinite? 

There are moments when I’ve looked at those bills that come in the mail, and the activities my child can’t do, or the clothes that she needs but I sometimes can’t buy, and I’ve wondered, is God going to leave me hanging this time?  Of course I already know that the answer to that question is no but every now and then I feel like maybe I have asked for one too many miracles and one of these days God’s going to get tired of me burdening him.  I feel like I should have all of this stuff figured out by now and I should be able to go a long period of time without begging him for his favor.    

Logically I do know that through God all things are possible and I realize that God’s love and his favor is limitless and that the miracles that he provides us with are endless.  .  If people are going to make anything happen in this life the best thing that they could do is to have faith.  Faith that things are going to be okay and that God is not going to put you through anything more than what you can handle.  Faith in yourself and in the talents and gifts that God has given you and the purpose that he has given your life.  Faith that you are not going to really ever run out of miracles so long as you keep reaching out your hands to receive them.  From one starving artists’ to all the others, treasure all of your miracles and even when you are doubtful of yourself and your talent, step out on faith and let God do all the rest. 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://jayceedurant.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://freemynd.wordpress.com/

http://spokenlikeaqueen.blogspot.com/ 

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

www.authorsden.com/jimmettacarpenter

 

No More Kindles, No More Nooks…

jcladyluv

Okay this post is completely off the topic of my normal style of discussion here but I truly feel that something has to be said about the way technology is significantly becoming the destruction of the publishing and book industry as we have known it to be in the past.  It seems more and more we hear about book companies like Borders and Barnes N’ Nobles closing down stores and filing bankruptcy.  People seem to be genuinely concerned and some even outraged at the thought of there being no more book stores. 

We can sit and blame the decline in the economy all we want for this drastic shift in the publishing and book store industry all that we want but that is not what believe is at the heart of the problem.  It is Kindles and Nooks and any other e-reader device that allows for people to download books electronically instead them going to a book store and purchasing a book and reading it the good old fashioned way.  Yes they may in fact be convenient and easy to have the ability to tote all your books around without having to actually physically have to carry all of your books around but look what and who it is hurting.  I for one think that it is just lazy to read books that way because that is not how books were originally intended to be read, but that’s just my opinion. 

People who buy into the whole Kindle and Nook propaganda are not thinking about the fact that if everyone is buying their books this way, what need is there for a book store.  If the book stores begin rapidly closing down, if no publishing company is going to publish writer’s books anymore due to the lack of need for the physical books, then hundreds and thousands of people are left without jobs, and people (like me) who actually love book stores and don’t buy into the electronic way of reading won’t have an outlet to go to.  In an economy that is already suffering, what would this destruction of the publishing world and book industry do to those people that will end up jobless?  For those who are Kindle and Nook lovers, have you thought about the industry that you are helping to destroy. 

In the area I live in, there aren’t really a lot of book stores within range that I can go to except the Borders and now I hear rumors that due to the lack of people who actually buy books these days they might be closing their doors soon.  With gas prices being what they are I can’t afford to drive a lot of miles away just to be able to get my books and to be able to go sit and work on my writing.  I am a writer who hopes to have many novels published in the course of her lifetime and with the way people are taking book for granted I just may not get to do what I have dreamed of doing since I was six years old all because people want to be lazy and can’t appreciate the value of reading a book the way they were meant to be read.  What is the need to carry around hundreds of books at a time for when you can only read one at a time anyway (or 2 if you’re one of those speed readers)?  All I ask is that people who buy into all of that unnecessary technology start to think about the people they are really hurting with it.  Okay I’m done now.  I needed to get that out there. 

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

https://writetobe.wordpress.com/

http://jayceedurant.wordpress.com/

http://unpleasantlyplump.wordpress.com/

http://freemynd.wordpress.com/

http://spokenlikeaqueen.blogspot.com/ 

www.lulu.com/ladybugpress

www.authorsden.com/jimmettacarpenter