Tag: writing

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NaNoWriMo Day 6: Starbucks really does work wonders!

November 6, 2011 jcladyluv

Okay so I am at good ole Starbucks, drinking coffee that is probably way too high in calories but I got the job done for the day. I thought about the possibility of making this an everyday ritual or at least a ritual for every weekend but that could become way too costly and I already can’t afford the coffee I bought today. Yes another one of those rewards (just one given before the actual words were met for the day). Nevertheless, I wrote 1,700 words today which brings my total word count to 10,418 thus far. And what’s more is that my story seems to be flowing along beautifully. I am possibly having the best NaNoWriMo experience that I’ve had since beginning this process four years ago. I have not gotten stuck and my story hasn’t started to drag and I am grateful for that (hoping I haven’t jinxed myself). Tomorrow begins the early morning wake up sessions again for the week. I think Mackenzie might have a very complicated time this coming week. She’s about to be put through a lot. Stay tuned! Until tomorrow…Enjoy how far you’ve gotten so far and keep going!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

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

NaNoWriMo Day 5: Oh the Rewards that will follow!

November 5, 2011 jcladyluv

Okay so I had to really think last night of whether I was going to do the early morning wake up sessions for the weekends as well because I hadn’t really thought about it. That was an easy and quick decision. I need to make up for the lost sleep somewhere. It is also no easy to get my words done on a Saturday because I have so many other things to do as well but I just completed my words for today thanks to my local Starbucks. I am going to go get me some Chinese food now as my reward for dinner because I haven’t had it in a long time and I feel that I deserve it. I’m going to go home and watch a movie which I also haven’t done in a while and probably get even more inspired by whatever movie I decide to watch (haven’t made up my mind). Should I decide I want to laugh tonight I also have some stand up comedy on my DVR somewhere in the 93% of recorded items so either way I will make a good night out of it. I hope you all are doing well with your novels and that your characters are still speaking to you. Let me know how you’re doing. Until next time…Don’t forget to reward yourself along the way!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

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

NaNoWriMo Day 4: An In Between Day

November 4, 2011 jcladyluv

I love NaNoWriMo! Okay so I might not like getting up an hour earlier than normal but I suppose the reward of a finished novel at the end of thirty days helps make up for the lost sleep. There are some days where the characters are just speaking to you and you can’t even type or write fast enough to get everything it is that they’re trying to say. And there are the days when you feel like your characters are trying to tell you something but you don’t really know what it is so clearly you can’t convey their message.

Now granted today is not one of those days, it’s also not one where I can’t keep up with my characters train of thought but it is a good day in terms of writing. It was a day where things flowed adequately enough and I feel the story is moving along. I did however, start brainstorming ideas (along with my best friend and fellow NaNo-er) about how this could possibly have the potential to turn into a series but we will see how the story manages to unfold itself. I’m already getting signals pulling me in different directions then when I originally planned my outline.

Writing can be difficult, but it is so well worth every bit of blood (the red pen my best friend, the editor, uses to edit my work with), sweat (no I don’t really sweat over my story either), and tears (yes sometimes I really do cry with my characters), and did I forget agony. A writer takes his or her characters with her, wherever they go and that can be difficult because they tend to pop up and start talking to you out of the blue and then you look crazy because you actually answer them (or is that just me).

The writing process is already a task that is challenging and sometimes frustrating. But to try and write a whole novel in 30 days or at the very least have the framework of that novel put together is incredibly hard. I feel like I can’t afford to have an off day or a day where I fall behind in my word count because there is so much of this story that I feel needs to be told and I don’t want to leave anything out.

It’s a lot of pressure to write a novel, then to write it in 30 days, and then to have it actually be good. But I try not to think about what happens once I finish this thing because then I would have to think about my best friend and the RED ink from her trusty red pen that she likes to mark up people’s manuscripts with. Well I’m gearing up for a weekend full of…you guessed it, more writing. I hope that you all will be writing as well. And I hope that you guys will clue me in on some of your stories. Just a little teaser maybe! Until next time…Don’t stop writing yet!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

NaNoWriMo Day 3: My Character is Really Talking to Me

November 3, 2011 jcladyluv

Okay so this morning Mackenzie is taking this opportunity to take the bull by the horns and seize the moment to really prove herself to her editor. She’s starting to act more like a police detective than just an Investigative reporter. She’s conducting interviews and canvassing neighborhoods and even flirting with the lead homicide detective on the case to gain as much information out of him as she can get. She’s even convinced him to let her look at the autopsy report and crime scene photos, of which she made copies of for her own use.

But Mackenzie is having a hard time keeping her personal issues surrounding this case from affecting her. She got the story because she dated the Ex-congressman and her editor thought it might be easier for her to get the personal details no other reporter could probably get. But now her career rests on a man who she had never wanted to see again. Now she has to relive those moments with him that she was trying to forget for all these years. Working on this story could have damaging psychological effects that she is not prepared to deal with yet.

Okay Mackenzie is having another one of her episodes again so I have to go deal with her for a little while. I might have more to tell you guys tomorrow. Happy writing everyone!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

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

NaNoWriMo Day 2: Sharing Time

November 2, 2011 jcladyluv

So 2 days in a row I managed to wake up early to write. If I keep this up I won’t have any excuses when NaNoWriMo is over as to why I can’t do this all the time. I must admit that this morning I actually did contemplate hitting the snooze button but I resisted that urge and got up and headed straight for my computer. Mackenzie was ready for me to get back to telling her story. Before I start clueing you in about all of the personal details about Mackenzie I’ll share with you a condensed version of the synopsis.

Mackenzie Brown wants to break into Investigative reporting for the BaltimoreTimes but can’t get her editor to give her the break that she needs to prove what an asset she can be. But when her former college boyfriend, Ex-congressman Andrew Litney is brutally murdered behind the alley of a strip club the opportunity to prove her worth presents itself. But that opportunity comes with immeasurable consequences as it stirs up things from her past that she has tried her best to keep buried. As she digs further and further into the Ex-congressman’s past indiscretions in an effort to discover the person that murdered him, she not only finds everything hitting closer to home then she ever thought it would, but she also uncovers things about herself that might have never been brought to light. Can Mackenzie keep her personal baggage from interfering with the story that could give her journalism career the boost that it desperately needs?

Okay that’s all I can give up right now. Don’t want to tell you everything all at once. I guess you guys are just going to stay tuned in to find out what personal secrets Mackenzie might be keeping hidden, or more importantly, what secrets about her past that are being kept hidden from her. Until next time…Keep writing and don’t stop!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

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

NaNoWriMo Day 1: Early Awakening

November 1, 2011 jcladyluv

So I set out to wake up at 5 this morning and begin writing for the first day of National Novel Writing Month and to accomplish my word count for the day in the little time before I whisked my daughter off to school and headed to the gym for my morning workout. I had suspected that I might not be able to get up that early because I am in no way, shape, or form, a morning person. I typically tend to set three different times for my alarm to go off in the morning because I make plans on hitting the snooze button. In fact I have two other alarm clocks aside from the one with three different times set and those other two are also set at two different times. See I try to get the maximum amount of sleep possible in the morning because I tend to go to bed so late.

However, I am very proud to say that I did in fact not hit the snooze button this morning and I got out of my bed, headed straight for the computer (well there might have been a pit stop to the bathroom first) and pulled out my book with my outline and character sketches and notes and began writing. Not only did I reach the 1,667 words that is estimated for each day of November, but I wrote 1,709 (not really that much more) words. I wrote for about an hour and a half and then when I was finished I charted my time and then I was off to get my daughter ready and off to school. I had a great, awesome, workout at the gym and have had a pretty good day so far (the day is still young).

I think that my writing is sharper and flows better when I work in the morning and it makes my day start off well knowing that I have gotten in a good bit of work done first thing in the morning. It’s quiet in the morning and my mind is very clear (although somewhat sleepy). Now I don’t mean to make it sound like I am not going to try to get more words done today but I want to at least make sure that the amount I definitely need to reach is met. I just hope that I can continue getting up at5amand that I can continue working smoothly to get this novel done, but done well.

Well I guess I better save my words for tomorrow’s morning writing session and the next blog post. Maybe tomorrow I’ll tell you a little bit about my character Mackenzie Brown and the murder mystery she’s getting herself all wrapped up in. Until tomorrow…What are your characters up to lately?

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

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

It’s National Novel Writing Month Time!

October 31, 2011 jcladyluv

Regrettably I did not write any blog posts last week but it was for a good reason. I was making sure that I had everything prepared for National Novel Writing Month, which starts tomorrow, and I was mapping out my plan on how to go about achieving my maximum word count per day so that I can reach that goal of 50,000 words by the end of the month. This will be the third year (I think) that I have done this and although many might think that it should be easier the more often that I do it, it most certainly is not. Especially since this year my story is a little different for me. I am stepping out of my typical comfort zone and writing a story that is not in the genre that I have experience in writing (which is typical mainstream fiction) but one that I would like to definitely gain some experience in (mystery, suspense, with a little romance for good measure). This year this will be a little more challenging for me, but then again I always like to be challenged. So I thought to maintain my blog during November instead of completely abandoning it, that I would blog about my NaNoWriMo experience as I go along. I hope that you will follow along in my journey this year and perhaps even go sign up this year and take the plunge yourself. Well I better go make sure that I have all last minute details of my characters ironed out before tomorrow. Until next time…Start planning, you have a novel to write too!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

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

If It’s What You Love To Do, Stay Hungry and Stay Foolish

October 17, 2011 jcladyluv

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”

~Steve Jobs

When Steve Jobs died on October 5 he left behind so much more than just his extensive contribution to the technological world. In my opinion, what’s worth far more than his Apple Company is the determination that it took for him to reach his level of success and the words that he expressed in his 2005 commencement speech at StanfordUniversity. I must admit that I had not actually took the time to watch the speech until after his death but there was so much that I got out of those fifteen minutes. One thing he said that stuck with me was to not let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.

Another memorable thing that I took away from his speech was his last four words; Stay hungry, stay foolish. It seemed to be words that he lived by until his dying day and I found these words to be both intriguing and inspiring. When you stay hungry you never really lose sight of what is at stake for your dreams. You stay focused and steady. You stay driven and determined. You never settle if you have not gotten to where it is you want to be. When you allow yourself to stay foolish you give yourself permission to have the courage to do the things that everybody else might think of as stupid or crazy. Those that remain foolish have the ability to ignore the logic that might be telling them that something will be too difficult or impossible to make happen.

In the last few weeks I have been continually told, in so many words, that what I want for my life is not going to happen and that I am wasting my time with it. I should just go make a career out of working behind a desk and be content with that because it’s a good living. They say writing is not practical, writing will never make me rich or even provide enough money to live off, writing is a great hobby but it’s not realistically possible to make it, especially in the current economy. Well I say to hell with anyone who tells me that doing what I love to do, what I was born to do, is a waste of my time. It’s who I am and it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.

It’s not as if I just woke up a year or two ago and said hey, I think I want to be a writer now. I have known since I was six years old that this was what my purpose in life was and I have never, in 25 years, wavered from that belief. Honestly, at this point I’ve put in so much time and sacrificed so much in the effort of making this work that I can’t go back now. Sure I’m not where I would like to be within my career at this point, nor where I thought I would be, but I know it’s coming because I know it’s meant for me.

So many times I hear about or see people who have spent their lives doing something that is practical and might have garnered them success but it wasn’t what they wanted for themselves. It wasn’t the way that they wanted to achieve their success and they weren’t very happy. They spent their lives living up to others’ standards and other people’s ideas of normal and practical. They lived a life, but it wasn’t theirs.

I’ve already wasted too much of my limited time on this earth living the way someone else thought I should, doing what was practical all the while longing to follow my heart. I am not going to leave this world feeling like I didn’t at least try to live the life I was meant to live. As Steve Jobs also said in his brilliant speech, “Remembering that you are going to die is the best way to avoid the trap of thinking that you have something to lose…” What good is living if I am not going to go for it all, come hell or high water? I’ve always wondered what it would feel like to really throw caution to the wind and just jump feet first without worrying what will go wrong. I think that I’m going to start finding out. I thank you Steve Jobs for being brave enough to Stay hungry and Stay foolish. Until next time…Imagine all of what you can do if you were just a little more foolish and a lot less logical.

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”

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

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

The Theme of It All

September 26, 2011 jcladyluv

I was talking to Ms. L the other night and we were reminiscing about T.V. show theme songs from back in the 90’s and before you knew it we were googling some of those theme songs and singing along with them into the wee hours of the morning. We went from the Mary Tyler Moore show, All in the Family, and Good Times, to Growing Pains, Family Matters, and Friends. There were many more and perhaps even a CD of theme songs may have been involved but I won’t run down the entire list. In between singing these songs together, we even shared common gripes about the fact that it seems as though most of the TV shows now do not have theme songs and how we missed them.

I realized, somewhere between Perfect Strangers and Laverne and Shirley, that the difference between television shows then and now is that the writers seemed to want their shows to be graced with theme songs that were motivating and that uplifted their audiences into believing in themselves and in their dreams. The songs promoted family unity and families supporting one another through good times and bad, and through the things they want to accomplish. Now there are no theme songs, just a flash of music in the beginning of the shows and sometimes a few words to the beat of a random song, but no real theme song. No real promotion of family unity or uplifting of the spirit. It’s almost as if the writers of the shows stopped caring, along with the rest of the world, of the spirit of the people that watch their shows.

The theme shows from before were large reasons that I watched those shows in the first place. The songs would get me motivated and before the show even began I was rooting for those people, for their dreams, and for their family. I got valuable lessons from those promotions of family unity and the empowerment of following your dreams through the music of the theme songs. So when did they stop feeling the need to inspire the audience and to motivate and uplift them? When did the writers of the T.V. shows stop realizing that we still need that push and that empowerment, even if it is in the simple form of a song at the beginning of a show?

Sometimes it is the littlest things that can give someone the inspiration they need to do something different. The writers of these television shows may just see it as an insignificant theme song that cost too much for just that one minute sound bite, but that one minute sound bite might be just what that one person in their intended audience needs to hear. It might be what gets them moving and gets them motivated and lights a fire under them to do something great. That one minute sound bite is more than worth what it cost if it incites someone to be better and be greater than what they were before they sat down to watch their show.

In one of her blog posts, Ms. L said that we sometimes think that with us just being one person, what we do doesn’t count and that it doesn’t make a difference. But one person actually can make a difference and even when you might not think that what you say or do is affecting someone else, there’s a great chance that it is in fact touching someone else’s life in some way. Those writers of television shows may not think anything of the theme songs of the shows in television history and may not consider it worth their time or money to go that extra mile to find or create something that will incite inspiration but I would assure them that those songs mattered and they meant something and if anything it made people more drawn to watch. Just as everything a person does matters, what they don’t do also speaks volumes. Until next time…Do what you do best, even when you think no one will care or is paying attention; chances are that someone is watching!

Jimmetta Carpenter

Writer/Editor

The Diary: Succession of Lies (Now Available)

Writing as “Jaycee Durant”