Do You Know Your Worth?

There are many people in life who do not know what they deserve as a writer and even a human being. Depending on how we are taught on how to love ourselves and not settle, knowing your worth just does not apply to everyone. Well, today, it will because I am going to tell you, You are worth so much! How do you determine what your worth even is?

From A Writer’s Perspective:

As a writer, we want so much to make it! When I say make it, I mean collect the big checks and write for a living. Can it happen? Sure, it can. It will take a lot of determination, hard work and time. Time is the most valuable to any writer. Most of us work on a deadline, but depending on what type of writing you are doing, it can be a more lenient task as well. Once we have written that book or screenplay, it is time to shop it around. This is where she find out what our worth is. I remember when I shopped my work around I always said that I would take the first offer that was thrown my way. Don’t do this. Instead do your research to learn what your worth is as a writer. You want your work to be appreciated and bought, not just bought. There are some agents who are only about money, because let’s face it, their job is to sell so they can make money. You are as valuable as your work is, do not forget life.

Your Worth With Life

Men, you can be superman as well! I do not want to count you guys out. Life happens to a lot of people and it is has been said what we put up with what we think we deserve. Well, not anymore! This can be in your personal life, work life, and other relationships. Never allow anyone to make you feel you are not worth it. If you know you deserve that promotion, do what you have to in order to get it. One of the things that I have learned is to not tell anyone my dreams. Granted, many of you ( the readers) and friends and family know that I am writer. But, they do not know how my subjects for writing or what I plan on doing once I finish a novel, blog post, column, or whatever the case maybe. People will only do what you allow. I had a writing mentor tell me this today. It is so true. Do not be a push over. Know your worth! Your worth is everything. You deserve success and happiness.  If you do not know your worth, do not expect anyone else to calculate it for you. Love yourself and allow others to love you the way you deserve.

Don’t Be A Lazy Writer

Hey Readers! I don’t want anyone to be offended by this post. I’m not calling anyone a lazy writer. But, sometimes we as writers do not give it our all because of what wear fear. Sometimes fear of success or failure can sneak up on us. We may not want to give it our all, so we kind of become lazy. Trust me, I have been there. When I first stared writing when I was 15 years old, I was afraid of what people would think of me based on my writing. You see, when I was in high school a freshman mostly, I was teased a lot. I was teased for being smart and mostly dark skin. For a long time I had developed low self-esteem and want not happy with who I was. Then one day, I was in the hospital for an asthma attack. My brother bought me a diary and told me to write anything I wanted in there. Well, I started to write stories. Once I realized that I could be what I wanted to be in my writing, stories started to develop in my mind. I would write short stories and poetry in my diary and journals.  Since then writing has always been apart of my life.

Do you set a schedule of when to write? I had heard from many writers that they do set writing times in order to keep on schedule. In my opinion, I think that it is very important to set a writing schedule. Currently, I’m all over the place with my time maintenance. I have school homework and so many other writing projects to you. Right now, I have just finished an outline for another book that I am writing. I’m really excited about it. I want to know, what is your writing schedule? Post in the comments below.

If you haven’t done so, definitely read this book! Trust me, it will change your life! I read this book two times and I loved it. I love his writing style as well. What I did admire about this book was that Stephen King also worked while writing his stories. As I always say don’t quit your day job until you have to. Hopefully, I will be able to quit my job one day to work and travel  doing public speaking full-time. Who knows?

Whether you are writing a short story, novel, blog, or even screenplay, make your writing count! How do you achieve this? Always provide good content. Talk about something that readers want to hear. I have turned this blog into a writing blog and about my life. Before I was working, I used to write a blog just about every day. I noticed that it was shared a lot and I developed a lot of subscribers. I was more than excited. Then every day turned into three times a week. Now, I’m going to write as much as I can with my school schedule. At first, I was always a lazy writer. I would say, ” Oh I’ll get to it tomorrow or next week.” But, truth is, as a writer, your characters and the topics to write about will ALWAYS be in the back of your mind. My characters used to talk to me in my mind and the topics always stayed at full circle. Then I knew I had to get it down on paper. Even if I thought it was crap, i still wrote until the story was finished.  Don’t get so consumed with writing that you don’t live either. You can take breaks for projects. My mentor tells me to write when I feel like it. That’s exactly what I do.  Tell me, when do you do your best writing?

My First Research Class!!

Good morning! I swear I’m consumed with so much energy on this sunday morning. I woke up at 6:30 and have been up since. Although, I set my alarm for 5 am and it didn’t go off ( or at least I didn’t hear it go off). So, I will be moving in my apartment officially on Friday. I get my keys on tuesday and my dad will start loading things into the apartment. I can’t wait to show you guys pictures once I’m settled in with furniture and all of that stuff! I must say that I’m very excited to be living on my own again. I tell ya, it’s been a year too long. But, I’m  back and will be cooking up a storm. Well, maybe studying up a storm. I’m taking my first research class that starts TOMORROW! So, what I’m doing now is getting the reading and discussion board completely today, since I won’t have internet until saturday.

For my Research Design and Methods class, I have 3 books to read. Mind you, I’m already working full-time as an account manager. But, what I like about that about is I get an hour for lunch so I can always study or do homework on my lunch break. I have already read the first chapter in one book and I LOVED it!! Learning about qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods designs is so interesting to me. Well, at least it is in this book. I’m not going to lie some books are DRY and BORING as ever. But this one is keeping my attention. I don’t know if it’s because I’m really excited about the class or what. I also have my residency to go to on Dec. 26 -30th so I’m really excited for that. I decided to take the one class with the residency. But, next quarter, I will take two classes for sure.  School is going well. To those who are going for their PhD or just in college period, in the comment, let me know how it’s going. Trust me, I know the struggle is real!

Writing…let’s see….I HAVENT done it! I feel like such a loser, lol. Granted, I know I’m  busy with other things, but I have to find some kind of quality time to get writing in. But, I know what my problem is. It’s YOUTUBE. I’m SO busy watching vlogs on youtube such as GabeBabeTV or Bamachick1101 and It’s Judy’s Life, that I will watch them hours on end when I could be writing. I know that I had a new cover posted already, but I still have to finish the last book. You remember, the one that I was doing for Nano last year, was almost finished and then my computer crashed. Yes, that one! It makes me so mad, that I have to pick up from a few chapters before. But, hey, I have to get it done right? Put up or shut up, is what my dad says. I will start writing again once I’m all moved in. This way there will be complete silence. I’m a work in progress when it comes to writing. But, on the flip side, I sold some of my other books at work the other day. That’s a plus! They encourage me to get back into writing. One girl said that she LOVED my first book Through Her Eyes and wanted to know what else I had. It made me feel good because I was really doubting myself as a writer lately. Just because I haven’t had the time to do it. Then I was thinking, ” Am I still a writer? Is this what my heart surrounds?” Of course, my list of goals and dream jobs have slightly changed, but I know what I will be successful in something. What a way to use all of my talents composed into one extraordinary job! Here is the goal. I still want to be able to write my books, screenplays, TV shows, etc…basically still be a writer and I now want to be a researcher as well. I’d like to work in academia as a researcher which consists of mostly qualitative research. Can I do it? I think I can. It will take a lot of hard work and focus, but I can do whatever I put my mind to.

What are your  goals and dreams?

S is for Serenity AtozChallenge

Lately, I’ve been in such a positive attitude, feeling very zen and all that good stuff!  To continue on my great theme, I’m feeling Serene. Yes, I’m peaceful and calm. There are some things in life that still bother me, but I’m learning to deal with it better. What has your mood been lately?

I woke up early ( something I barely do) and I’m feeling positive about it. My goal is to get a lot of writing done earlier during the day, than cramming so much at night. I am a work in progress, but is everyone! Today will be a good day. I’m very excited because the film festival that I entered two of my screenplays in is this week! Yes, and both of them are in the finals! Can you say, wow! I just pray and I have my fingers crossed that hope I win. For the day my plans are to finish  reading this  good book and finally start my pilot. I know I should have started it yesterday, but today’s a new day. I may even eat out for dinner. I don’t know! Stay tuned I will be featured on a guest post this thursday or friday and I will be talking about development and how to start the writing process. Also, in about a month, I will post an interview I did with an author! I’m so excited. Stay tuned and of course I’ll keep you posted on my progress with the contests!

Q is for Quiet Time A to Z Challenge

 

 

 

The past couple of days I’ve had so much on my mind, that I need to have my own quiet time. I know this is something that Pre-K has, but it’s so needed for me. Last night, I was watching the Carrie Diaries which is the high school version of Sex And The City and I must say that I love it. In fact, I’m loving YA more and more everyday. Thus far, my writing, consists of something that has to do with high school. I don’t know maybe I wish I was back in high school. I tell you what, I would do a few things differently. Anyway, back to my quiet time. It’s so relaxing and I can clear my mind of stress and worry. Lately, during my quiet time I’m reading or writing something.

This is my current read and I’m on chapter 17 and I’m loving it!

Stephen and I have been bonding through this book. I mean, it’s great!! During my quiet time, I sit on my bed with my burgundy curtains to the side and look out the window. The view isn’t fascinating, sure, there’s trash in my back yard along the streets with people’s cars parked. Drug dealers on the corner playing jacks with their ” friends”. But, when I look outside, I see something totally different during my quiet time. I see children playing and laughing, a woman gardening, and can hear the ice cream truck. My quiet time is usually when I imagine myself somewhere I’d want to be instead of where I am. I mean home isn’t the best because it’s not my own home, but it’s temporary and I make the best of it. My mind is always wondering with stories, ideas, questioning myself as far as my carer and well, my life period. I didn’t know that I was going to be a writer and try to be that writer full time. My family either thinks I’m crazy for pursuing a ” hobby” or they feel I have no plan for my life. Sure, they won’t say it to my face, but there’s always the awkward silence when I’m asked how’s the job hunt going or what have you been doing. Because my answer doesn’t suit theirs, I’m no longer talking about my plan or my life. The subject switches and in their mind I’m probably a failure, wasting time, or am lazy in their eyes. It’s funny what an awkward pause will make people think about. You ever wonder what really roams through someones mind during their quiet time? Or want to know what your friends or those who hang in your circle really think about you. If you ever want to find out, piss them off. When someone is mad, they will reveal their true colors. I love quiet time. It gets the creative juices flowing and I always have something to say, lol. What do you do on your quiet time? If you don’t have quiet time, develop some, it will make you less likely to go insane…at least for a while.

 

O is for Optimistic A to z Challenge

As a Sagittarius and a person who wants badly to succeed at everything I do, I will say I’m very optimistic.

Throughout my life, I have gone through so many tragedies it’s not even funny. Now that i’m 29 years young, it’s time to be optimistic. After all, it’s the only thing that’s keeping me going and keeping me sane. My writing takes a big part of my life right now. I’m sure that will change one day as new things arise like starting a family and getting married. I feel very optimistic about the contests and film festival that I’ve entered my work into. I don’t know for some reason, I really think I’m a winner on one of them. My confidence has grown tremendously not just as a person, but over all. But, I try to always be happy and chipper because I know it will help others who may have had a bad day. Don’t get me wrong, I still have my bad days, but even when I do, I try to still be happy about something. I learned a long time ago, that it doesn’t help anyone being sad, mad, or depressed at something all the time. So folks, don’t be a Debbie Downer! I know life happens and things may seem unbearable, but as my grandmother always said: ” There are people out there who are doing worse than you.” Once she said that, I didn’t harp on too many things that I thought was so terrible in my life.

Admiring My Daddy (PR)

 

As a child I was always a daddy’s girl.  We would go fishing ( well he’d fish), and I’d throw rocks in the water. It was our thing and I couldn’t wait to do it every weekend. My grandmother raised me and my brother. But, when it was the weekend I was so happy. I had my bag packed with a good book and my clothes getting ready to go to daddy’s house. I’d run downstairs and look outside at every car. He always blew the horn there times which meant ( I love you) and I knew to run out. Waiting, waiting, and waiting to hear that horn felt like decades. Then, I’d hear the horn and haul ass outside. My grand mom would always say, ” Krystol, I don’t get a hug or a kiss good bye?”  I’d always say, ” Sorry, Grandma.”  I always looked forward to going to my dad’s. Living with my grandmother was tough at times. Don’t’ get me wrong, she did the best she could, but our house was a bit unable due to drug abuse from my mother and uncles. I’m so happy everyone is clean and healthy now, but then man. I couldn’t’ wait to get a new change of scenery every weekend. My dad and I would go to the carnival, ride bikes, and best of all, play cards! Yes, I was a gambling queen at the age of 11. Hey, I know it’s bad, but I played for pennies or candy. As I got older the stakes went up. We would play a game called, ” Pitty Pat.” Now, that I’m 29 years old, I’m still a daddy’s girl. I moved back home from Charlotte, NC to be closer to me. It’s funny, now that I’m ready to move again, he doesn’t want me to go. But, it’s got to happen, right? I admire my dad’s strength and determination to keep going when the going get’s stuff. Dad says, ” when life gives you lemons, make a pie.” I would always laugh when he said that. But, I really understand, what he means. If you make the pie, it takes longer to eat, which means you have longer to get it together. I never understood his sayings as a child, but as an adult, I can appreciate what he has to say even more. I know he’s getting older, but he’s always on the go. Works two jobs ( everyday) and still has time to bowl with me ( on the wii). If that’s not a go getter I don’t know what is!

 

Writer’s Block Part 2

                                                                             

Hey viewers and writers!  I know that having writer’s block can be a pain in the you know what. I currently am suffering from it. But, I’m here to say don’t give up! There are time when you don’t feel like writing anything. Currently, that is my situation. I’m just like “blah”, I’ll write when I feel like it. This can last for up to two weeks. After that GET TA WRITING! I’m starting back writing again. I have my writing music available and my laptop ready. I will be writing Act 2 of my screenplay called I’ll Never Tell. I’ll elaborate with more details in another blog. I was told that if you don’t want to write, don’t. This has been my very saying for the past two weeks. Some of my friends who are writers will post their word count, or that they finished writing a few scenes. Then I think, ” Man, I want to do that too.” Now, I have gotten my mojo back. I want to know what motivates you to write? Do you have to be in a writing mood? As writers we have our own lives and do have normal jobs and life can happen. Stress can consume the mind and eat at you like a virus. I know that things happen but writing can be our escape. We can talk to our characters that live in our head and be in a world of our own. No one will understand what we are feeling when we are writing. It’s a writer’s thing, I say. We are writers will always be “weird, misunderstood, the odd one,etc.” People always have a “look” when you say that you are a writer. LOL…at least I’ve noticed it. Keep going, keep grinding. I know I am. 

#WriteOn

Some Inspiration from one of the greatest! 

“So okay – there you are in your room with the shade down and the door shut and the plug pulled out of the base of the telephone. You’ve blown up your TV and committed yourself to a thousand words a day, come hell or high water. Now comes the big question: What are you going to write about? And the equally big answer: Anything you damn well want. ” – Stephen King