Stop Making Excuses

As I sit home in my bed and watch Set It Up starring Lucy Lui and Taye Diggs ( potential relative), the story gave me the motivation to come back to you. As soon as I started to type with my acrylic nails, my gray and white assistant of a cat decided to wake up. Apparently he missed the typing on the laptop as well. The film is about a girl who is an assistant, but dreams of being a writer. Well, it still my dream, too. To write. I can’t be a writer if i am not writing. Is that writing 101 or .01? Sure i’ve got a Masters in writing and have written books, but what has the blockage so heavy? It’s the fear of being successful and not so successful at the same damn time. Excuse my language but then again, no don’t excuse it. I work in finance, but the written word needs me. I am one of those people who believe that everything happens for a reason, even this moment of coming to my eighth epiphany that I am supposed to write for a living. But, how do I earn money doing just that? There are no excuses anymore.

It’s time to dedicate my time into making this talent work for me. In advance I’m appreciative of those who take the time to read my blogs and leave a comment no matter how sporadic my posts are. Thanks, Mom, lol! So, I have about four books that I need to finish writing and I am going to find time to write them. This is where I want to be. Tapping the keys and writing sentences that make sense. Now that I am no longer making excuses, what are you going to do or have an interest in? There is still time for all of us to excel and become great at what ever our heart desires. Lets put in the work and get it done. As it gets hard or life gets in the way we have to continue to follow what our dreams are. We’ve got this! You’ve got this!

Unavoidable Suffering

Good morning everyone! It’s very early, but my energy and my words are ready. I was listening to a speech by Les Brown this morning and he said, ” If you are unhappy, figure out what will make you happy and do that.”  I shed a few tears because I knew I was guilty of not being happy.  As I sat on my bed I knew what was going to make me happy and what was missing. The love of words! It was by chance, my friend called me last night who’s an actor and have worked with Tyler Perry and doing some independent films. Last year he bought my screenplay, ” I’ll Never Tell”. He said,” Krystol, I know it’s been a year since I bought your script, but I just came from LA and I pitched it to a few directors who love it. He said, ” I don’t know if it will be picked up, but I’m going out on faith and I am going to make your film in LA.”

I said, ” Ty, you bought the film.” He said, ” Yea, but I didn’t write it. I haven’t changed anything,  we love it the way it is. If it become an indie or make it to a big screen you are the original writer and will get the credit.” Now, of course it’s in our contract, I get a writer credit, but the fact that he still holds to it says a lot. Then he asked about me writing and I said I have lost motivation. He said, ” You are a great writer whether it’s a book, film or TV show idea. Keep writing. Don’t stop. He said as a matter of fact, re-pitch your work to the celebrities you’ve worked with.”

It clicked, He was right. I’m working in finance and I enjoy it, but my heart is telling stories and putting them down on paper. I got the courage yet again because I was super confident now. I e-mailed the actor Omar Dorsey and Leon.

LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 23: Actor Omar J. Dorsey attends the premiere of DreamWorks Pictures and Universal Pictures’ “Thank You For Your Service” at Regal LA Live Stadium 14 on October 23, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images)

It was late. I know Leon is on the east coast and Omar on the west coast. I said a prayer and took a chance. I pitched my work to both and said what the synopsis was. Now, both men have read some of my work before and we have somewhat of a rapport being as though I interviewed them when I used to write for CNN I-report. Leon, actually e-mailed me back right away and requested the script. That is just the first step. I am excited that he loved my ” elevator pitch”.

I’m saying all of this not to boast or brag, but to inspire and hopefully restore your faith and your passion. It took my friend Tyrone to make me realize that I need to keep fighting. There are jobs that we hate or things are not bringing out your true self of what you want to be in life. It does not matter the age! Don’t allow unavoidable suffering stop you from trying and continuing to move forward. I let life get in the way of my craft. But, it’s not in vain at least not all the time. I am happy that I have this new found interest of finance and budgetiting because when I REALLY  REALLY make it as a writer, I will know how to handle my money. Then it got me thinking, God is preparing me for making the six figures that I keep praying about. I will be my own accountant and handle my own money.

I no longer want to be conditioned or convinced that I shouldn’t do something just because the few people in my life whom I’m value said so. I used to always say, ” oh I’ll tell my mom this cause I value her opinion, or I’ll tell my Dad this because I value his opinion or my best friends because I value their opinion. No more of that. I love you guys dearly, but I have to sink or swim on my own. Ask yourself, ” what your life be like if you decided to not tell anyone or ask anyone if you should lead your life a certain way and actually do it?” STEP OUT! Your family isn’t in your shoes, your friends or foes are not in your shoes. Try it for yourself, not because people think you should or should not do it because of their fears or them holding you back.

I just know I can’t let my life go by without truly giving it my all in this writing business. Life is too short. Look at Kobe Bryant. He started playing the game at 2 years and never quit because it was what he wanted to do. He had a full life playing professional ball for 20 years. What is the benefit of listening to yourself? What is the beneift of not fighting for your dream? Don’t allow unavoidable suffering stop you from playing the game and have you watching on the sidelines wishing you’d be called up to play. Sometimes you have to stand up while the game is played and walk forward so they can see you coming.

Accomplishing Our Purpose, On Purpose

The statue above has been my mood for a couple of days now. Is it your mood as well when it comes to your purpose? Currently, I’m reading The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason. If you haven’t read it, PLEASE DO! The story that I just finished is called, ” Seven Cures For A Lean Purse.” As I read these cures, I noticed that it was a replica of how to get in tune with your personal finances. It reminded me of Dave Ramsey, Suze Orman, Tony Robbins, Warren Buffet, all of the greats who have had the opportunity to become wealthy. But, there was a section in the book that spoke on accomplishing your purpose.

Now…

We often hear or have heard to trust the process, but how do you do that on purpose or with our purpose? There comes a time when we feel like we have our lives figured out to a T and we know what we will become and how we will benefit from it. It’s funny, my mom just said today if you want to make God laugh, make plans. We learn so many things and can be passionate about all of them, but still have trouble seeking what it is we are not only good at, but can do that will make us money and we won’t get bored. Or, is that just me?

When I was a senior in highschool, my father told me to take up accounting because it made $60,000 a year at that time. I wanted no parts of it. I was afraid because I wasn’t the best at math in school. I got a C. He told me, if you can count your money, you can be an accountant. Well, I wanted to help people. I loved giving advice and writing. First, it went to being working in Human Services, which was my first major at community college, I got wind of psychology and fell in LOVE! Then, I wanted to be a shrink and diagnose people mainly because the people in my household were crazy, lol. Then, I wrote my first book after a very bad break up that led to more break ups. I wanted to tell that story and I did. Now, thirteen years later, I develop this passion for personal finance. I noticed my current and previous roles were in the financial services industry. I did collections, customer service for student loans, collected on credit cards and now working with accounts who have six figures and will call about being charged twice for an item on their card. I mean, I get it, it’s their money. I’ve become fascinated with my journey of becoming debt free and personal finance. Crunching numbers, budgeting and figuring out where money goes, is enjoyable to me. Now, I find myself wishing I would have majored in accounting, lol.

How do we accomplish our purpose on purpose, if we are still trying to fine tune what it is? Granted, we learn through trial and error, this job, that job, this opportunity, that opportunity. What will stick that is ours and ours alone? At least the talent portion of it and wanting to do it. They say, if you love what you do, then it’s never a job. No matter if you know your purpose or you are still fine tuning it, keep at it and be the best at whatever it is you are doing. Excel in that job, career or entrepreneur on purpose until your purpose finds you!

In Life, How Do You Trust The Process?

There comes a time when life gets hard. You always ask yourself, ” When will things get better?” Lately, this has been my question with everything going on. I love to keep it real on my blog. I do not think of it as telling my business or putting myself out there. In a way I am putting myself out there, but that is because I am giving you me. My reality is not a great one right now. Still on the search for a job has become very daunting and stressful. I have not thought about  suicide, but I will say the rejection does get to me. Tonight, I listened to an interview by DeVon Franklin and he talked about his new book called ” The Ten Hollywood Commandments” and I LOVED the interview. It spoke to me in a way where I know that in my heart everything will be fine. Last year I did a service in AmeriCorps and my program manager told me to ” trust the process” and I would roll my eyes. In turn, I had no clue what it mean and how it applied to my life. Out of ignorance, I will say that I did not appreciate the program until now that I am out of it. Watching the interview, DeVon said, ” You can’t wear the crown until you have held it.” At first I did not understand what he was talking about until he said, ” you have to go through the process of serving until you make it to the top and then once you do, you still serve.” Lying in my bed, I was like, ” Oh shit!” What we go through is only temporary until the better opportunity presents itself.

It brought me back to when I was in a training for AmeriCorps and my program manager said to trust the process. Always be willing to serve and do your best. Now that I think about it, my mindset was horrible. I was horrible with my thinking that I was better or the position was ” beneath me.” Then I heard DeVon say, ” When you are at the bottom, what is beneath you?” The statement resonated with me so much. I was so on my high-horse when I was in fact at the bottom and should have been happy to serve. My friend and other person who was in the program serving and he is employed at that very place today. I was not offered a position even though I did my job. It’s funny how life will make you take a nice big slice of humble pie. Thinking back this other person was eager and happy to learn. He trusted the process and made it work for him where as I complained about the pay, the education and how the service was beneath me.  The good thing is I can ALWAYS learn from my mistakes and approach things differently. I am not a promoter for DeVon Franklin, but I really enjoyed his book, ” The Wait” and when I am able to I will purchase his new book. I chose to take his word and trust the process with my writing, a job and even life.

Can Rejections Ruin Your Confidence As A Writer?

This Is Deep…

As a writer, it is hard for others to see your work the way that you do. I mean, how many no’s can we take? J. K. Rowling took a one too many no’s before she got her yes. I tweeted Angie Thomas, ( author of The Hate You Give) and she gave me some sound advice. She said, ” All you need is that one yes.” But, it seems with the more rejections we get as a writer, the less excited we feel that our yes will come. With writing, can the rejections ruin our confidence?

Okay…

Growing up as children we all hated the word NO. So, it is only right that as an adult we still do not like the word, especially when it comes to something we think is so perfect like our writing. I will be honest, in my lifetime, I have given up on my writing abilities three times due to rejection. There was one time I was querying agents for a book and I did not understand why I was getting rejected. Once, I did my research the correct way and not listened to what other writers were telling me, I realized why. My stories were not aligned with the correct word count.

Once I realized my wrong doing, I self-published all of my books. For a while, the ,money was great, but after a while, the money stops. Then I felt like I had exhausted all possibilities to make money from this way. The more writing I was doing, the more I felt that I had to re-invent myself in some way. Now, I have a completed book that I want to be published the traditional route. The process of getting an agent is tough, but it will be worth it once I get my yes. This experience is damping my spirits just a bit, but I am not going to give up. I said to myself, ” My stories are not good and I am throwing in the towel.” Then, I had someone inbox me via social media and asked me when was my next book coming out. The message that the young lady sent me was HOPE. In that moment, I realized that I could not writing or telling stories. They were in me and it is my duty to share it with the world. Never give up, keep the confidence and the faith. You are a writer.

Writing Woes

Hey readers! It’s Wednesday and that usually is the least favorite day of the week for most. If you are like me, I rather enjoy this day. It is in the middle. If you have writing goals like I do, then it should be a good day. Today, I am focusing on reading, but getting my writing schedule together for tomorrow. I have a story that I need to finish. I had stopped it to complete my latest project, but now I am thinking about the story more and more. What do you do when you can not get a story out of your head? You write!!

As a writer we have so much on your minds with life that the woes can bring our writing down. At times we can be so lost in ourselves that our craft suffers. I know I have had my share of woes this year. With trying to find a job and still thinking about my writing, the writing woes has really done a number on me. But, if you focus on the positive, the negative will eliminate itself. Or so it should. Channel the positive energy with your life and your writing. It took me a few years to eliminate negative things and people from my life. At one point, I thought they had to stay because we used to be close or it was being ” nice. Well, not anymore. I am happy with where my life is headed for the most part. The only thing left to do is get an agent so that I can write books for a living full time. It’s almost every writers dream, right?

Life can be much and it also happens. We can not control the things that are going to happen. Meaning, in our lives what we can control is how we react to things and people. The last thing I want is my writing to suffer because of things that are out of my control. Writing woe is not me and it most certainly will be you. Make a schedule and write just a little bit a day. At the end of the day, when you feel that you have no one and life is not perfect, your words are always there to carry you through.

Writing Prompt

Happy Sunday! Grab your hot beverage and get ready to experience something great with me. I know you maybe saying, ” Krystol, what are you up to now?” I smile devilishly and fold my hands together. Okay, it is not too crazy, but I want all of my writers that are subscribed to my channel, to participate in a writing prompt with me. Let’s get started!

Writing goals to me are checklists of things that you plan on doing in a current story or with other writing avenues. I have many writing goals and I have to learn to take them one goal at a time instead of trying to do everything at once. This is no bueno! Do not attempt to achieve goals that way. I am still a work in progress. But, with that being said, let us write out our goals. If you are comfortable, write yours in the comments or you can even do it in a journal. I have a writing journal that is specifically for writing ideas and books.

1. Obtain a full-time writing job – This one may not seem out of the ordinary since I talk about this often on my blog. I want to write full-time for a living whether it is with a company, Magazine, Journalism, or even a TV show. I would even write screenplays for a living if the pay was right. Now, I know that writers mostly get the short end of the stick when it comes to payment whether you are a freelance writer or writing full-time with a company. My advice, stand your ground and try and to get almost what you deserve.
2. New Your Times Best Sellers List – This has always been a dream of mine. I mean, who does not want NYTBS at the end of their name. I still want to write as many books as I can in order to make that happen.
3. Agent – I NEED an agent like yesterday! My writing is so diverse ranging from books, screenplays, TV pilots and more. The sky is the limit for what I to do with my writing. I want to get a book deal and sign with a great agent. This will happen.
4. Big Screen – I want to see my name on the big screen of something that the entire world will see. Just to see written by ” Krystol Diggs” on a major platform is such an honor to me. I can not wait until that goal is achieved. I hope that it happens before I am thirty five years old. Time is ticking.
5. Coach – I would love to be a writing coach for new writers. This means setting up their goals for themselves, giving advice, and even counseling them to excel with their writing.

I ask all the writers who are reading this and not just liking this blog, what are your writing goals?

Writing Update

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday! I wanted to take the time to tell you guys how my writing has been. I must say that I am LOVING it! This new book is a great one and I am really enjoying the writing process for this book. The pace of my writing is slow and steady, but I am getting my daily word count in which is amazing. As stated in yesterday’s blog, this book will really put me on the map. I strongly believe that.

Here Is My Daily Process

I have a desk in my living room, but everything else is on it. Papers, binders, books, you name it. Right now, my bedroom has made the best desk as of late. It is comfortable and I love being in the relaxed state when it is time to write. So, since starting Camp NanoWriMo, I have been writing my best words at night between 9-10pm all the way until 11pm. My eyes start to get heavy and it is time to turn the keys off. My average a day has been between 2-3k. My goal is to write at least 3,500 words a day to finish on time. I started a week late. My goal is to write 70,000 words. To some this may not be a lot, but for me, this is the LONGEST book that I have written in my writing career. My music choices are Evanescence, Bruno Mars, R. Kelly and DeBarge. I do take breaks to eat and get some snacks.  My snack choices are Veggie straws, water and Gatorade. Who knew? Today, I am trying something new and will attempt to write all day today. Wish me luck!

 Tips That Will Help You Along The Way

1. Time Management – Whether you are writing during the day or night, make sure you have a scheduled time of when you can write. If you can a write an hour a day go for it. If you are feeling the story and write longer than that, that is great too.
2. Writing Partner – If you have a writer friend to write with you during your time, it will make things more exciting, especially on days when you feel that you can not write anything. This are called writing sprints. There are many Facebook writing groups who do sprints daily for an hour or two hours.
3. Writing Goals – Always set a word count goal for the times that you are writing. When you have uninterrupted time ( meaning no scrolling through Facebook or YouTube, just straight writing), you will be able to calculate how many words you can write in that time span.
4. Writing Mentor – It may be hard to find this. A writing mentor is someone who will guide you and always give you the inspiration to write. My mentor  Deatri 5 Crafty Top Writing Books ( see her book, ” How To Become A Successful Author). She always encourages me to write in a way that it is beneficial to me. Deatri has over 15 titles out and has tapped into TV and Screenwriting with my assistance :).
5. Outline – I know this is weird for outline to be number five, but ” read” me out, lol. Have an outline for where you want your current project to go. What do I mean? Well, make an outline of your writing progress once the book is completed. So you may have editing, ( depending on what kind you choose whether it is line edit, developmental edit, etc), querying letters, proof reading and more. Make a plan on what you plan to do once the writing portion is completed. After all, writing the book is the easy part. It is what comes next that is a challenging, yet rewarding task.

Can You Be Your Own Support System?

Happy Thursday!

We go through many things in our life where we need and desire support from others. But, when we are able to gain that support from our friends and loved ones, are we able to seek it in ourselves? Yes! It is called determination and motivation. Now, with my writing career, I am sure that there are MANY people who disapprove of my career path. In turn that is okay, but when you have people like that, it is time to rid of toxic waste.  In my opinion being a writer is a lonely world until your readers support your work. In my time as a writer, I have seen some great reviews and even some bad ones. I took a step back and re-assessed the bad reviews. I take into consideration what the readers have to say. My work may look great in my eyes, but the readers are the real judges.

With that being said, I motivate myself often to make the next book or writing endeavor better than the last one. I wanted to make sure that my words were relatable and valid for anyone who even cracked a page or clicked to see my work. My motivation and determination for myself has to be strong because everyone does not see my dream the way that I do. Sure, you will get discouraged when rejection happens, but use that rejection for fuel to continue to work on your craft and be the best writer that you can be. One of my goals this year was to keep my blog updated and relevant. There were times where I did not wrote for months and I saw the change in that versus now to me writing on a daily basis. I appreciate your support with my blog.  You liking my blog posts makes me feel good about the posts that I will continue to have.  A year ago, I did a vision board with my previous position and I look at it every day now just to motivate and remind myself that I am destined for greatness. Now, I feel like I have to keep my work to myself in a way and not tell everyone my dreams because I will not get the support that I give myself.

I do have a journal with goals in it. I never look at it. In my mind, I know what I achieve to do. Every time I achieve a new thing, I go back to my goals journal and see how close or far I came to achieving them. Thus far, I am on track because I am motivating myself. Currently, I am motivated and determined to finish this novel for NanoWriMo way before the end of the July. I really believe that this book is going to put me on the map. Never allow anyone to tell you that you can not or deter you from your dreams.

Are You Optimistic Enough?

Happy Monday! Let’s Be Optimistic and Make It Great!

But, can we really, you know, do it? Life can get us down, but it is up to us, to keep it together. Now, I am living witness of not being optimistic the last few months. It brings me to shame to, because I’m a Sagittarius and being optimistic is one our main traits. I used to be very optimistic until life started to show me that everything that glittered was not gold. I mean, I wanted it to be gold, well, I would rather that it was. But, let’s face it, the world does not work our way, which leads me to being more optimistic about life.

We often focus on the things that happen and are not working in our lives that we forget how blessed we truly are. Not to get all religious on you, but the bible says, ” When you are grateful for little, he will bless you with more.” This has been my new approach of late, being happy where I am. I have a roof over my head and food in my mouth. Things will get better in time.

Being More Optimistic

The term optimistic means, ” hopeful and feeling confident for the future”.  Understand that you are not your circumstances or your struggle.  This also has to do with our mindset as well. Check out my post about having a positive mindset. Here are some ways that you can work on your optimism. I got some help from Wiki on how to be optimistic.
1. Recognize the good and bad in your life and examine how you’ve been affected by each. Optimism doesn’t mean you have to feel “happy” all the time. In fact, trying to force feelings of happiness during potentially traumatic experiences can be unhealthy.  Instead, attune yourself to the full range of emotions in your life, accepting that the negative as well as positive feelings are a natural part of human experience. Trying to repress a certain type of emotion can cause severe emotional distress. Not focusing more on one type of emotion than the other can actually help you become more adaptive and proactive in future unexpected situations. This will increase your ability to be optimistic and resilient in the face of uncertainty.
Negative feelings can become a conditioned habit over time. Avoid blaming yourself for negative emotions and associations. Blame is unhelpful because it doesn’t look forward to how you can grow; it looks backward at what has already happened.
Instead, focus on being mindful of when these negative emotions occur. A journal could help you do this. Write down when you experience negative feelings or thoughts, then examine their contexts and explore alternative ways of responding to them.
For example, imagine that someone cuts you off in traffic. You respond by feeling angry, honking your horn, and perhaps yelling at the driver even though s/he can’t hear you. You could write in your journal what happened, how it made you feel, and what your immediate response was. Don’t judge yourself as “right” or “wrong,” just write down what happened.
Next, take a step back and think about what you’ve written. Was your response in accordance with your values and the type of person you want to be? If not, what could you have done differently? What do you think you were really responding to? For example, perhaps you weren’t really angry at the driver; maybe you had a stressful day and allowed your stress to explode on that one person.
Look forward when you write these entries. Don’t use them just as a place to wallow in negative feelings. Think about what you can learn from the experience. What can you use to grow as a person? Can you use this experience to inform other experiences? If you encounter a similar situation next time, how might you respond in a way that is in line with your values? For example, perhaps realizing that you responded with anger because of your stressful day could help you realize that everyone makes mistakes and encourage you to feel more empathetic with other people the next time someone shows anger toward you. Having a pre-existing idea of how you want to respond to negative situations can also help you in the tough moments.

2. Practice mindfulness. Mindfulness is a key component of optimism because it encourages you to focus on acknowledging your emotions in the moment without judging them. Often, negative reactions arise when we try to struggle against our feelings, or when we allow ourselves to become so blinded by our emotions that we forget that we can control how we respond to them.  Focusing on your breathing, accepting your body and your feelings, and learning from your emotions rather than denying them can help you become comfortable with yourself, which is important when those negative emotions arise.
Mindfulness meditation has been shown by many studies to help with feelings of anxiety and depression. It can actually reprogram the way your body responds to stress.
Look for mindfulness meditation classes in your community. You can also find guided meditations online, such as at the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center[16] or BuddhaNet  (And of course, there are several great tutorials on Wikihow.)
You don’t have to commit a huge amount of time to meditation to see its effects. Just a few minutes a day can help you become more aware and accepting of your emotions.[18]

3. Identify whether your inner monologue is an optimist or a pessimist. Our inner monologue is a great indicator of whether we naturally take a positive or negative outlook on life. Pay attention to your inner monologue over the course of a day and see if any of the following forms of negative self-talk (that is, your inner monologue) are appearing regularly:
Magnifying the negative aspects of a situation and filtering out all of the positive ones.
Automatically blaming yourself for any negative situation or event.
Anticipating the worst in any given situation. The drive-through coffee shop gets your order wrong and you automatically think that the rest of your day will be a disaster.
You see things only as good or bad (also known as polarization). In your eyes, there is no middle ground.

4. Look for the positives in your life. It’s important to re-orient your inner monologue to focus on the positive aspects of both you as an individual and the world around you. Although positive thinking is only one of the steps towards becoming a true optimist, the effects of positive thinking for both your body and mind can be significant, such as:
Increased life span
Lower rates of depression
Lower levels of distress
Improved immune system
Better psychological and physical well-being
Reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease
Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress

Some of these situations I witness first hand, especially depression. But, now I have a renewed mindset and better control of knowing I can’t worry about things out of my control. Daily, it is good to speak positive affirmations and surround yourself with positive people. I hope that these tips have helped you a lot as it has for me.