Kern Carter's Blog, page 117
June 29, 2021
Hacks For Lazy Writers
Image by Luiss VillasmilAsking myself the question, “Am I pushing myself hard enough?” usually comes after comparing myself to other writers. I look at their achievements and often wonder if I’m doing enough or if what I am doing is working. If single mothers can balance multiple jobs, school and taking care of their kids, what’s stopping me from working a little harder?
That’s before I understood what it cost to achieve your goals, how overwhelming balancing multiple things can be, and its impact on the quality of your work when you don’t have support.
Writing became a passion that I wanted to turn into a career, but it wouldn’t take off without investing more time into my development. It wasn’t enough to be reading and writing more. I also had to learn how to market my content to increase my readership. I knew I was good, but I wanted to be great, and I learned the difference between being good and great is the investment you make in yourself.
My website is where I started publishing my content, but I wanted the credibility of a publication. I didn’t know where to begin, so I enrolled in a mentorship program. When I first connected to my mentor and told her I was a writer, she said, “how are people suppose to know you’re a writer if you don’t write? It wasn’t that I wasn’t writing, I wasn’t writing enough, and I wasn’t utilizing my social media effectively to reflect the writing I was doing.
Once the articles got published, my marketing process would consist of a photo, a caption, and some hashtags. I thought posting once was enough for my writing to go viral, but my weekly reports didn’t reflect those numbers.
My mentor taught me how to increase the awareness of my articles by utilizing excerpts and various photos to pique the interest of my readers. Now my followers weren’t just liking and scrolling to the next post; they became more engaged after reading the excerpts and were now clicking the link in my bio to read the articles.
To grow your following and remind your followers of “what you do for a living,” you need to post more frequently. A quick and efficient way to do that is to take five excerpts from your articles and post them over five days on your social media platforms.
Both my followers and my engagements increased instantly. It was a friendly and exciting way of reminding people that I am a writer and that my latest article is out for their viewing pleasure.
Still, I asked myself am I doing everything I can to be the most productive? Is my work ethic matching my ambition?
My mentor told me she would be up as early as five in the morning to get work done. I’m not a morning person, but getting up that early was one of the few ways to get work done without the distractions my family and my day job would bring. I was struggling to prioritize my writing and struggling to remain consistent.
Waking up early and working while everyone was asleep was one thing. Still, I had to establish boundaries and hold people accountable to produce the quality of work I knew I was capable of producing. To keep me accountable, I wrote my goals for everyone in my household to see on a whiteboard. I utilized my calendar by putting working blocks into my schedule to prioritize my writing time. I registered for writing retreats and participated in writing sprints where other people would hold me accountable. The guilt of not working on anything during the scheduled time is what kept me disciplined.
Nothing happens overnight; I would be lying if I said I didn’t have a sense of entitlement for thinking I should be further than I am now, but what I’ve learned is where I am is exactly where I should be.
Sure, I’d love to be at the level of Kenya Barris, but the reality is that I haven’t made the sacrifices or put in the time that Kenya has. I’m just getting started, and I’m looking forward to the journey and trusting the process one page at a time.
Hacks For Lazy Writers was originally published in CRY Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
Call For Submissions — How Are You Dealing With Jealousy
It’s a word we writers and creators shy away from, but if we’re able to keep it all the way real with ourselves, jealousy is a thing. A real thing. Something a lot of us feel in some way when we see other creatives flourishing.
And just to be clear, you can feel jealous and still be happy for someone. The jealousy I’m speaking about is that feeling in the pit of your stomach that you can’t shake. It’s you reading a post about another writer achieving something outstanding and wishing it could be you. Especially when that person is in your circle, those feelings become amplified.
In most cases, we don’t act on these emotions. We’re mature enough and genuinely are pleased to see one of our peers elevate in their career. But feelings are much harder to control so let’s talk about it.
How do you deal with jealousy? What do you do to not compare yourself to other creators?
NEW RULE:You can submit to this or ANY of our past writing prompts. Just scroll through our previous newsletters. They’ll be marked “Call for Submissions.”
Same rules still applyIf you’re already a writer for CRY, go ahead and submit.If you’re not a writer for CRY but would like to submit to this request, let us know and we’ll add you ASAP.Be as creative as you want in your submissions. As long as you stick to the topic, we’ll consider it.Just because you submit doesn’t mean we’ll post. If you haven’t heard back from us in three days, consider that a pass.Please reach out if you have any questions at all. If you are new to Medium, here’s how you submit a draft to a publication.
Call For Submissions — How Are You Dealing With Jealousy was originally published in CRY Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
June 22, 2021
Call For Submissions — Are You Just Lazy?
Every so often, I sit alone and ask myself a few questions: am I pushing myself hard enough? Am I doing everything I can to be my most productive? Is my work ethic matching my ambition?
If in my heart I can confidently answer yes to all of these questions, then I know I can live with the results. But there are times I can’t answer affirmatively, and in those moments, I know there’s no one to blame but myself.
Our writing prompt this week is about accountability. Are you holding yourself accountable? Are you doing what you’ve promised yourself you should be doing in order to reach your goals? Do you have real reasons for not being where you think you should be or, simply put, are you being lazy?
NEW RULE:You can submit to this or ANY of our past writing prompts. Just scroll through our previous newsletters. They’ll be marked “Call for Submissions.”
Same rules still applyIf you’re already a writer for CRY, go ahead and submit.If you’re not a writer for CRY but would like to submit to this request, let us know and we’ll add you ASAP.Be as creative as you want in your submissions. As long as you stick to the topic, we’ll consider it.Just because you submit doesn’t mean we’ll post. If you haven’t heard back from us in three days, consider that a pass.Please reach out if you have any questions at all. If you are new to Medium, here’s how you submit a draft to a publication.
Call For Submissions — Are You Just Lazy? was originally published in CRY Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
June 21, 2021
June 19, 2021
Making Zines — Stress-Free Art, Just for Me
The approval and validation of your art only needs to come from you.
June 18, 2021
June 16, 2021
June 15, 2021
Is There Such a Thing As Stress-Free Creativity?
I’ve been a creative person for as long as I could remember. Outside of writing, I love doing anything creative like crafts, puzzles, painting, listening to different music genres, and even enjoying creative problem-solving. While I love being a creative soul, sometimes I get pretty frustrated when something I create ends up not being exactly what I expected it to be.
I have endless amounts of poetry and stories from when I was a teenager up until today. Most of what I’ve written was my own private thoughts let out on the pages for therapeutic relief, and even then, I found myself stressed for having such intense emotions.
Although I will say, the writing prompt that I wrote about my bisexuality had me feeling genuinely happy to have finally written it and to be entirely out as a bisexual woman. Years of stress and panic have finally been made into something beautiful, and I’m proud of being free to express who I really am. I get that stress is a part of life, but shouldn’t I feel happiest when I’m creating all the time?
For example, I recently applied for a full-time writing job and did great with the interview part. When it came to the written assessment part of the interview, I tried my hardest to make my work stand out and did my best. It was tough to hear that although my work was impressive, the company chose a more qualified candidate. I felt and still feel defeated and stressed for nothing.
I love writing pieces that connect with readers. However, there are days when I wish I could take it easier on myself to enjoy the process, fall in love with learning new writing techniques and breathe and pace myself. This is why this week, I will challenge myself to create freely and not worry about constant perfectionism. Really challenge me to create without allowing myself to be stressed about making something beautiful out of pain.
I think that being creative free from stress is possible. Thinking happy thoughts, listening to upbeat music, reading an excellent uplifting book or article, and doing whatever else I feel will help boost those serotonin levels in my mixed-up mind. If anyone else has some tips for me on what they do to feel stress-free in the creative process, please don’t hesitate to let me know in the comments. Happy creating!!
Is There Such a Thing As Stress-Free Creativity? was originally published in CRY Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
June 14, 2021
Call For Submissions: Stress-Free Creativity
How are you finding freedom and solace in writing or creating?
As I write this, I wonder if stress-free creativity is an oxymoron? Is it possible to create without any stress at all?
I think so. We all started writing or painting or designing because it intrigued us. We found it interesting and then eventually fell in love with the craft. Sometimes that love can get muddled, but that’s what we’re here to talk about.
What does stress-free creativity look like to you? Are you creating something that only you see? How do you remove the pressure that often comes with creating for public consumption?
Even if creating is our full-time job, we should designate at least a portion of our creating to a safe space. Somewhere where the stress to deliver is minimal. Is this something you do right now? Let us know.
Same rules as always:**NEW RULE: you can submit to this or ANY of our past writing prompts. Just scroll through our previous newsletters. They’ll be marked “Call for Submissions.”If you’re already a writer for CRY, go ahead and submit.If you’re not a writer for CRY but would like to submit to this request, let us know and we’ll add you ASAP.Be as creative as you want in your submissions. As long as you stick to the topic, we’ll consider it.Just because you submit doesn’t mean we’ll post. If you haven’t heard back from us in three days, consider that a pass.Please reach out if you have any questions at all. If you are new to Medium, here’s how you submit a draft to a publication.
Call For Submissions: Stress-Free Creativity was originally published in CRY Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
