Happy Writing

Writer Spotlight: Magnolia C. Carter

Follow the fabulous Magnolia C. Carter (The MCC to those in the know!) on Instagram at: @theemagnoliacarter.

Magnolia C. Carter is a passionate writer. She is present, dedicated and aware of how demanding writing can be! When asked about her writing journey, she will smile and say: “This is what happens with boredom and an overactive imagination.”

Her inspirations come from three things, “the three M’s” as she calls it: music, men, and mischief. Magnolia says that her mission with her writing is to ‘get everything out.’

When asked about her favorite thing to write? “Erotica…and hoetry.” When asked what hoetry is, she describes it thus: “Hoetry is the full expression of female sexuality…without regret.”

Well, now.

When asked how she defines success as a writer, Magnolia says she’s unsure. “Success is a weird term to me. I think the fact that I’m even writing is success! Successful writers are those that keep writing.”

So far, there is one book of poetry that Magnolia published under her mother’s maiden name, Read (like the color—RED)-Possession And The Nine-Tenths (available on Amazon and Kindle). With all the writing she’s doing, she’s starting her website, and two collections of poetry brewing—and a novel—Him, Her & Me. “I’m just getting it done.”

When asked about writing advice, Magnolia keeps it simple. “Best advice? Get it off your head. Then deal with it when it’s done.”

Indeed. Deal with it when it’s done.

The I In You Series-IMAGE

What Do You Want To Show?

​The hardest thing in this process pathway from getting what is in your head to and in the world outside of it, is converting thought into image. Since the onus of what is in your head, hiding in your imagination, is up to you. 

IT IS UP TO YOU.

​As a minority writer, you control the narrative, the story that you want to tell. No one else. Do not allow the world around you to adjust your lens. Let no one distract for what it is you want to show! What you have to tell, what is on the inside of you, can only be told by you. As James Baldwin said:  “Fire the imaginary White man that sits on your shoulder!”

​Don’t fall into troupes—they are only formulas! In the hand of any good scientist or alchemist, a formula is a tool. It is meant to be used, reconstructed and re-evaluated to suit the needs to those who have the wherewithal to change what they see in front of them. 

​Do not be discouraged by those who can’t see what you are creating. Do not be dismayed by those who cannot support what you are creating! They are not your concern! What you must be concerned with is what you want to show the world! What is on the inside of your head? What part of that do you want to share with the world? Is there more you to come? If so, keep going. 

​

See you next week!

Encouragement Pages-04/10/2020

Today, I want you to embrace the process which has taken you to the world of your current work in progress.

Embrace the research that will come.

Embrace the stretching of your talent–which will make it a skill.

Embrace where the story is taking you…and enjoy where you end up. You can always go back and change it later. But you have to get to the end first–and something that is the hardest thing.

With Love & Ink,

JBHarris

Call What Calls To You

“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.”
-Ernest Hemingway

What scares you about that you’re writing? What is the most intriguing thing about what you are creating? What about your work calls to you?

What is this call you ask?

The call is the incessant thinking about what it is you are creating. The call will dictate how the story/story idea will be shaped–through the force of your will of course. Chase that.

Chase the things that draw you in about the story. Chase the characters and their development, settings, horror, plots and all of their twists! But chase them. You never know what you may come across. But if you never chase–if you never hear the call–how much story will you miss?

That fear of not adding what is needed to a story, to draw your reader in, this is devastating. The nature of the beast of writing demands you pay attention to what you are creating.

Pay attention. Answer the call. Get to writing.

Encouragement Pages-12/27/2019

You have 4 days until the end of the year. That means you have 96 hours until there is a new decade staring you in the face. With that cold reality, I want to remind you that you can do it.

Do what, you might ask? You can still do all you desire to do. The time you have to create, to manifest, to think, to plan is still there.

96 hours.

You still have time.

With Love & Ink,

JBHarris

Encouragement Pages-12/06/2019

The most insufferable thing about writing can be all the things you want to write, or running out of steam with a WIP that you were Gung-Ho about.

Utterly frustrating.

However, don’t dispair.

Here are three things you can do about this:

1.) Take a break from the work. Rest is the best energizer.

2.) Change the POV. This may grant your more flexibility in plot, character development or setting.

3.) Revamp. Sometimes the main plot and the subplot are at war–you want one more than the other. Try making the subplot the main plot. Don’t be scared to challenge yourself.

Take the tools and run with them. You can do it!

With Love & Ink,

JBHarris

Encouragement Pages-12/02/2019

There are 29 days until the end of the year.

You have 29 days to start, revamp, revise and rewrite your WIP or begin another one!

Don’t make the mistake of trying to put off the writing due to the lateness of the hour. There will never be a great time to write. That is why you make time to write.

Make the time.

Take the time.

Make up the time.

Get to work.

With Love & Ink,

JBHarris

…Give Thanks

There is a rhyme and reason to creativity; this thrusting of magic and letters and colors to make the world better.

Not everyone can do it!

There are people in the world that desire such creativity, and are devoid of it. They copy it, and never have one original thought. But you, dear one? You, my fellow oracles/writers/storytellers, there are worlds inside of you.

Universes.

Peoples.

Languages.

Lovers.

The doubts are to be acknowledged and released–never held or kept. If they are kept, they become weights and anchors.

Be brave, dear ones.

Write.

Encouragement Pages-08/19/2019-Begin The Beginning

The scary part is always the start.

The scary part will ever be not even the part where you decide to begin, as Stephen King advises. It will be where you decide you have an idea you want to explore. When you decide you want to take a daydream, a random thought, and stretch it to a reading reality.

I want you to know picking an idea is scarier than actually writing about it.

But write anyway.

With Love & Ink,

JBHarris