I Have Conquered NaNoWriMo!!!

Hello lovelies,
Look a vlog!! I know I know, I keep talking about being better at this whole vlogging thing, I'm trying. I really am. *hang head in shame* But anyway, this is a celebration video because I have CONQUERED NaNoWriMo! Watch the craziness below. 



Thanks everyone for watching! You guys are the best! Please let me know if you have any questions for me. 

How did you do this month?

And don't forget, there's a giveaway going on for hardcover copy of Keeper of the Lost Cities. Go and enter!

Much love, 
Valia 

NaNoWriMo Shenanigans #2: Madness & Lessons Learned

That’s right. NaNo is MADNESS! The gifs below explain my feels precisely.

Anyone else in the same boat as me? Raise your hand. Oh, I see those hands. Thank you! I’m not alone. 

Anyway, I know I didn’t post my weekly last week, but I decided I’ll do a little two week update today. 

I have to be honest, even with the madness and the headaches and the oh-my-goodness-am-I-going-to-be-able-to-meet-my-word-count I’m having a BLAST! I’ve never given NaNo as much of a chance as I’m doing this year and it’s teaching me so much. Guess what? I’ll share a few of those things below.

NaNoWriMo has taught me:

1. That I can be on a tight deadline and write stuff down. 

- This is a big one for me because I’ve always felt like if I’m pressured I won’t be able to write anything. My brain will freeze, my hands will refuse to cooperate, you know, the whole shebang. But the truth is, I’m actually great with deadlines and now I know I can do it in my writing life as well. 

2. That I can write nonsense. 

- And I’m serious about this. I’m such a little perfectionist when it comes to my writing it’s downright ridiculous. We all know that NaNo is a place to write, not edit, but I still catch myself. One way this has happened is that I’ve been sending my completely ridiculous and unedited pages to my fabulous CP (and she hasn’t left me yet).

3. That I’m capable of more than I thought. 

- This is a big one as well. What I realized is that I’m actually really good at writing at least 3k a night if I sit down and do it. For me, that’s huge because I thought I was going to drown in 1667. Yet, here I am, still swimming!

I know these might not seem all that big to you guys, but it’s an amazing accomplishment for me. While I know I still have nine days to go and I can totally fail at my word count and whatnot, but I can take these three things away from the whole experience and be happy with it. There a few other things NaNo has taught me that I might share in my last post. But until then, hope this was a bit of an encouragement. 

Word count: 39,800

        How are you doing?

Happy writing, 

Valia 

Road Trip Wednesday: NaNoWriMo Inspiration

Hello lovelies,
So how you doing there? Freaking out yet? It's day 14 of NaNo and let me tell you, I'm still having a blast! YA Highway has been such an awesome picker-upper during my morning routines with their Carpool emails, I don't even know how to thank them!
Life has been rocky for me with a death in the family, but NaNo has really helped me find a way to focus on something other than grief and I'm kind of thankful for that. And today's topic is kind of perfect:

Topic: Tons of writers are in the midst of NaNoWriMo, trying to stay inspired as we reach the dreaded middle. Share your most inspiring and/or motivational video, book, or quote on writing.

Road Trip Song of the Week: Some Nights by Fun.

So here are some inspiration for you Nanoers:

There is all the goodness on Tumblr:

 

Then there is Youtube:




Or you know, this is always helpful :)

 

I'm kidding. I love Nick! :-)

Basically, anything that's not writing my NaNo words inspires me to write. Is that weird? It's just taking that step away from trying to figure out my character's lives recharges me. How about you?

How's NaNoWriMo treating you?

Happy writing, 
Valia

NaNoWriMo Shenanigans Week One

Hey guys, 
     Can you believe it? It's already been a week in the madness that is NaNo. Anyone else close their eyes at night and see words doing little dances? No? Oh then it's just me. 

     Anyway, I have to say I'm pretty happy with the way my NaNo is treating me. The idea I started with is the type of a story that you carry with you a while, letting it marinate, develop, before you actually pen it to paper. I've been thinking about my characters journey even before I knew I was writing this book. Now that I am, I'm having a blast. 
For example, I was writing this whole scene and I was thinking to myself, "Man, there's this character and he really needs to make an appearance already because I really like him." (but I had no idea what part he'll play in the story, just that he needed to be there). And then BAAM! He literally came out of nowhere and now he's definitely here to stay. 

     I laughed about that one, for a while. But in all honestly, aren't the characters that write themselves the best characters? 
It is challenging to sit down and write that 1667 a day just because my life is a bit stressful right now. However, when is life not stressful right? You just have to push through and reach for those goals and dreams. Which is exactly what NaNo is for me, just another step in the universe of writer things. 

     Now that week one has passed, it's time to dive into the "meat" of my characters and I can't wait. Most of what I've written so far sets up the story, but now is where the fun is. And I'm off!

Word Count: 17,729

How did you do? 

Much love, 
Valia

NaNoWriMo Pep Talk #1

Hello Darlings!

Happy Halloween to all! Can  you believe it's October 31st? Insane right? Anyway, National Novel Writing Month officially starts tomorrow so I decided to ramble, I mean talk, a little about some of the things I'll be doing this month. Be warned, I love to talk about writing so this video, yes, lots of talking. If you're participating, don't forget to add me!




Well, are you ready for NaNoWriMo? *Throws Confetti* (Ya, I'm not picking that up).

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Valia

Shop Talk Thursday: NaNoWriMo Here I Come!

I know you've seen about a bazillion posts about NaNo by now. I mean, it seems that every writer who's a writer is doing it this year (which by the way, is awesome). No really, just think of the support! I know that NaNoWriMo is already all about support but when you have people like Beth Revis and Sarah J Maas willing to start a forum of "Ask a Published Author", you know it's going to be a good month. I'm not kidding, bookmark that forum. It will come in handy. 

The main reason why I was struggling on whether or not I was going to do NaNoWriMo is because I already have a project that I'm working on. This WIP is something I've wanted to write for a while and I feel like I can finally do it justice. Yes, you've heard it all before but guys, I'm super beyond excited! (and I hope you will be too when you read it) But I digress. 

A couple of weeks back, I wrote this completely random scene that didn't seem to fit anywhere in my current projects. So I saved it, leaving it on my desktop for another time. When my CP and I were talking about NaNo (and the agonizing choice I had to make) I kept coming back to that scene. I realized there is a story there that I wanted to tell and it's about time I tell it. CP and I brainstormed a little, and guys, GUYS, it's going to be amazing. 

Yes, I know it's 50K in a month. Yes, I know it's craziness of a mess on paper after the month of constant writing. But I'm excited! (also, just wait till you see what CP has in store for you, because hello awesome!) I'm really committing myself to this for November. Come rain or high water, I want to give it my best shot and see where I stand. This does mean walking away from my current WIP for a bit, but I honestly think it may even be good for me. 

So what do you see wonderful people, anyone up for NaNoWriMo with me? 

Here's a link to my profile: Valia Lind (let's be buddies). 

Have a great day!

Valia