Vanessa Barneveld's Blog, page 3
November 13, 2018
NaNoWriMo – Day 14
Almost halfway through the annual NaNoWriMo challenge, and I can confirm the rumours — I am a zombie. Yes. Need brains. After getting home late from the day job yesterday (I missed my train due to inattention whilst waiting on the platform), I squeaked out only 500 words. I’m now around 13,000 words away from my target for the month.
Today’s playlist song is ‘Midnight Train to Georgia’ by Gladys Knight & the Pips. Check out this excellent live performance.
Download ‘Midnight Train to Georgia’ by Gladys Knight & the Pips on iTunes.
Bonus track: Here’s my absolute favourite interpretation of ‘Heard It Through the Grapevine’, also by Ms Gladys and the Pips:
November 12, 2018
NaNoWriMo – Day 13
Day 13! Today I’m hoping for better things after yesterday’s sad effort — 500 measly words. What can I say? I don’t like Mondays. As long as I don’t have too many more days like that, I can still make my 30K target for November.
Today’s playlist song is ‘100MPH (in 2nd Gear)’ by Gemma Ray, who I saw here in Sydney a few years ago at what used to be the Vanguard. Doing this writing challenge is actually a lot like going a hundred miles per hour in second gear. This vid features the last car I owned (but not *the* car), which was very quick indeed. I don’t need a car anymore, but I kind of miss it. I also miss sleep.
November 11, 2018
NaNoWriMo – Day 12
Today’s playlist song is from 1972 – ‘Respect Yourself’ by the Staple Singers. Sublime backup singing and organ bits plus some unexpected synth sounds. Ordinarily I’d use more technical music descriptions, but I can only brain so much during NaNo.
Download ‘Respect Yourself’ by the Staple Singers from iTunes.
November 10, 2018
NaNoWriMo – Day 11
Yesterday, on NaNo day 10, I wrote 2,022 words, so my mini-goal of hitting 4K for the weekend is on track. I’ve plenty of snacks and beverages on hand to get me through today.
Today’s playlist song is ‘Ends of the Earth’ by Lord Huron. I don’t know a great deal about the band. This song was used in the final episode of the ‘Longmire’ TV series; it’s a little bit country. The animation and story in this video’s fabulous. Take a look!
November 9, 2018
NaNoWriMo – Day 10
Last night, I managed to put down a meagre 500 words after a rather tough day. But I’ve had a little rest and eaten the rest of the spectacular speculaas. I’m aiming to write 4,000 words over the weekend to make up for yesterday.
Today’s playlist song is ‘Skin Deep’ by the Stranglers. If you’re afraid of snakes or strange haircuts, this vid might not be good for you. But the song’s excellent.
November 8, 2018
NaNoWriMo – Day 9
Last night I wrote 1,040 words. ‘Twas a bit of a struggle to get there! But it’s great to see the numbers climbing. My total for November so far is 11,612; total for the book so far is 37,160.
Today’s playlist song is both the name of my manuscript and the phrase that keeps turning around in my head every day of this writing challenge – ‘Rescue Me’. 
November 7, 2018
NaNoWriMo – Day 8
Thanks to the power of speculaas (Dutch cookies) handmade especially for me by a very thoughtful friend, I wrote 1,000 words last night. There’s something peculiar about my stats table on the NaNo site, though. It keeps changing my day 2 word count from 1,070 to 70. Humph! But I swear to you, my total wordage since November 1 is 10,572. I’m on track to reach 30K by the end of month.
Today’s playlist song is the only tune I ever learned on guitar and have since forgotten how to play it — ‘Tin Soldier’ by Small Faces. My husband and I were talking the other night about doing a duet — maybe we could do this one. What do you think?
Download ‘Tin Soldier’ by Small Faces from iTunes.
[image error]Spectacular homemade speculaas!
November 6, 2018
NaNoWriMo – Day 7
Have I really been at this crazy writing challenge for seven days? Time flies when you don’t get any sleep. Yesterday, day 6, I wrote 1,710 words, which was exactly the same amount of words I put down on day 5. Weird. I’m now over 35K into this book.
Today’s playlist song of the day, apropos of nothing, is ‘Sunflower’ by Paul Weller. I first heard this when my husband covered it in one of his bands years ago. Here’s the vid – may cause dizziness. If you’re inclined to motion sickness like me, all you gotta do is close your eyes and listen.
Love this song? Download it on iTunes.
November 5, 2018
NaNoWriMo – Day 6
Today’s playlist song of the day is ‘What’d I Say’ by Barbara Lynn. Can’t get enough of her skillz in this live performance. I think you’ll find she’s more than just alright!
November 4, 2018
NaNoWriMo – Day 5
Day 5 of NaNoWriMo-ohhhh! I wrote 2,032 words on Sunday, which means I surpassed my 4,000-word goal for the weekend—yay! That brings my manuscript total so far to almost 32,000 words.
Today’s playlist song is Duran Duran‘s ‘The Man Who Stole a Leopard’. (Live version below; the album version features Kelis.) The refrain “Don’t spill my secret” is particularly relevant to the hero of my story. Spoiler: Someone does spill his secret. :O But I won’t say who that someone is just yet…
Download ‘The Man Who Stole a Leopard’ from iTunes. The entire album from which this track springs—’All You Need Is Now’—is well worth a listen. The production is reminiscent of Duran Duran’s earliest two albums without sounding dated or naff. Their older works are timeless to me, though, anyway! I highly recommend this 2011 album if you’re an old fan who hasn’t heard much of their newer stuff.
If you’ve got a spare couple of minutes, watch Kristan Higgins spill one of her writing secrets in an RWA video about writing out of sequence. I love this idea. It’s something I do all the time. Glad to know it works for other writers, too! If I’m stuck on a scene, rather than give up and watch four episodes of ‘House Hunters’, I’ll work on another scene. This might be a pivotal future scene or a scene I can weave into an earlier part of the book. Kristan explains her process below:
Good luck, NaNo people!
