Vanessa Barneveld's Blog, page 4
November 3, 2018
NaNoWriMo – Day 4
Day 4 of NaNoWriMo. I am surviving. Yesterday, I more than doubled my daily target, finishing up on 2,050 words. I’m trying to push myself to end the day on a round number.
Today’s playlist song is definitely getting me up and at ‘em this morning — ‘You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)’ by Sylvester. Some very special dance moves in this vid!
Download ‘You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)’ by Sylvester on iTunes.
November 2, 2018
NaNoWriMo – Day 3
Day 3 of NaNoWriMo. I scraped over the line with 1,070 words last night. I’m hoping to bank up a lot more words over the weekend to make up for transgressions on day 1 and 2 and for future transgressions. Wish me luck!
Today’s playlist song is an instrumental surf-guitar version of Britney Spears’s ‘Toxic’ by the Surfrajettes.
Love this cover as much as I do? Download it from iTunes.
November 1, 2018
NaNoWriMo – Day 2
It’s Day 2 and I’m full of optimism that I’ll reach my 30,000-word target for November… Last night I scratched out 1,000 words and not one character more. My book is, in part, about a girl who rescues neglected horses. So today’s horse-related playlist song is ‘Bring on the Dancing Horses’ by Echo & the Bunnymen.
If you fancy this song, you can download it from iTunes.
Good luck, fellow NaNo peeps!
October 31, 2018
NaNoWriMo – Day 1
Here we go again! National Novel Writing Month, otherwise known as NaNoWriMo or NaNo because no-one has time to say that in full, starts today. The goal is to write 50,000 words in a month, and although I’ve hit that target before, this year’s different. I’m aiming to spit out 30K by November 30, or 1,000 a day, and this will hopefully take me to the end of a YA contemporary novel I’ve been working on for a while. *cracks knuckles*
A lot of people really good people supported me during last year’s effort. Whatever happened to that book? Well, I’ve pretty much rewritten it and it’s currently “resting” while I figure out an alternate ending.
I’m posting a song from my eclectic playlist each day–something that either inspires me or relates to my book in some way. Today, it’s Madonna’s ‘Jump’. Excellent parkour scenes in the music vid, btw.
Best of luck to everyone doing NaNo2018! Are you ready to jump? I’m twitching anyway.
Download ‘Jump’ by Madonna on iTunes.
[image error]Yes, I’m ready!
November 30, 2017
NaNoWriMo – Day 30
Day 30 of the NaNoWriMo challenge. And — drumroll, please! — I did it! I won! I wrote 50,005 words in 30 days! It took six packets of M&Ms, bucketloads of salty-sweet popcorn, and the massive support of everyone who cheered me on both online and off (thank you!!!) to get me there. I fought through a double serve of tennis elbow, a demanding full-time day job and bouts of doubt and procrastination, and now I’m ready to collapse in a tired but happy heap.
Is the book finished? Nooooo. I figure I’ve got another 20K to write, and then comes the painful part — revision.
My playlist song of the day is for the poor forlorn ghosts in my book — “Don’t You Forget About Me” by Simple Minds.
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November 28, 2017
NaNoWriMo – Day 29
I’m starting day 29 on 48,209 words. (Yes, I should have written just one more word to make it an even number!) I’m gonna make it to 50K after all!
Today’s playlist song of the day is “Nothing But a Heartbeat” by Australian/Swedish twin sisters Say Lou Lou. Steven Kilbey, lead singer of the Church, is their dad. The epic video below suits my ghost book to a tee.
I wanted to post one of their other songs “Beloved”, which haunted me on a Qantas flight all the way from Sydney to London and back. But the video’s been taken down. Listen to a preview on iTunes.
Buy “Nothing But a Heartbeat” by Say Lou Lou on iTunes.
My bonus playlist song in honour of the last day of NaNo tomorrow is, um, “Tomorrow” by Morrissey:
November 27, 2017
NaNoWriMo – Day 28
My playlist song for day 28 is “Save It For Later” by the English Beat (aka the Beat aka the British Beat aka the Special Beat; I don’t know why they changed their name so many times). The first time I heard song was when my future husband sang it at a gig in one of his early bands.
Buy “Save It For Later” by English Beat on iTunes.
November 26, 2017
NaNoWriMo – Day 27
Day 27. Yesterday, I added exactly 2,340 words to my ghost book and I’m sitting on 45,020 words for November so far. The 50K target is well within reach now! Am very pleased with self.
My playlist song of the day is for my lovely friend and NaNo supporter Philip. He took me to see New Order at the Sydney Opera House a while back. Here’s a rather inventive cover of the band’s “Blue Monday” by Orkestra Obsolete. They used only instruments that were available in the ’30s.
And compare it with the original synth version by New Order:
November 25, 2017
NaNoWriMo – Day 26
Day 26 of NaNo. I’m so close to my 50K target now! My current word count is 42,680. I’m aiming to reach 45K today, but I’ll need a lot of luck and even more M&Ms to help me get there.
Today’s playlist song of the day is “Lucky Now” by Ryan Adams. One of the girls in the video below reminds me a lot of my ghost book’s antagonist.
Buy “Lucky Now” by Ryan Adams on iTunes.
November 24, 2017
NaNoWriMo – Day 25
Day 25 of NaNo. Current word count: 40,608. Thanks to the kindness of two very special people who expectedly replenished my M&Ms supply yesterday, the next 9,392 words should come easy. Easier, anyway!
My playlist song of the day is Neko Case’s “This Tornado Loves You”. There’s a tornado (of sorts) in my ghost book. I had fun with the scene when I wrote it, but I suspect I’ll have to chop it out later. It’s a bit weird, even for me…
Buy “This Tornado Loves You” by Neko Case on iTunes.
