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ALL ABOUT MY NANOWRIMO 2017 PROJECT!

Today’s video is something I’ve been waiting to share with you all since the beginning of October, but decided to hold off, specifically for Halloween! I am really excited for this year’s project because I’ve been working with this idea for so long and I finally planned it enough to make it come alive. My project is so important to me for so many reasons and November is going to give me a good reason to make it come alive!

If you’re participating in #NaNoWriMo this year, what are your projects going to be about? Are you excited! November is only hours away!!!

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NaNoWriMo 2017

Okay though. This is such a big deal for me, seeing as this is my first year actually participating! [ I am literally the person who says they’ll do it, but never plans or anything] 

This is going to be a pretty long post, just to keep ya girl inspired and accountable. Under the break, you’ll find a lot of info about the gist of my project this year. Y’all can check it out if you want ^.^

Genre: Historical Fiction / New Adult? 

Idea Formed: July 2017

Anticipated WC: hopefully over 50k. 

Quick origins:

So this year’s idea originated by a existential crisis (one of many) I’ve had recently. Maybe it was more of an identity crisis? But either way, I because really invested in my own ancestry and origins. The problem that I found most was, I didn’t know where I really came from. I know I am Mexican, but I had no idea from where specifically. After asking my father and grandmother, I still had no idea. They always remembered living in the states in either LA or Chicago, so I started becoming obsessed what life looked like for them in the past. 

To tell you the truth, culture is such a tricky thing. This novel allows me to dive into an experience that I, as well as my whole family, shared throughout their lives and I think it is really important. I am dedicating this piece to my older uncles and grand-parents. They served in the war and fought for this country, while at the same time, were treated like second-class citizens in this country. I want to explore what life was like for them, living through the civil rights movement and trying to co-exist in a place that didn’t want them. 

Quick overlook of the plot (not synopsis): 

   This novel is set in Chicago during 1968, following the Jimenez family. While I am still conflicted with the point of view, I am 89% positive it’ll be third person, omniscient and past point of view. I have many characters who are unique to their own experiences and stories, so I’d like to focus on them as well. Soooo much stuff happens though. (What if I really just finished this section with that? I’d be such an ass) 

   The family consists of single mother, Alba, her older brother, Arturo, and her three children, Lucinda, Ricardo and Carlos. It is quite clear that they are poor and lowest of the lower class, as they live in Pilsen, Chicago. Alba works (or practically runs) a laundromat, which hardly allows her to make end’s meet on her own. Her brother, Arturo decided to move back in with her to help her out. She, as well as Arturo, has had a hard time after losing both of their parents and Arturo’s twenty-one year old son, Santiago. 

   19 year old, Lucinda “Linda” Jimenez, works at a local produce market as a cashier. While she is happy that she can help out around the house with money and the baby (little carlos “carlito”), she does wish she could get out of the neighborhood and life she lives. She’s a smart girl, but she lacks the resources and money to pay for classes or higher education. Linda is also quite passive and couldn’t muster the courage to face her mother, who takes most of her anger out on the girl. Her relationship with Alba has been on the rocks for most of her life and it is not revealed why until later on, but the reason changes her forever. 

   17-year-old, Ricardo “Ricky” Jimenez is also a high school drop out and works with Linda at the market. He, however, sees the world through an interesting lens. Extroverted, positive, motivated and a young activist, Ricky yearns to have his voice heard. He’s very quick to make decisions, which as it turns out, is his biggest down fall. But overall, Ricky has a big heart. He loves his sister and his mom and even sometimes his father, Che. 

   And well, the family is the family. After Arturo moves in, it seems like they are finally getting back on their feet. But even they knew that their peace would be disrupted. With the media blasting news about the different protests and barricades going around the country and around the city, the Jimenez family is in utter fear. But this is just the beginning to an event that would change the family’s lives completely.  

Goals / Targets:

Complete the challenge (50K) 

exceed the challenge! 

No editing / revising during the whole month!

exceed my daily word goal 

stay positive and motivated.

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*NEW VIDEO ALERT!!!* 

In this video, I talk all about workshops. I cover everything from the process of workshop to the expectations you should have. I know as a young writer, workshop can be super intimidating, but I promise it’s not! Here’s just some things I’ve experienced/noticed during my workshops :)

If you found this helpful, please thumbs this video up, leave a comment & subscribe! It would mean the world to me. x

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oy vey

I haven’t posted in forever ago! 

I really apologize for that. You know how life is. But, on the plus side, I’m back!

my inbox is open for anyone who has any questions! :)

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I literally just free wrote 4 pages all revolving around a single scene that has been replaying in my head all day long and i am nowhere near done. 

I haven’t been this inspired in such a long time. It feels really good. 

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*NEW VIDEO ALERT*

Hey guys! It’s Monday, which means it’s time for a new video! 

Today’s video is all about being an English major. Today, I am discussing some tips and things that can be helpful to new/prospective English students. I still wish that I’ve seen these types of videos as a new college student because I would have become an english major much sooner! 

I really hope you guys like this. If you do, please thumbs it up, comment & SUBSCRIBE. It would also help a lot if you guys shared / reblogged this video. 

If you have any questions, you can ask them here.

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What is "A+Z" about?

Ah.... so because I’ve planned to do something with this (like explain in a video), I’ll just give you a very vague and annoying hint. 

The general idea and conflict involves siblings. 

Obviously there is much more to this, but I’m going to keep the details to myself until I am completely done with my outline and have decided to start discussing it. Thanks for the question :) 

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*NEW VIDEO ALERT* 

   Hey guys! It’s Friday and that means it’s time for a new video! Today’s video is all about creating / coming up with character names. Sometimes this can be a complete pain in the a**, but it doesn’t always have to be! In this video, I discuss some of my personal tips & tricks on how I decide on names. It is really all about making some important decisions for your story (which I am assuming you already have) and when those decisions are made, your name search is definitely minimized and easier for you to go through!

   That being said, I really hope you enjoy this video! Please leave me some comments responding to the video or suggesting some video ideas because they’re always welcomed and accepted. Feel free to ask any questions through my YT channel or tumblr and I’ll get back to you ASAP! It’ll also help if you reblog this post por favor?

Also, please thumbs up & SUBSCRIBE! 

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Thinking About Character Motivations

Whether it’s about why a character would commit murder or why someone would want a do-over in life, I get a lot of questions about character motivations. This is a very important question to ask yourself to develop a believable character because for every action and decision that is made there is some sort of motivation. You eat because you’re hungry, you sleep because you’re tired, you plot to take over the country because the current government killed your sister and framed it on you to further their political agenda. Or maybe you eat because nobody can turn down the deliciousness that is mint chocolate ice cream, you sleep because you’ve got a ridiculous migraine from all the ice cream, and you plot to take over the world because you plan to outlaw eating mint chocolate chip ice cream to have it all for yourself. No matter what the motive is the important thing is that the character has one. To help you come up with one for whatever insanity you’re planning (the scenarios I’ve seen from all of you make me equally proud and baffled) I’ve come up with a few points to consider to get your thinking gears moving.

1.     Consider how it relates to the main plot and subplot(s).  

Going back to taking over the country, there are millions of ways this story could unfold. What differentiates each and what makes it interesting is why the character wants to do this. Martin Scorsese once said “The king died and then the queen died is a story. The king died, and then queen died of grief is a plot.” This is the way a character’s motive works: your story tells the reader what happens but the why and how is always more interesting. So ask yourself what kind of impact you want this motive to have on the plot because it is what will drive everything. When a character doesn’t have a motivation (like a villain who is evil because) there is no direction and no intrigue in the events as they unfold.

2.     Is it out of fear or desire?

To put it very simply, character motivation is fueled by either fear or desire (or maybe both). You could eat because you saw someone else eating cake and now you really crave some too, or you could eat because you fear dying of hunger. There are always primal fears and desires like the desire for survival, companionship and happiness and a fear of death and pain. These are great and can often come up but also try to personalize them to your character so the reader feels why it is important to them. Once you having something fueling the motivation it becomes much more real and gives you a better idea of how to use it.

3.     Make it fit with the genre.

Along with personalizing to the character, it’s good to keep in mind the tropes of the genre (remember tropes are not the same as clichés). In a romance the reader expects one of the motivations to be love, in a thriller it’s often about a fight for personal survival and/or to save someone or something. The reason this is important is because it would be odd for a character’s main motivation in a story about saving the country from foreign invasion to be becoming a pianist. Unless, of course the story is really about a young talent who loses their chance to travel to a music school because of war, but now the plot has changed, hasn’t it? There can be multiple motivations, especially when you cross genres like a YA adventure, or thriller with a romance but just remember that readers who give your work a try have certain expectations based on the genre so either try to match or rethink the genre you’re really writing.

4.     External and internal motivations.

External motivations are ones that are imposed on your character by external forces while internal motivations come from within themselves (personal desires). For example, take a police officer tasked with finding a kidnapped victim. They have the external motivation of solving this case because it is their job and failing at it would be failing their assignment and leaving a life in peril. They could also have many other personal motivations driving them like having lost their best friend to trafficking or something completely unrelated, like they are motivated to make their little kid proud. You can also try to make these motivations specific to differentiate from characters, at least in your own mind so you can weave that into the characters. External motivations can push the character into the plot but the internal ones can keep them going when things get tough and make readers truly sympathize with them.

5.     Finally, do your homework.

No matter how many tips you read here or anywhere else, none of it is going to matter if you don’t sit down and work out your character’s motivations to fit them and your plot. If you need motivations for something that you might not be familiar with (eg. why someone would commit a specific crime) or you need more information about the topic…RESEARCH! Remember, remember, remember that there are no cutting corners when it comes to writing so take a seat, let your mind explore the possibilities, and get to work.

Good luck!!

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What time is your usual writing window?

To be honest, it depends on what exactly it is that I am writing. If I am working on “A+Z”, I tend to be a night owl. When it’s “FA” or other works, I like to write in the morning. It’s very random but I tend to have the most motivation to write at those times. 

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Hey guys! Today’s video is all about writing POC characters. I decided to make this video because I’m an opinionated jerk (obvs) and just wanted to talk about ways that I find important in order to write POC characters. 

Please check it out! If you like it, comment, thumbs up and SUBSCRIBE to my channel. I make videos every Monday, Wednesday & Friday. 

Please reblog this if you liked it as well x

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Y’all.... so I got work in like an hour and stuff, but I just wanted to get on here and let you guys know that a new video will be up today! I think you guys might like it. 

It should be up at 12:30 pm central time! 

Alsooooo, if you haven’t seen Monday’s video, wyd??? 

Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyWOLXrE9Y4&t=9s <3 

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I saw your post about your character's personality types and I was wondering, what is yours?

I’m an INFJ!

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Hello! I just found your channel and tumblr, and I was wondering if I can ask you a quick question? What do your abbreviations mean on your tumblr? Are those the titles of your novels, or--?

Well... it’s complicated. The abbreviations definitely represent two novels that I am outlining, but they are not the titles of them. To make things less complicated for myself, I named them based off of characters or general ideas of the novel. 

“A+Z” are basically the two main characters in the novel that I am focusing on the most. I won’t reveal their names because reasons, but like, yeah. 

“FA” is a general topic of the second novel I’m outlining. This one is still up in the air without much going on right now.

I might eventually talk about my ideas in a video, buuuuut I dunno yet.  

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Today, someone asked me general questions about my characters. Usually this does not bother me, but because I am giving these two specific characters most attention right now, it was really hard for me to describe them. So instead of telling the person what their favorite colors or foods were, I told them what their personalities were. I figured that was the best way for them to get the gist of who they are. 

Here was the person’s response: 

“Wait... what’s an ESTJ and INFP?

” *sigh* 

I always open up another can of worms.