Meet Julianna Writing as Lalalalawriting

We were lucky to catch up with Julianna Writing as Lalalalawriting recently and have shared our conversation below.

Julianna, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

I don’t think anyone overcomes imposter syndrome rather we all wake up every day and choose to ignore it. In other words, don’t let it stop you. For me, it’s pursuing writing no matter what. No matter how many people tell me I’ll never make money from it. No matter how many times I’ve had people look me dead in the eyes and laugh about my English degree and scoff now that I’ve decided to pursue a Master’s in Sociology. No matter how many other amazing writers and stories there are in the world. No matter how many times I’ve doubted the value of my own work.
Keep showing up for yourself by creating the things you love. Keep walking into rooms you think you have no business being in—when really you do, you have every right to be there just as much as anyone else—and introducing yourself. Keep putting your work out there. Ignore all the other voices saying you’re not good enough and focus on the one voice echoing inside you that says you are.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’ve always been a hopeless romantic. After falling in love with reading romance novels as a tween, I started writing because I wanted to create stories that felt more relatable to me a.k.a. writing down my daydreams so I could reread them for fun later. This led me to stumble upon Wattpad and write my first novel when I was fourteen years old. Since then, writing has become a pillar in my life. It’s not only how I make sense of the world, but I think most creatives can relate no matter the medium that it often feels as natural as breathing.
My passion for writing romance, specifically, stems from the hope I think it instills amid hardships. Being human comes with a mixed bag of emotions, the heaviest being tragedy and grief, but love is universal. Romantic love, specifically, is a timeless concept but also the pursuit of romantic love (a.k.a. dating, gender expectations, hook up culture, sexual double standards, etc.) has evolved over time. It’s not only fun and relatable to write and read about but it also deserves to be highlighted. Even if the stories feel like they are repeating themselves with the endless cycle of tropes and metaphors, it’s always worth seeing how love survives and endures despite the chaos of everyday life.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Three qualities I strive to keep in my back pocket on a daily basis are confidence, persistence, and not taking myself too seriously. While I do think confidence and persistence are things that we all grow into and have to choose to channel every day, they also can be dwindled down to choosing to try. Do what you love even when you’re scared, tired, sad, frustrated, etc.
On the other hand, not taking myself too seriously means I’ve learned to try and not put such a heavy weight on my decisions. In other words, as someone who has always been inherently indecisive, one of my favorite quotes/mantras I’ve absorbed within the last two years, is there’s no such thing as the wrong decision rather just a different set of opportunities being laid out in front of you. For example, I was hesitant to self-publish my books rather than go the traditional publishing route because I was afraid to fail. I was afraid I wouldn’t do my stories justice. However, since publishing my debut novel, Potentially You and Me in 2022, and then The Culture of Hooking Up in 2023, I’ve not only grown as a writer and a person, but I’ve also been able to make new connections I maybe wouldn’t have if I didn’t take the leap. Similarly, more recently, I was scared to commit to grad school because I feared I was going to “waste” time, but the truth is time is going to pass anyway. So, I’ll either go to grad school, maybe love it, and get my masters, which is something I’ve always wanted to try doing, or I might hate it, but at least I can say I tried.
So, my overall advice would be to be to trust yourself enough to try and pursue the things you love and know that there’s no right way to live. While we sometimes have to worry about how a decision is going to affect our future, it’s also equally important to try and focus on how that decision feels right to your present self and the present moment.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom is one of my favorite books of all time. It’s a biographical novel that depicts a man reconnecting with an old professor on his deathbed and each chapter highlights a life lesson. My favorite moment in the book is the dialogue discussing “the tension of opposites.” This passage alludes to the “push and pulls” in life. How we all live between our wants and needs. All the ways humans can be selfish, and all the ways we are selfless. How time feels so short and fleeting in retrospect, but life, if you’re lucky enough, is inherently long and we’re all learning as we go. The most important nugget of wisdom from the end of that passage is that no matter which way the “rubber band” pulls you, “love wins” above all. We all should spend time doing the things we love and being with the people we love.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lalalalawriting.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lalalalawriting/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@lalalalawritinghttps://www.amazon.com/stores/lalalalawriting/author/B09ZK2RB4P?ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true

Image Credits

Julianna (lalalalawriting)