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Lara Willard

Write, Edit, Repeat

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Word

Tips on Diction, plus the occasional word that is divine, awkward, or interesting.

DICTION

  • English Word Origins
  • The Diction Holy Grail
  • Diction: Latinate versus Anglo-Saxon
  • Voice: Talk Like a Pirate

WORDS

  • Chraractonym
  • 100 Funniest Words
  • Sprachgefuhl
  • Cacoethes

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Hi! I'm Lara. Welcome to my virtual home!

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Recent Posts

  • Why You Should Write & Submit Short Works
  • 15 Summer Reads of 2018
  • Tools & Tricks for Writers with ADHD
  • [Worksheet] Four Personal Goal Categories + Inspirational Quotes
  • The Legacy of Dr. King

Let people know you won #70pit17 by adding a GIF badge to your blog or website! #pg70pit Winner #70pit17

Top Posts from the Archive

Characters: MBTI continued
Diction: Latinate versus Anglo-Saxon
Character Profile Worksheets
The 8 C's of Plotting: Introduction
The 8 C's of Plotting: Worksheets
POV Part 3—e.g. (examples)
Chapter Outlining like a Pantser
A Lesson in Backstory and Goals
QUIZ: How should you start your novel?
The Quick and Easy Guide to Dashes

Instagram @VerityLane

I turned 30 last week, and my Dad bought me all the comics-related nonfiction on my wishlist 😍 He is an outstanding artist who gave up his art to bring me up. Thirty years later, he's still working his ass off as an architect, and he loves what he does, but it still breaks my heart a bit knowing the creative sacrifices he made for me. We both have "real jobs," as my extended family would call them, but as I pursue a Master in Fine Arts--something unheard of in our families--he's been nothing but supportive. I hope I make you proud, daddio! You say you'll never retire, but maybe someday I can convince you to collaborate with me. ❤💛💚💙💜 About the books: I've read a dozen books about the comics art form, and Scott McCloud's are my favorite. Will Eisner's books are cited in nearly all of them, and I've only sighted them once or twice and been able to just flip through them, so I'm really excited to have them for my own! Syd Field's SCREENPLAY I haven't read in years, definitely not since my 8 C's of Plotting blog series (link in bio), and I'm excited to highlight the crap out of a hard copy. Capt got me POISON IS NOT POLITE, also from my wishlist 😍 #socksunday #birthdayreads #shewritescomics #bookrecommendations #IHaveTheBestTextbooks
A Kickstarter "Project We Love"! GROUP CHAT is a comics anthology about friendship: 200 pages of comics--and I wrote some of those pages 😍! Link in bio. Swipe to hear their blurb about my 6-page comic, and check my featured story for a sneak peek! When I needed inspiration while writing the comic, I looked to the Leslie Knope / Ann Perkins friendship and @Julia_the_hut's previous artwork to solidify the characters. I wrote the skeleton, but Julia's art brought my script to life with muscles and skin and spirit (not to mention fabulous hair). Go follow Julia! Here's a quick summary of our comic: A tall Latina executive answers the call (or text, rather) of her BFF, a black plus-size beauty and cancer survivor who has a panic attack in a department store dressing room after her double mastectomy. Kickstarter will have the best deals for ordering! If you know somebody who might enjoy the comic and review it or sell it, let me know. #groupchat #kickstarter #projectwelove #visiblewomen #shewritescomics #shemakescomics #comicsbywomen #womenincomics #breastcancerawareness #brestcancersurvivor
Most anticipated spring 2018 releases and a couple other books I'm hoping to finally read this spring (After I finish Children of Blood and Bone) Spring 2018 releases: #TheSerpentsSecret, which has a fierce Indian protagonist and has been compared to A Wrinkle in Time and The Lightning Thief #TheCaseforJamie, the third Charlotte Holmes novel with my favorite teen boy narrator of all time, Jamie Watson. #BloodWaterPaint, a novel in verse which is riveting and devastating (see my posts for a review!) #LoveSongsAndOtherLies, a swoony summer romance about first loves reunited years later. And two books I am very excited to finally read now that I've finished my WIP: #MyLadyJane, which I'm sure to love and has been a good motivation for finishing my draft #TheSunIsAlsoAStar, which will be my second Nicola Yoon novel so I can't go wrong with it. . . . #SockSunday #springreads
What are you reading this weekend? 📖 . . . I'm reading CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE. Best worldbuilding I've read in a long time. Just about 20% done.
Roundup of March 2018 reads. 💔👩🏻‍🎨⛲🎨🖼 BLOOD WATER PAINT is powerful young adult biographical novel in verse. See my other post for a more detailed review! 🕵️‍♀️🏰 AGENT GATES is a hilariously irreverent parody of Downton Abbey. If you like silliness and have some knowledge of the show, I highly recommend it. 🚫👱‍♀️👧🏽🚫📱📞 NO GIRLS NO TELEPHONES is experimental poetry. Cavallaro takes John Berryman's The Dream Songs and writes the inverse of those poems. Then Hazelton writes the inverse of Cavallaro's poems. It's a poetic exercise in opposites, a literary game of telephone. ❄🌬🗺🌈 EVERY COLOR is a sweet picture book that sees a polar bear traveling the world to see colors he was missing out on living in the white arctic. I really love the use of tissue paper and lace overlays to create wind and snow. It's a lovely book. ---- #favoritereadsof2018 #marchfavoritesof2018 #booksiread
I'M SCREAMING MY COMPUTER JUST FROZE JUST NOW FROZE WHY WHY WHY WHY
Easter basket books (and costumes) for the boys. Have a super Sunday, all. And if you observe Easter, happy celebrations! Luke 24:1-9
#TheSerpentsSecret is one of my March buys. Look at how gorgeous this cover is! The gold parts of the snakes are gold foil, and I can't tell you how many photos and boomerangs I attempted to show it off. So you'll just have to grab a copy to see for yourself! 🐍 I feel like Middle Grade gets the shaft on Instagram, which is a shame because these are the books that turn kids into readers. I look forward to reading this soon!
New profile picture because it's been probably a decade since I did a self portrait, and I'm turning 30 next month so there's no time like the present? Drawing is probably my least favorite visual artform, I'll be honest. But it felt good to put [blue] pencil to paper and even better to get to an OK sketch after failing spectacularly for a few weeks. I still can't shade to save my life, so vectorizing it was a relief, and I do love collage, so I let myself get lazy on the details with a stripe pattern and a floral that I tweaked the colors on but didn't bother to clean up paths-wise. Much thanks to Pome Press for forcing a deadline on me and to Frida Kahlo, Snapchat filters, and springtime to inspire the flower crown. 20-something me might have hesitated to do something so girly, but 30 me is going to freaking rock it. ✊

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Guest Posts

Better Novel Project
7 TIPS FOR WRITING REALISTIC DIALOGUE

About Me

I've been grading grammar homework since 2005 and editing fiction and poetry since 2008. In 2013, I started editing comics and full manuscripts for novelists and literary agents.

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In 2015, I assembled a team of freelance editors of various specialties.

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