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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!

Recent Posts

Internal Editor vs Improv
Drafting on a Deadline: The Idea + The Enneagram
[Download] Printable 2019 Quarterly Calendar
How Revision Changed JAWS (1975)
Writing Exercises: Voice

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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

Happy book birthday to @muliebris and #TechnicallyYouStartedIt! 😍🍦😍🍦😍🍦😍🍦😍🍦😍🍦 I knew this day would come (not only because I colored in today's date on my calendar as soon as I bought a 2019 one, but also because I've known since we met I'd be holding your book baby someday)!

Did you see the big, gorgeous moon this week? A bright orange bulb shining over the lake. Besides book therapy and therapy-therapy, I'm not sure there's anything more therapeutic than a moonlit walk with my trusty pup. × THE GIRL WHO DRANK THE MOON by Kelly Barnhill × × What are your current reads? × The countdown to my third MFAC residency has begun, and I have so much to do around the house before my critical thesis semester begins, and so many health issues to puzzle out from the past year of too much sitting. Must move somewhere non-frigid moonlit walks can happen year-round.

Here for the boops

Happy book birthday to ORDINARY GIRLS!!! A retelling of Sense and Sensibility with many starred reviews, written by ever-witty @blairwritesbooks 😍 #ordinarygirls #blairthornburgh #bookbirthday #currentlyreading #readinglist #whosthatgirl #itsblair #iknowher

I love these socks but my toes always snag when I'm putting them on, so I knew the insides were an absolute mess of threads... like my brain's output on a first draft.

Each semester of my MFA, I have learned more about my process as a writer and more about myself as a human. When I finished my first semester, two words from Gene Yang's final letter lifted off the page: Authorial Grit. Those words summed up my struggle through my first semester and carried me through my second like a promise, like a beacon when all I could see were waves and wind and dark. (Which felt like 95% of the time, TBH) On Facebook recently, someone asked about pushing through drafts, and how many drafts it took other writers before they felt they hit their stride. This was my answer, a look behind those two words: "My initial concept, first draft, second draft, and third draft are usually so dissimilar, they are less like descendants or even relatives and more like wholly separate species. The bad news is that my process is ridiculous and frustrating and time consuming. The good news is that no matter how much I end up tossing, no word was wasted; I needed to write it to get to the next step."

You know my deadline is only a couple days away when I spend a couple hours on petfinder, un-panicking, looking at all the very good doggos and kittehs and pocket pets. I boop noses and then I get back to work. Trust the process, people. #deadlineapproacheth

Soccer scribble time. Why do I write like I'm running out of time? ... because I ... am. #deadlineapproacheth

What's your favorite lake read? I love the atmosphere of lake reads, probably because I spent a few weeks each summer at the lake with my grandparents growing up. A cooler, slower vibe than a "beach read." When My Sister Started Kissing is a middle grade novel in verse. When Summer Ends is a YA romance. Rounding out the faves but not shown: This One Summer, a YA graphic novel.

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Guest Posts

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.

Read "7 Reasons to Make Me Your Editor."

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

In 2018, I started my MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Hamline University.

See what I'm up to.

Find out more about me.

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