Lara D. Elliott - Inspirations

I had high hopes for this year's NaNoWriMo. That's National Novel Writing Month. Draft a novel (or at least 50,000 words of it) in the 30 days of November. But towards the end, I decided I needed to lose this year. A few years ago, I lost NaNoWriMo with a book about a crush. I didn't even get halfway through the 50k words needed to win. It took over six months to hit 50k. But the book meandered and really had no way to end properly. Over the next couple of years, I tried reworking the story with some beta reader feedback. I rewrote the beginning at least five times. But still, it wasn't coming together. This year, I decided I needed professional help and hired a writing coach (it was sort of by accident, but a happy accident). My coach helped me work on outlining a rewrite of the crush book. She helped me understand concepts like motivation and stakes and helped me define them in my outline. I wrote yet another first chapter and got her feedback and encouragement...

I was trying to link this year's NaNoWriMo story to the story of my first Nano which had so many obstacles to it. But, of course, that post was on my old blog! So, here it is for you. The tale of my first (and maybe my hardest) NaNoWriMo. Friday, December 4, 2015 How I (Almost) Failed at NaNoWriMo I haven't posted in weeks and that is because I was consumed with my crazy life and NaNoWriMo (that thing where you try to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November). Here's the gist of things: I recently turned that spark of writing desire into a flame of writing reality. However, my everyday life is not set up for a writing addict. Here are the reasons I shouldn't have had time to write this November. #1--I work full time. Not just 40 hours a week full time, but  at least  40 hours, sometimes 50 hours or more on the job. #2--I'm a mom. I have a 5 year old Kindergartener and a 2 and a half year old terror who need Mommy's const...

I did it! I won NaNoWriMo! Woot! NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is a writing challenge where you aim to write 50,000 words during the month of November. If you succeed, you ”win” and are gifted with coupon codes for wonderful writerly stuff. It’s not a competition against other writers, just a challenge for yourself. For the many people who don’t hit 50,000 words, the event is still worthwhile for the camaraderie of community, the establishment of a daily writing habit, and any bit of progress on a novel. My first Nano was three years ago. I had just started seriously writing a couple months before and had a completed novella. That Nano was a win and my first work over 50k. I had many challenges in my life at the time. You can read the story here . I shouldn’t have won, but I did. The following year, I only hit 20k. Took many months to hit 50k and the piece was a structural mess, so it’s still sitting. Last year I started a couple weeks early, but was able to reach 5...

NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month. Write a 50,000 word novel in the thirty days of November. And I won. Sorta. Last year's Nano project was started early too, but I only wrote a few thousand words in November. And then I kept writing for months. Over a year later, I finally had 50,000 words, but I was stumped on how to end it. After a couple critique partners read some chapters, I realized I had spent a year writing 50,000 words worth of crap. There were some good scenes in there. There was some good writing. But the plot lacked cohesion. Lacked motivation. I finally decided to give it up. Work on something else for a while. One project I started working on had actually started as a couple of scenes I jotted down many years ago. Even before I really became a serious "writer." I had an epiphany what direction I could take the story and I started outlining. It felt good to have some structure thought out. Then one day in October, I had a really crushing mom...