New Blog Site

Thank you for visiting my blog! My new site is laradelliott.blogspot.com. I would love for you to visit me there and read what's been happening.

Back to it

It's been a rough month in my personal life. Writing has taken a back burner. I try to sneak in some writing here and there--mostly flash fiction or poetry. I also did a second edit on a novel. I'm debating whether to go back to the novella and rewrite, try to get it to novel length.

Another thing I've done this month is work on networking with my YA audience, building my online presence with those who will become my readers. I have also tried to be more observant with my audience. Life has similar ups and downs as when I was a teen, but the world is very different.

I have been constantly debating the self-pub versus traditional-pub methods of getting my book out. The problem is, I still have way too much self doubt to do either. I'll continue to edit and maybe write another book. I want to get to a place where I'd be happy to share my work beyond the beta readers.

Disconnected

My short history as a writer has been a whirlwind. I've described writing before as an addiction. There have been times that I woke early or stayed up late to write. There have been moments when all I could do is think about writing. I've put off other obligations and ignored my family.

Last week the stress of my addiction caught up with me. I have taken the past several days to take a break from writing. Actually, I took a mini break from technology--I *gasp* left my laptop at work. My only link to the online world was five minutes waiting at the bus stop, checking Facebook (trying to check Facebook) on my old crappy phone. I did read a few pages of a novel on my Kindle when I put the kids to bed, but in general I was unplugged.

I missed writing and I have to say that my addiction still lingers. I don't think I can give up writing. However, giving up technology has been great for my relationship with my family. My husband even bought me flowers today. And, my house is cleaner--a bonus side effect.

Lesson learned--technology is great but real life relationships are even better. Sometimes it takes getting disconnected from the internet to make you feel more connected with your loved ones.

Praise is Powerful

In my last post, I mentioned writing some flash fiction based on prompts in my writing group. Of the two I've submitted, both were voted best of the week! You can check them out on my "Prose" page. It feels so good to be validated by writing peers. Considering I am inexperienced and uneducated in the craft, I am pretty proud of those wins.

Another bit of validation came in the form of an email this morning from a beta reader. She was the first to finally read my prequel novel "Eyes on Natalie." I started out my morning in quite a bad a bad mood. My youngest was up a lot in the night so my own sleep was really rough. Anyhoo, I got to work and checked my email and got the most beautiful compliment. Basically, she was apologizing for not reading sooner. She had put it off on purpose because she knew it would make her emotional (having already read the novella, "Eyes for Benny.") She said she doesn't usually get emotional when doing beta reading or editing, but was drawn in by my work. She wrote, "You are able to speak, to project feeling and emotion into your writing without the sappy dribble so many turn to. Be very proud of that skill, cherish it because it is a gift." I nearly cried. Totally turned my morning around. It took me a few minutes to recover before I was able to teach my first class. 

All I can say is praise can be very powerful. Thank God for those who have praised my work because it is so easy as a writer to think my own work is trash. Any constructive criticism I receive from my peers cuts like a knife, helpful though it may be. My advice to other writers: have harsh critics to force you to improve but have some praisers in your pocket to help you keep forging on!

The Next Step

So, last week I finally finished the first edit on my first novella. I (gulp) submitted to beta readers. The first response was quick: a couple of typos but otherwise my "manuscript is perfect." First bit of good news! Next day a writer colleague critiqued the first chapter: WHOA! The comments were not complimentary and picked into the nitty gritty. A lot of great advice but I'm not used to such cut and dry criticism. Took me a day to recover but then went through and edited my way through some of the comments. Reader #3: complimentary again (thank goodness). Still awaiting a couple other betas to come through.

In the meanwhile, I've been trying to finish my first full length novel. It started as my first NaNoWriMo work and I've been spending the past week filling in the transitions and holes in the story. I'm pretty proud of some of the writing, but boy is it hard to keep it up for 50,000+ words! I will have to go through and edit harder (did a rough edit this week as I was filling in). I'm debating to put it out to betas first because I want to personally walk away from it for a bit before the hard edit.

The other thing I've been working on this past week (I've been busy) is some short works. You can check some out on my new "Prose" page. The short piece "Crushed" is non-fiction, though the names have been changed. "Mission Accomplished" was my first attempt at flash fiction and is based on a photo given as a writing prompt in my online writers group. One of my Facebook friends has mentioned assembling a collection of short stories for a charity publication and I've been considering this as well. Short works have been fun, but I'm still learning about that format of writing.

Back to Edit

It feels good to be writing something. I have already confessed that my work back in September was my first complete work. Less than 30,000 words at this point, it is only a Novella. It was the work that propelled me on this path to be a real writer, perhaps a published author. Since then i have joined author circles on social media. I have absorbed info through author blogs and other free web advice. I have read lots of first chapters free on Amazon. I participated in NaNoWriMo and wrote my first full length Novel.

Exhausted from November, I wanted to take some time off, maybe do some reading and studying of the craft. I lasted 5 days and was desperate to write again. I jotted down a couple of pages of an idea that I had been thinking about for months. I only had a basic concept, though, and I wanted to outline some thoughts before I went on. I started researching some inspiration, but went cold on the project.

I kept up with my social media interaction with other authors and did some reading, but my itch to write has started to overpower me again. I've decided to finally return to the work from September and edit. I had entered a writing contest with the first five pages and got some blunt criticism from the judges that showed my novice at writing. It was extremely helpful though and was well worth the entry fee.

One judge was positive about the story and kept my hopes up that the project was not trash. Now, a month after the contest results, my wounds have healed enough that I am willing to return to the project. My next dream is to put the work into the hands of Beta readers. Maybe one day I will seek an agent and approach publishers. Dreaming of that day...

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 constant attention when she's home because she's rarely home. My poor husband doesn't stand a chance to have time with me.

#3--My family is in the process of moving. We bought a fixer upper last month, have been renovating the whole place ourselves and started moving stuff in last week. So that means I've been spending every possible minute when I'm not working at my soon-to-be-house doing demo, painting, nailing floors, hanging cabinets, moving furniture, carrying boxes, unpacking boxes, etc., etc.

#4--Thanksgiving. 'Nuff said.

#5--Stomach flu. My whole family had the stomach flu at some point the week before or the week of Thanksgiving. It finally hit me with three days left of NaNo and I was already behind on word count. So, after 14 hours of sleep and writing zero words on November 28th, I knew I was too far behind in NaNo to ever catch up. I figured I might as well give up. I spent some time on the 29th relaxing (recovering) doing puzzles, watching TV, whatever.

That evening I looked at my word count and was depressed that I had made it so close (42,000 words) but didn't have time to finish. I decided to keep writing. Even if I didn't make it in time, I had to get close. I couldn't give up. I wrote 2,000 words. On November 30th, I woke up an hour early for work for no reason. My laptop lay next to me. I started writing. At work that day, I put off things I should be doing and wrote. By evening I had 46,000 words.

All month I had never written more than about 2,600 words in a day. By the time I dealt with the kids and put them to bed, I had 4 hours left to get 4,000 words. No way was this going to happen. But I sat down and started writing. At nine o'clock I was surprised I had written another thousand words. At this rate, I could finish in time. I would have to stay up late, but maybe it was possible. Ten o'clock--48,000 words. I was tired, sleepy. I thought, what was the point of "winning" NaNo anyway? I should just go to bed. But I was so close. I finally decided, I'd sit in bed and write. If I fell asleep, it wasn't meant to be. If I didn't fall asleep...maybe....

The last two hours were one giant word sprint. Don't edit, just write. It's not great writing, but it's something. Just write. 11:30 pm, thirty minutes left of November...50,000 words! I jumped on the NaNo site to verify...49,976 words. What? Speed typing, a couple more sentences. Verify. "WINNER!" Woo hoo!!!!!!! I had done it. I had survived November. I had typed 6,000 words in a single day. I finished a novel draft in a single month. I had only been a true writer for a couple of months and now I won NaNoWriMo. All my life I have wanted to be a writer. Now I'm well on my way...

Finding my flow--Not letting NaNoWriMo kill me

I am on day 12 of NaNoWriMo--the ridiculous writing goal of 50,000 words in a month. My first novel has taken five years and is still not finished. So, the last week in October I said, "Hey, what's this? That sounds fun! Sure, let's give it a try." Ha! 

Well, I started out of the gate fine. I ignored my family, stayed up late, but was meeting the daily word goal of at least 1667 words. I was ahead on day 4, so on day 5 when I wasn't quite there I said, "I'll just make up for it tomorrow." Of course, with a run of days on less than ideal hours of sleep and two sick kids in the house, I caught a cold. I could not bring myself to stay up past 9:30 every night. Thanks, nanowrimo. What, are you trying to kill me? 

So, here I was--several days of less than 1667 words and I was way behind. 1667 words is a hard enough goal, but to add extra words to catch up is a nightmare. I had been writing the novel in chronological order, taking extra time to think out the transitions between scenes, letting the novel unfold. Throw that out the window. For the sake of word count I started jumping to the interesting scenes, letting the words flow like a river. 2000 words, 2200 words, 2600 words. Finally! Day 10 and I was caught up. 

Lesson learned--never plan on tomorrow to play catch up. Yesterday I wrote more than the 1667. I was ahead of the target word count for day 11. Woo hoo! Now, day 12. I'm on the right track but I know that going back to connect these random scenes is going to take time and not produce a lot of words. I need to get ahead now so those slow days can have a low word count.

Avoiding Depression: The joys of a rejection letter

So today I received a rejection letter. It wasn't a big deal competition, but it was my first rejection letter since I decided to become a "public" writer (of many rejections to come, I'm sure). Now I admit that I didn't put a lot of thought into the competition. I saw an announcement for it on social media. The deadline was just a few days away. I wrote a poem in about 20 minutes and sent it. I didn't exactly have high hopes, but there was at least a glimmer. I'm not surprised by the rejection.

I have to admit I'm not formally trained in writing. I just put down what I feel. I'm used to the praises of my English teachers and professors for what I've written. Of course, out of a class full of non-writers in a small school, my novice attempts must have looked good. I also have received honorable mentions in the pay-to-publish anthologies (which are probably not so honorable since I paid for their praises).

So, today was my first rejection letter. The momentary heartache has passed. I still love to write. I will still continue to write. Someday I will find that someone that likes my work enough to spread the news. Someday I will be published.

Now I write, I submit, and I wait. I have another contest which I've entered that I'm waiting a response on. I'm not so confident with this one (I actually put more time into it, but have never entered a novel-writing competition before). Still, there is that glimmer, that small bit of hope that keeps me going. I have to hold on to my glimmer. I would be writing anyway, so why not share it with the world? It would be so sad if I were the only one to ever read the words I write.

If you want to read my crappy poem, go to my "Poetry" page. The poem "I am One" was submitted to the 3Elements Review (they were very kind in their rejection so no hating).

NaNoWriMo First Timer!

In my recent splurges of social media I came across someone complaining about surviving NaNoWriMo. I had never heard of it but researched to find that November was "National Novel Writing Month." The challenge is to write 50,000 words in just a month. I just finished a novella of 27,000 words in less than 3 weeks. I had been inspired and the words oozed out of me. I figured November 1st was perfect timing to start again and to raise the bar. So far I have 1,200 words. Am I crazy to be aiming for 50,000 in only a month? I have another novel I have been working on for 5 years! I haven't even met the daily goal of 1,667 words and I feel the start of carpal tunnel creeping in to my wrists. And, now I'm blogging instead of working on my novel. This is going to be a challenging month! I have a feeling I won't be sleeping much.

Name Rant

It's pronounced "LAHrah DORRen" not "Laira DuhRAN." And, I'm from the US not the UK. Get it right people.

Rant over.

Thanks for listening.

Shh! It's a secret! My life undercover.

So, I'm not really an author. At least, my family and friends don't know that I am. I've been writing in secret. My family must think I'm addicted to Facebook or something since I'm always on my laptop. You should see me scrambling to click on some other program or another open tab on my browser. Of course, I always click on something else that pertains to writing so I have to click again on something else quickly which is totally suspicious.

Why do I bother keeping this secret? Am I embarrassed? I don't know. For some reason I want to keep this part private for now. I think I'm more excited to write when it's something sneaky. I don't know why stealth is so invigorating. I don't know why I get excited to get up at 4 in the morning to write.

I think I'm an addict.

I think about writing all the time. If I can't write or read something about writing, I get withdrawal. I can't sleep at night because I'm thinking about a story. I hide my addiction from my friends and family. I put off tasks at work to feed my addiction. Yeah, I'm definitely an addict. Good thing writing isn't illegal or deadly.

In the Beginning...

Okay, I know the title of this post is hokey but it's a quote from a bestseller so maybe it will give me some good juju. This is my journey. I have had the inklings of being a writer ever since I could write. My diary from childhood includes a page from the book that I was going to write about a girl and her horse...a book that was never written because I know nothing about horses, and because, well, how many elementary school students have actually written novels anyway?

As I grew up, poetry was my main outlet for writing. I even entered one of those poetry contests where you have to pay $40 to get a copy of the anthology with your poetry printed inside. My wonderful mother actually bought two anthologies because I didn't learn my lesson the first time. For what it's worth, I did get an honorable mention. Not sure if that's any sort of merit or not, but it made me feel good during my awkward middle school years.

In high school, my love for music overtook me and has since been my career. Writing was on the back burner, but it was still there. My poetry was resigned to assignments for English classes. About five years ago I had a spark of inspiration. I think I had a dream and I just had to write it down as a scene from a story. I decided to write a novel. I've added bits and pieces to it, but it is still unfinished. Actually, that is an understatement. I recently opened the file and realized it hadn't been edited in three years--just before the birth of my second child. Gee, I wonder why I haven't worked on it since then.

Anyhoo, the stroke of inspiration hit again last month. I had a dream and when I woke (it was 4 am) I couldn't stop thinking about it. I just had to write it down. Three weeks later I had a finished novella. I'm still a little amazed at the whirlwind this has been, but here I am, addicted to writing. Thanks for joining me on this adventure.