Welcome to my first feature interview! Here’s an interview I did with a good friend of mine, Avalon Chen.

Avalon is a seventeen year old writer from Arizona who loves to write mostly lighthearted storylines with lovable and relatable characters. She’s been writing since she was fourteen, and since then she’s been working on several novels as well as many short stories. To keep up with Avalon’s writing, follow her on Instagram @thedesertquill

What are you currently working on? When/where will it be available to read?

I am currently working on a full-length novel by the (tentative) name of From the Ashes. It is a fictional rom-com/drama about a girl who lost her house in a fire during Christmas time, and is now suffering from trauma that prevents her from loving “the season” like she used to.

Umm…it still needs a LOT of editing and cutting down before I publish it, but I’m planning on self-publishing with KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing). I’m planning on releasing it in October or November, depending on how long editing takes. Believe me, it will be a while…

Where do you get inspiration? Where do you take it from there?

I’m not particularly sure of one specific source where I take inspiration. I usually just come up with an idea and try to build off of it. I’ve found that I’m actually quite good at writing stories without outlining. I wrote up a 31k story in two weeks just off of a general idea of the events and a prompt. Usually prompts are what get my mind jogged. From there, I just try to write it out. Winging it, really.  For longer stories, I try to have a really loose outline of how things go to keep track of everything. For shorter ones, I just start writing and see where it takes me.

What’s the most difficult part of writing for you? Why?

Details. Ohhhh man do I write a lot of details. It tends to happen when I have a more detailed outline. Like I think I have to write every little detail in more detail just to get the point across and for the story to flow better. Obviously now that my climax takes up half my word count, that isn’t really necessary as far as I can tell…

I just get too excited with it all and it’s a huge problem. That’s part of the reason why editing is taking so long. 

Also, I have a problem when a character realizes something, they realize it in inner dialogue and in spoken dialogue. I have a hard time putting myself in the reader’s perspective to let them realize things for themselves.

Don’t get me started about pacing…

What advice do writers often hear that you believe to be false?

The whole showing, not telling. Before you jump to conclusions, I don’t mean it as a whole, I just mean how big of a deal it is. I think that yes, it’s excellent to show feelings and sensations and not just say “She was sad” or “I was terrified.” However, I think excessive showing can lead to simpler things better off being told being described in way too much unnecessary detail.

Again, showing and not telling leads to a more enriched story and plot as a whole. I just think sometimes it’s too big of a deal to new writers and what specifically to show and not tell.

What advice would you give a less experienced writer?

Don’t use so many dialogue tags. It’s useful to utilize them from time to time, but sometimes it’s better to have an action preceding or following dialogue instead. Also, “said” IS NOT DEAD. It’s perfectly fine to use it periodically as well. Not every sentence has to end with “he explained” or “she yelled.” Or “I interrogated.”

Can you share a sneak peek from your current project?

Here’s are some quotes taken from some of the later chapters:

           “Fire is such a beautiful thing in and of itself, when contained and safe, that it’s sometimes forgotten how destructive it can be when it spirals out of control. It’s interesting how a spectacle such as fire can take breath away in more ways than one. From a distance, it’s merely harmless. But get too close…and it can and will destroy.”

“Courage doesn’t call for fearlessness, nor does bravery. All they call for is a leap of faith. One with no hesitations.”

“I knew I wouldn’t be able to scoop up my victory once I let it fall into the clutches of defeat. Defeat is a merciless thing. Once you slip to it once…there’s no going back.”

What do you love most about your own writing?

I love getting to know my characters and letting their personalities and quirks come to life as I write. I feel like I get attached to them more than other writers and I get quite upset sometimes when I have to write scenes where they go through something painful or tough. I also live that, even though I don’t outline very often, that things always seem to come together in the end, no matter what. I take pride in the fact that, despite my logical, black-and-white dominant way of thinking, that I’m able to be a writer, which involves a lot of spontaneity!

A huge thank you to Avalon Chen for giving us an insight into her work! She’s an amazing writer, so watch out for her novel.

If you’d like to be interviewed for my blog, send me a message on Instagram @elizarkent