Guest Post: A Word from Victoria on Dumping

Curing the Tendency to Dump

by Victoria Grace Howell

Every writer of fiction and maybe even some non-fiction have had the problem with dumping. It’s a very common beginning writer problem.

So what exactly is dumping? 

Dumping is when you over-explain and over-describe in your writing to the point it stops your story. This happens often in the beginning of your story -- especially with fantasy writers. You created this big world, so now you want to describe your amazing scenery and tell about that background of the royal family that dates back two thousand years. Well, the thing is, this gets really annoying when you’re reading. Let me give you an example.


The book opens with this intense opening. A man rides on horseback with a toddler away from ancient robots from the Sky City. But wait. The author starts explaining about the magical Sky City and why the ancient robots are there and who invented them and how awesomely epic they are because the author has spent years planning out their intricate design. After three or four massive paragraphs then you finally get back to the man on horseback with the toddler. 

Doesn’t that sound annoying?

It makes you want to skip the whole background bit, doesn’t it? This is the same when the reader reads about yours -- however awesome and interesting the backstory is. We want the current action; what’s going on right now in the story. We definitely don’t want the reader to want to skip parts of our book. 

Some older authors have done this. J.R.R. Tolkien is one. He was a great writer, but he did dump horribly and, frankly, I skip a lot of those parts, and I love his works. 

But don’t feel bad. That doesn’t mean you can’t use the backstory at all, or that an occasional longer description is bad, but we don’t want it near the beginning of the book. The best way to use backstory is through the Popcorn Method I learned from author Bryan Davis.

What propels your readers to keep reading is mystery, what they don’t know. Even your world can be part of that. Think of your reader like a duck and your bits of mystery like popcorn. Drop in little bits about the backstory of your world (popcorn) through description, interior monologue, songs, et cetera. If you dump the whole bucket of the popcorn, the reader will just gobble it up or may not even eat all of it, then stop reading. So use what your reader doesn’t know to your advantage. If the backstory is directly important to your story’s plot, then you may want to expand on it. But if it isn’t relevant, you’ll want to take the spotlight off.

Sometimes you can’t use every detail you thought up. That hurts a bit, especially when you loved them, but it’s just not necessary sometimes. Use your backstory and description carefully and it can enhance the story, but don’t let it weigh it down and stop it. 

So do you have trouble with dumping? Have you conquered the tendency to dump? Do you have any tricks to help you stay away from it?

I hope this post helped your writing! Thank you Emily Rachelle for letting me participate in the tour! Happy writing and let the ideas always be in your favor! :)

Victoria Grace Howell is an aspiring writer of the weird and strange. She’s currently working on a science fiction and fantasy series with her white cat as her companion. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, watching anime, and drawing her characters.

Blog: http://storitorigrace.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorVictoriaGHT
Twitter: https://twitter.com/VictoriaGHowell
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/storitori/boards/

A Walk Down Memory Lane: Authors of Interviews Past

Good morning, my lovely readers! How's life after Christmas break? I'm struggling to get back into schedule, too. Anyway, we've had so many wonderful guests for interviews this year - from indie authors to traditional authors to a future Olympist. I thought perhaps some of you who missed the last two parties might enjoy going back in time today and seeing guests of parties past.

Our first year of partying, 2011, focused more on guest posts. We did, however, host three interviews:

Marc Franco, author of indie bestseller Catching Santa
Cidney Swanson, now my favorite author and an Amazon bestseller of YA speculative fiction
And the really big deal: Robin Jones Gunn, arguably the best writer of Christian YA ever (although Melody Carlson comes really close)

2012 saw a return of Cidney Swanson, as she was transitioning her focus from contemporary sci-fi Ripple trilogy to futuristic sci-fi series, Saving Mars. (That series is nearing an end now, and I must say, it blows the fantastic Ripple books out of the water. I'm almost scared to see what Cidney does next!) If 2011 was the year of guest posts, then 2012 was the year of giveaways! However, there were still several prestigious guests.

Rachel Coker, teen author of beautiful Christian historical fiction
Gail Carson Levine, most definitely the master of YA and MG fantasy
Stephanie Morrill, founder of my stellar writers' group, Go Teen Writers
Jill Williamson, now co-host of Go Teen Writers, and a really awesome YA speculative novelist

This year has seen more interview guests than both 2011 and 2012 combined. It's quite clear that this has been the year of interviews!

Author Interview: S. Alex Martin

Tell us a little about yourself first.
I am 21 years old and I have written four novels over the last ten years. I attended college in Pittsburgh, PA, and I am a coffee-holic. My latest YA science-fiction novel, Embassy, is being released on January 14, 2014, through Amazon and other major retailers.

Who or what has had the most influence on you as a writer?
I’d have to say Christopher Paolini, who wrote the Inheritance Cycle, had the most influence on me. He’s the reason I started writing when I was eleven years old, and his personal story really shows that you can create your dream as long as you work hard and stay active with it.

Do you base events or people in your books off of your life, or your friends' and family's lives?
Embassy didn’t start out as the emotional story that it is today. It was much more plot-driven rather than character-driven, but it changed as I realized the story I wanted to tell. In some ways, it reflects the change I’ve undergone between January 2013 and December 2013, and truly is a story about taking control of your life after you’ve hit rock bottom. I definitely would not be the person I am today had I not written Embassy.



What is your writing process? Do you write regularly at certain times or just when inspiration hits?
When I’m in the writing and editing stages, I write every single day, no questions asked. I like to say I wrote the first draft of Embassy in ten days. That’s only partially true. I already had three chapters written, but I hadn’t touched them in months. Then, January 5-14, 2013, I sat down and wrote the rest. It took ten days to write a little more than 100,000 words (and it’s not something I’d do again). I would wake up at 7 a.m., be to Starbucks by 8 a.m., and write until 11 p.m. with minimal breaks.

As for editing, that schedule varied. While editing the second draft, I sat down in Starbucks for seven hours a day, 70 days in a row. The third draft I did on a computer in the span of a month, just cleaning some things up. The fourth draft took the longest, May-September 2013, and had the most random schedule. The fifth draft took 2.5 months of consecutive five-hour revising days, and the sixth draft took three weeks of eight-hour days.

I kept a running total of the hours and days I wrote. Between January 5, 2013, and December 21, 2013, I logged 3,016 hours, missing only 22 days. That’s more than I slept in that same timespan. So yeah, my writing schedule is pretty strict.

What is your book about? Target age range?
Embassy tells the story of Arman Lance, a twenty-year-old guy who falls in love with Ladia Purnell, a girl from a different planet. After spending one summer together, Arman promises he’ll join the Embassy Program so that he can travel across the galaxy to find her again. But over the next four years, Arman sinks
into mental isolation and depression. He finally joins the Embassy, and his journey begins. He explores the inner-workings of the program, competes in a sport called Hologis, and flies military vehicles called Molters. Then he embarks on the expedition to Ladia’s planet. Along the way, and with the help of a fellow Recruit named Glacia Haverns, Arman realizes how his love of Ladia is nothing more than an obsession. From that point on, he works to come to terms with his life and find happiness in himself again.

This story is for the older YA audience, because it follows a character who’s dealing with the years associated with darker internal conflict.

Are you planning any other books?
Embassy is Book One of four in the Recovery Cycle. No pun intended!

Who is your favorite character in your book? Why?
Glacia Haverns. She’s an adrenaline junkie and loves making the most out of life. She has her flaws and backstories that she suppresses on purpose because she doesn’t like thinking about the negative things. She’d probably be fun to hang out with, but could get overwhelming at points.

Do you have any advice for other writers?
Tell a story. Don’t line up events and hope they’ll fall into place. Revising means knowing when to switch parts around, delete parts, and add parts. Do this effectively and the story will take its own shape.

Where can I find you online?
Website and blog: www.salexmartin.webs.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/SAlexMartinAuthor
Twitter: @SalexM23
Also find me on Goodreads!

Thank you so much for being my guest today!

Guest Post: Elizabeth Liberty's Treasures

Treasures

by Elizabeth Liberty

I hate winter. I love winter.

I've hated winter for a long time. And ever since I've had a camera, I have watched for the little glow above the shade in my bedroom that means it snowed last night. And then I would vault up, rush through my chores, gulp a little breakfast, loop my camera round my wrist or neck, and stared out the back door at the lovely, hateful snow.

I don't remember when I stopped playing in the snow. I just know that one year it became very cold, and nastily wet, and not worth the trouble. I suppose that was the year I grew up. I can't pinpoint the first moment I lifted my numb foot out of the snow, shook the ice out of my sock, and thought this is not worth it. I just...did.

That is, until the camera.

Suddenly, cold of all kinds became a necessary evil - as long as I could get to the icicles. Or the drifts. Or the hoarfrost. As soon as I woke on the morning of a snow day I would sternly caution my siblings not to walk on the snow before I could photograph it. They listened. After all, I was a madwoman with a camera. You listened or you suffered the consequences.

Winter was full of treasures. From clothespins to water pumps, chicken wire to windchimes, anything could become precious when coated with crystals.

I suppose that's what the mindset of childhood is mostly about. The idea that anything can be special. Anything can be magical. The mundane setting of our rural Midwestern property could be enchanted, worth photographing again.

I think, for a while, I lost the childlike quality that all artists need once in a while. I stopped looking at winter as something magical and looked at it as a hindrance. And it stopped being worthwhile to me.

Whatever kind of artist you may be, don't do that. Whether you write or sing or pound out tunes on a hundred instruments, don't stop seeing the magic.

I still hate winter. But I have three hundred pictures of it. So I guess things turned out all right.

Visit Elizabeth's blog at http://exhortationsbyelizabeth.blogspot.com/

Author Interview: Kat Zhang

I'm Kat Zhang, author of the Hybrid Chronicles! Currently, Books One and Two (What's Left of Me and Once We Were) are out. Book Three, Echoes of Us, will release this fall. I like thunderstorms (when I'm not in them!) and hate the cold, which is probably why I live in the South ;)

How long have you been writing?

I started fiddling around with writing poetry when I was really young, like seven or so. I'd gotten this book of children's poetry and got really enamored with it. I used to sit and read them aloud to myself constantly. I was about eleven when I started getting into writing stories, and twelve, I think, when I started my first novel ("started" being the imperative word--never finished it!).

I began What's Left of Me during my senior year of high school, and wrote the series all through college. So writing has always been a big part of growing up, for me.



What is your writing process? Do you write regularly at certain times or just when inspiration hits?

I like to write regularly and set a goal for myself every day of a certain number of chapters, or a certain number of words. Some days, I'll get really inspired, but other days it takes a while to get going. Inspiration is a slippery thing. I've learnt to not rely on it too much!

What keeps you motivated?

Sometimes, it's hard to tell, haha. Of course, once you have a contract and everything, and people counting on you to get something done, that's pretty motivating. But even outside of that, once I start a story, I just have this urge to finish it. If I don't finish it, it's going to just live inside my head forever, and while that's okay for smaller story ideas -- still unformed and baking -- when they get to be a certain "size," so to say, they have to get out onto the page.

What inspired your book?  How did it all start?

Don't really have a super cool story for how I first got inspired to write The Hybrid Chronicles, sadly! Just started wondering -- what would it be like if someone else shared your body? Or if you were trapped in someone else's body, unable to speak or move? It seemed at once terrifying and awfully interesting.

Which are you - panster or plotter?

I used to be a complete panster, but the past couple years has turned me into more and more of a plotter. I'm still definitely nowhere near the outlining that my truly plotter friends do, but I like to have things figured out now to a degree that I didn't before.

Are you planning any other books?

I've actually already finished Echoes of Us, so for the past few months, I've been working on a YA fantasy I'm really excited about. I can't say too much about it now, but hopefully sometime soon, I'll have news :)

What's the weirdest thing you've Googled?

Hahaha, I don't even know. I've googled everything from "What happens to fish during extreme flooding" to "how to start an electrical fire" to "Forging birth certificates" and "how to hand-make a gun and bullets." My search history is probably pretty scary.

Thanks for having me, Emily! You can find me at katzhangwriter.com, @KatZhang, and https://www.facebook.com/katzhangwriter.

Special Interview: Hannah Miller, Future Olympist

Once upon a time, preteen Emily found out her good friend from her homeschool group had discovered a cool winter sport. Despite her friend's disbelief, Emily was firmly convinced the girl would be in the Olympics one day. Fast-forward several years, and Hannah Miller, slider extraordinaire, is raising money to train internationally - and, yes, be in future winter Olympics! Commence the insane squealing! I totally called this.

Anyway, to help Hannah get the word out about her unique sport and her fundraising needs, I invited her to hang out with us today. I just know you're going to love her, my lovely readers.

For starters, tell us a little about yourself.  

Well, I suppose I'll start out with saying that my name is Hannah Miller. I'm sixteen years old and have been homeschooled since first grade. Besides luge, I like to spend my time reading and staying fit while spending time with my family.

As you'll read on through this, you'll learn that I've dedicated the last five years of my life to something that I love and the only way I've been able to do so is through the love and support of my family and friends.

What is luge, exactly?

Luge is an odd yet unique sport. Technically, the noun form is "sliding." We slide down an iced-over track on a small sled that's fitted to our bodies at vast speeds of 65-80 mph, racing to the thousandth of a second. Luge is actually known as the fastest sport on ice.

Because we race to the thousandth of a second, all of our equipment is based off of aerodynamics. We wear skin-tight spandex suits and special shoes made to point our feet. The edges of our sleds are smooth and rounded. The whole point is to go as fast as possible.

Have you always been interested in luge?

Actually, before I tried out, I had no clue as to what luge was. My parents saw the luge recruitment program in the local newspaper and thought it'd be a fun thing for me to try out. Little did they know that four years later, I'd end up competing around the world!


How'd you get started in luge - and how old were you?

I was only twelve years old when I got started. The USLA (United States Luge Association) has a recruitment program called a "slider search" where they travel all over the country looking for raw talent. In August of 2009, they held one of these two-three hour sessions in the next town over. Seeing it in the paper,
I assumed that the program was to familiarize you with the sport, not a program that was looking for their next team athletes. Needless to say, as soon as I gave it a try, I fell in love with it.

What is your favorite part of sliding?

My favorite part is definitely the adrenaline rush and the sense of accomplishment after you've had a great run. Especially after having problems in a certain area, once you finally nail it and fully understand what to do, it's just such a great feeling.

Describe a typical day in the life of a slider.

A typical day in the life of a slider can be rather hectic. On a daily basis, we take runs on the luge track, which is the most important part of our training. We do some sort of physical training, whether it be weight lifting, cardio/agility, or core movements. Also, we have an indoor start facility. The most crucial part of luge is having a fast start time; because of this, the indoor start facility enables us to focus solely on improving our start times. All of this takes about six hours of the day. The rest of our time is spent on sled maintenance, meals in between activities, catching up on schoolwork, and recuperating from the day.

What places have you traveled to for training/competition?

I've traveled to various places in Germany, Austria, Latvia and Canada; not including the US.

Where was your favorite?

My favorite location would be in Igls, Austria. The scenery is utterly breathtaking. Though, my favorite track would be in Konigssee, Germany. It's one of the only tracks in the world that was built for luge. So, because of that, the curves and pressures have a very unique feeling that's unlike any other track.

Have you won any awards? Tell us about them!

I have! I've won a number of medals through small competitions, but a few of them have been from the National Championships held in Lake Placid, New York throughout the years.

I know you're homeschooled - always have been, correct? With all the traveling involved, I was wondering - are all the sliders you know homeschooled?

Yes, I've always been homeschooled, which has come to a great advantage. Most athletes either attend online schooling, are homeschooled, or continue working through their school districts. Some schools are very good about keeping in contact with students, while some schools aren't so diligent.

How has sliding changed your life?

Luge has drastically changed my life for the better. There are only two luge/bobsled/skeleton tracks in the United States, and because of that, we have to start living away from home at the Olympic Training Center at very young ages in order to train. Like I mentioned earlier, I was twelve when I got into luge. I started living away from home at such a young age that I had no choice but to gain independence and mature. I think that this situation really has come to a great advantage in every aspect of my life. Also, traveling to all of these places and experiencing the different cultures and atmospheres of different countries is far more effective than reading and learning about it through a text book.

There are, for example, baseball teams for fun, baseball teams at school or clubs, and then there's professional on-television baseball. Are there different levels like that for luge?

There are actually four teams in the system. The first team is what we call the Development Team. This is where every athlete starts. The sole purpose for this team is to help define and develop the raw talent that the young athletes have. Second, we have the Candidate Team. This group of athletes are those who have advanced themselves and who have worked hard at bettering their skills through the Development Team. Third, we have the Junior National Team. This is the team that travels all over the world competing in our Youth/Junior World Cup races throughout the season. Usually, by the time an athlete has reached this level, they will have spent about three years working their way from the Development Team to where they are now. Fourth, last but not least, we have the Senior National Team. This group of athletes are those who compete in the World Cup races all over the world and who are also candidates for our Olympic Team. It takes eight-ten years of experience to get to this level.

Can you go to school for luge? Are there scholarships, like with other sports?

Luge is such a small sport that not many colleges or schools know of it. Therefore, there are no academies or scholarships like there would be for basketball or swimming.

What are your future plans for sliding? Is there a certain team or place you plan to train with/at? Do you have a timeline in mind?

My ultimate goal is the represent the United States in the 2018 Olympic Games. I plan to eventually make my way up to the Senior National Team and race all over the world.

For readers interested in sliding: How can they learn more/get involved?

A great way to get involved is through the Adirondack Luge Club. With obtaining a membership through the Adirondack Luge Club, you will gain access to equipment and sliding participation during the designated club sliding sessions. To learn more, visit www.adirondacklugeclub.com!

I want to help you get to the Olympics! How can I help?

All athletes are mainly self-funded. We depend on friends, family and the community due to the lack of government subsidies. The most effective way to help would be through your contributions. Any form would be greatly appreciated. If you're interested, you can visit my website for more information on how to do so!

Guest Post: In Stephanie's Kitchen

Because a dreamy chocolate cake recipe is exactly what we need to complement all those lose-weight resolutions...

Deep Dark Chocolate Cake 
by Stephanie Kehr

- Ingredients - 

2 cups of sugar
1 3/4 cups of flour
3/4 cup cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water
buttercream frosting (see recipe below)

- Instructions -

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans or one 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan.

2. In large mixer bowl, stir together sugar, flour , cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of electric mixer 2 minutes.

3. Remove from mixer; stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

4. Bake 30 to 35 minutes for round pans, 35 to 40 minutes for rectangular pan, or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

5. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. (Cake may be left in rectangular pan, if desired.) Frost with homemade buttercream frosting.

Buttercream Frosting 

- Ingredients - 

6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened.
2 2/3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup of cocoa
1/3 cup of milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

- Instructions -

In small mixer bowl, beat butter. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk; beat to spreading consistency (additional milk may be needed). Blend in vanilla.