What makes readers care about flawed characters making questionable decisions? In this episode of Freelance Writing Direct, Estelle Erasmus talks with bestselling author Vanessa Hua about her new novel Coyoteland and the craft behind creating emotionally layered fiction filled with tension, community, family dynamics, and difficult choices.

They discuss:
• Writing omniscient and multiple point-of-view narration
• Why flawed characters create compelling stories
• Building escalating stakes in fiction
• Using setting as an active force in storytelling
• How journalism shaped Vanessa's fiction writing
• Reverse-engineering stories to improve craft
• The importance of empathy in storytelling
• Writing family, community, and social tension
• Balancing multiple writing projects at once
• Why movement and listening to your manuscript aloud can strengthen revision

Vanessa also shares insights into writing morally complex characters while exploring the hidden pressures shaping modern communities and relationships.

Watch on YouTube

https://youtu.be/KP9W2VZT5Nk

Vanessa Hua is the author of the national bestsellers A River of Stars and Forbidden City, as well as the story collection Deceit and Other Possibilities, a New York Times Editors' Pick. A National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellow, she has also received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award, the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, a California Arts Council Fellowship, and a Steinbeck Fellowship in Creative Writing, as well as honors from the de Groot Foundation, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the Asian American Journalists Association, among others. Previously, she was an award-winning columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. She teaches at the Warren Wilson MFA Program, Sewanee Writers Conference, and elsewhere. Her book of narrative nonfiction, Uprooted, is forthcoming.

Links & Resources:
Vanessa:
Website: http://www.vanessahua.com
Instagram: @mononoke97
Facebook: @vanessahuawriter
Bluesky: r@vanessahua.bsky.social

Estelle
Website: https://estelleserasmus.com
Watch Estelle's TEDx Talk How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpcWmjpzSIQ
Instagram/X/TikTok/BlueSky: @EstelleSErasmus
NEW Substack post: A Recap of the Editor-on-Call Event with Susan Dabbar of PROVOKEDmagazine. All the intel you need to get published there including a free pitching guide and portal link. https://estelleserasmus.substack.com/p/how-to-pitch-provokedmagazine-inside
Subscribe for exclusive info and podcast clips: https://estelleserasmus.substack.com

About Estelle Erasmus
Estelle Erasmus is an NYU writing professor, former magazine editor-in-chief, TEDx speaker, and the author of Writing That Gets Noticed, named a Best Book for Writers by Poets & Writers. She is also the host of the award-winning podcast Freelance Writing Direct, where she shares insider strategies on craft, publishing, and building a writing career.

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