#191 Writing Characters Who Make Questionable Decisions with Vanessa Hua

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Vanessa Hua

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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.

Coyoteland

Watch on YouTube

About Vanessa Hua

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

Don’t miss episode
#190 Building a Memoir Around a Defining Moment with Jacque Gorelick

And find the free resource guide from the panel I moderated at AWP here

I Was on the Podcast Writers on Writing 

It was such an honor to be a guest on the Writers on Writing podcast with its founder and host Barbara DeMarco-Barrett. Writers on Writing is the original podcast/radio program about writing. Writers on Writing walked so Freelance Writing Direct and so many of the other writing podcasts that followed could fly.

We spoke about writing craft, essays, braided pieces, starting and ending essays and articles, and all things nonfiction. We also talked about Writing That Gets Noticed and how to actually get noticed with your voice and your writing in the age of AI. We also had fun and laughed a lot.
Listen to it here.

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 has appeared on Good Morning America and her essays and articles have been cited on The View. 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.

Get More From Estelle Erasmus

Follow Estelle

Instagram: @EstelleSErasmus
TikTok: @EstelleSErasmus
Twitter/X: @EstelleSErasmus
Bluesky: @estelleserasmus.bsky.social

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