Posted on by hrchow12

What does a writing process look like?

I recently had someone ask how I tackle revisions and realized the writing process I posted years ago has evolved as I’ve grown more efficient. Honestly when you’re writing the first one or two books, I think one of things you’re also doing is defining your writing process. The process is something that improves over time, and I try to look it over every now and again to see if it needs any tweaking. While everyone’s will look different, if you’re starting from a blank page and looking for a starting point, here’s how mine goes.

(I’ve delineated the thought from the writing time that these steps takes because I’m a firm believer that writing is 90% thought and 10% writing it down, but it’s very difficult to measure the amount of time you think about something. And most people seem to hyper-fixate on the amount of writing time anyway. )

1.      Plot Seed: Plot idea strikes from the aether, and I write it down My latest one came from a microfiction piece I wrote for the NYC midnight writing challenge. The one before that was just a random hypothetically that popped into my head. Just make sure you write it down! The writing portion of this process takes about 30 seconds.

2.      Outline: The idea usually percolates in the brain space for a few days before I decide that I absolutely need to write it and type up the 1-page Save the Cat Outline. The writing portion of this takes about 30 minutes.

3.      Detailed Outline / Zero Draft: I write up a chapter-by-chapter outline. Sometimes this is more detailed than others. Sometimes it’s a summary of what happens in each chapter, and sometimes it reads like the screenplay (dialogue-only) version of the chapter outline which I sometimes refer to as a zero draft. The writing time varies widely as this chapter outline/zero draft can be anywhere from like 3,000-20,000 words, which is like 3-20 hours.

If I put more time here, the next step will be quicker. If I skimp on this part, the next step takes longer. Mostly, it depends on what other projects I have going on at the time as to how much time I put into this, and how fully I’ve thought about it. You could also break this into two steps, but I’m not sure if I’ve ever done it that way. In my most recent first drafts, I’ve just done a short chapter outline which probably took me about 3 hours.

4.     First Draft: In this draft I’m just telling the story to myself. Getting the bare bones of it down on paper and maintaining momentum. I cannot understate this enough – this sucker is literally unreadable by anyone else. It will have too many inconsistencies for the story to make sense, the setting details will be minimal, and I show it to no one. So, it will usually fall about 10-15k words short of whatever the final word count will be. That said it usually takes me about 1 hour per 1000 words, and I write shorter novels, so 70,000 is usually pretty normal for me. Let’s say 70 hours. If I budget 2000 words/day, which is doable for me, that’s 35 days of writing.

5.      First Revision: This is where I make it readable for my first reader, which, these days, is one of my long-term critique partners (who are also authors). It’s honestly pretty difficult for me to gage how long this takes. I think it takes about 2-3 weeks, which at 2 hours/day, is an average of 35 hours, which sounds about right. This is definitely the hardest revision.

6.      Second Revision: After I get it back from that first reader, I revise again. This one usually goes a lot faster, since I have specific advice from another author friend, and takes me about a week, so we’ll say about 14 hours. After that, it goes out to 2-3 first-round Beta Readers. These are trusted beta readers I’ve used multiple times, and who have read many of my stories. Most of them are authors, but I have one professional beta reader I’ve been using for a long time.

7.      Sanity-Check Revision: Finally, it goes out to second-round Beta Readers, who are 2-3 readers (not writers.) This is really just a sanity check to make sure the story works, but also usually results in some very small tweaks. Maybe like 4 hours.

8.      Industry Professional Revision: This is also where I send it to my Developmental Editor at Whimsical or my agent. They will both send me edits which can take varying amounts of time. I think we usually do at least two rounds which take about 1-2 weeks each. So probably about 24 hours.

9.      Post-Submission Revision: So far, I’ve only done this once, but if the book gets picked up by a publisher from submission, there will be another editor-led round of revision. I’m sure the amount of time this takes varies widely depending on the editor, but I’d estimate about 24 hours again.

10. Line Edits and Proofing: These are super quick they come as recommendations from the copyeditor and proofreader and are generally very straight forward. I’d say 2 hours each for a total of 4 hours.

So there it is: 178 hours, 30 min, and 30 seconds of my authorly writing time to get a book ready to publish. Since I do about 2 hours of writing a day, that’s about 90 days of work spread out across varying lengths of time depending on the speed of publishing and how many projects I’m working.

Please keep in mind that this does not include the publisher’s, agent, editor, critique partner, and beta reader time that also goes into. And it doesn’t include thinking time either. Which is just to say, it takes a lot of time for myself (and the people around me) to get a book ready for publication.

It’s funny, when I started this post, I thought it would show how much my process has been streamlined and simplified, but honestly looking at it, it reads more complicated than it feels. But that’s probably just because at this point, 20+ books in, I’m just very comfortable with it.

When that writer asked me about tips for revision, my biggest advice was to use CPs and Beta Readers to help you find where and how to revise because their objective eyes will save you tons of time. Also, I think when you’re first starting out, it’s easy to want to revise a book forever with the idea that it’ll never be good enough. But just remember, every revision will bring diminishing returns, and any growth you experience in writing this book, you will bring to the next book as well.

So as you write, give thought to your process, so that you know both when to sit down and begin, when you need another pair of eyes, and when it’s time to send that book baby out in the world and hope it flies!

Happy Writing!

Thanks for reading!

Posted on by hrchow12

Book Review – Zen in the Art of Writing

I’ve read quite a few writing craft books at this point, and I’ll be honest, quite a few of them are misses for me, but I really enjoyed this one. I’ve definitely been feeling a little lost in my author life, and this was *exactly* the book I needed. Bradbury’s writing is straight up mesmerizing, the descriptions of his journey, writing process, inspirations, and advice were fascinating, and in general, I think he gets straight at the heart of writing. I absolutely recommend it, but know going in, this is less concrete advice about how to write, and more about finding the balance amidst industry pressures and motivations – about centering on the art in our writing and ourselves.

A Favorite Quote: “The faster you blurt, the more swiftly you write, the more honest you are. In hesitation is thought. In delay comes the effort for a style, instead of leaping upon truth which is the only style worth deadfalling or tiger-trapping.”

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thanks, Ray, I needed this one.

Thanks for reading!

Posted on by hrchow12

Book Review – Creating Characters: The Complete Guide to Populating Your Fiction

Since this one has articles from various authors on the same topics, there’s a lot of repetition in this one. I don’t remember what “recommended writing craft books” list I found this on, but it wasn’t my favorite.

Favorite Quote: “The further you stray from reader expectation, the more obligated you are to explain how you got there.”

Still searching for the writing craft book I need in my life. I know it’s out there!

Thanks for reading!

Posted on by hrchow12

Book Review – Dialogue by Robert McKee

So I read Story by McKee and couldn’t really get into it, and unfortunately, I felt the same way about this one. A lot of these elements feel repetitive, and are illustrated through in-depth analysis of selected screenplays. Personally, I felt like it read like a super dry textbook without as many insightful nuggets as I would’ve hoped for. In general, the way the information is presented just didn’t really hit for me, but it could work for you!

Favorite Quote: “The more emotional people become, the shorter the words and sentences they use; the more rational people become, the longer the words and sentences they use.”

Honestly, finding a compelling writing craft book is tough. There are a few that I’ve loved… but I’ve tried quite a few at this point. Still, I’m always looking for ways to improve my writing, so I’ll keep at it!

Thanks for reading!

Posted on by hrchow12

WriteHive Mentorship Program 2026!

I’m so excited to announce I’ll be returning to the WriteHive Mentorship Program for my second year as a mentor. I had a great experience as a mentee in 2023, and again as a mentor in 2024, so I highly recommend this program to anyone looking for some help in whipping their manuscript into shape! I’ve included my mentor wishlist, profile and expectations below, but I highly recommend you check out all the mentor profiles here.

While you don’t submit to a specific mentor, I found it super helpful last year when applicants listed a few mentors they thought would be a good fit in their query/submission letters.

Also, if you’re curious as to what I’m looking for in submissions, you can find my breakdown of the submissions from last year here.

Last year, I went with Erin Scheuer‘s sweet new adult romantic comedy with YA crossover appeal which had huge K-drama vibes that I absolutely adored. But honestly this year, I’m pretty open when it comes to target audience and genre. There will be a Mentor AMA on WriteHive’s Discord & Bluesky next week if you have more questions, but if you’re on the fence about submitting, I hope you decide to take the leap!

Submissions will be open from Nov 14-16 and I can’t wait to see what comes in. If you’re submitting, good luck, and I’m excited to read your pitch!

Cheers friends and good luck!

Posted on by hrchow12

For Writers: Why was my manuscript rejected?

So I became a WriteHive mentor because I wanted to pay forward all the wisdom and experience the writing community had gifted me over the years. And since I’ve done quite a lot of beta reading, critique swaps with partners, and also worked with quite a few editors over the years, I felt pretty comfortable that I’d be able to help someone improve their manuscript.

But what I totally wasn’t expecting was everything I learned during the manuscript selection process. I hadn’t considered that this was the first time I was on the other side of an acceptance/rejection decision. And what it brought it really home for me was that authors had actually requested me as a mentor in their queries!🤯I was so completely flattered and blown away.

In this article, I’m going to break down how I narrowed the submissions to select my mentee, the materials I looked at, and the questions I asked myself along the way. I found this a very enlightening process and thought it might be helpful for others going through the querying or submission trenches. However, please keep in mind, everyone has their own methods for selecting manuscripts for both representation, mentoring, and publication. This was simply the process and realizations I had during mine.

Here’s a quick breakdown of how many submissions came in for 17 mentors:

140 submissions (a 52% increase over 2024 – yay!)

Age demographic submission breakdown:

  • MG: 12 (8.6%)
  • YA: 39 (27.9%)
  • NA: 15 (10.7%)
  • Adult: 74 (52.8%)

Publishing path submission breakdown:

  • Unsure about Publishing Path: 21 (15%)
  • Self Publishing: 14 (10%)
  • Indie / Small Press: 20 (14.3%)
  • Traditional: 85 (60.7%)

And genre breakdown:

  • Fantasy: 51 (36.4%)
  • Romance: 23 (16.4%)
  • Romantasy: 23 (16.4%)
  • Contemporary/Literary/Nonfiction: 17 (12.2%)
  • Horror/Suspense/Mystery: 16 (11.4%)
  • Sci-Fi: 10 (7.2%)

Each submission included their bio, the state of their manuscript (where was it in the writing process), pitch, their query letter, a synopsis, and their full manuscript. But how to narrow it down? I really wanted to make sure I picked the mentee who I could help most. A manuscript I could really fall in love with, but also one that I could help in a concrete way.

The first cut

So, even though I had outlined my general preferences in my MSWL (manuscript wishlist), I read the pitch, query, and first page of all 140 submissions, with one question in mind:

Does the premise grab me?

Based on that question alone (which, by the way, had *nothing* to do with the talent of the author or the quality of writing and everything to do with personal preference), I was able to cut my list down from 140 to 26.

That, in itself, blew me away. After all, I’ve received many rejections, and of course, every time, I assumed it was because I wasn’t a good enough author. My writing wasn’t good enough. The story wasn’t good enough.

But here I was, cutting 81% of the submissions with no regard to quality at all. Honestly, I probably could’ve done it based on the pitch alone.

Interesting.

So with that cut, my list was down to:
3/12 Middle Grade: 25%
9/39 Young Adult: 23%
2/15 New Adult: 13%
12/74 Adult: 16%
Total Longlist: 26/140

The Second cut

For there, I reviewed the bio, the state of the manuscript, their synopsis, and their query again. From these materials, the mentees included information on if they’d started querying it, which paths – traditional, small press, or self-publishing – they’d consider pursuing, and what they were looking for in a mentorship.

On my second cut, I was asking myself: Is this a mentee I can help? Am I the type of mentor they’re looking for?

Once again, I was not considering the quality of the story or writing at all. I was simply trying to ascertain at this point if we could be a good match based on my strengths and the kind of mentor they were looking for.

In the second cut I went from a longlist of 26 to a longlist of 12.

2/12 MG: 17%
3/39 YA: 8%
1/15 NA: 7%
6/74 Adult: 8%
Total Trimmed Longlist: 12

So at this point, I had cut 91% of the submission without considering quality of writing or story.

The third cut

The third is where I finally read the entirety of the first chapter and then asked myself: Am I drawn to keep reading? This is the first question I’d asked that could have been attributed to writing quality.

The third cut took me from a longlist of 12 to a short list of 7: 2 Young Adult Manuscripts and 5 Adult Manuscripts. From there, I read further into the manuscripts, and once again, this time, looking for the manuscript that I thought would be most suited to my tastes. In the end, I chose the story I had extremely concrete recommendations for, one which was very much suited to my personal taste, and had an author who was searching for knowledge areas I had. And just as an aside, only one of my top 3 choices showed up on another mentor’s top 3. For the most part, all of our top 3 choices were radically different.

So what’s the point?

When it came to publishing, I’d often heard the phrase “right eyes, right time.” Meaning essentially, that there are tons of quality stories out there, but you need to find the right agent/editor that’s the best fit to champion yours at the right time in the market. Which… comes down to a lot of factors outside of your control.

But once again, every time I faced a rejection, it was so easy to take it as a sign that I wasn’t good enough to be an author. Or the story wasn’t good enough to be published. But the truth is, writing, as an artform, is so personal. No one book is for everyone – and that fact is as true before publishing as after it.

So, if you submitted to the WriteHive mentorship, please don’t be discouraged in any way if you weren’t selected as a mentee. It really has no reflection on your ability as a writer or a storyteller, but rather simply, if your story was a good match for the mentors reading submissions this year.

And as I continue to trudge on in the submission trenches, I’m trying to keep the very same lesson in mind. That my stories need to find the right eyes at the right time. Whether that’s next week or next year or in three years really isn’t up to me. All I can do is be patient and keep writing the best stories that I can.

Hopefully, if you’re in the query or submission trenches, this has been helpful in some way and can also help you to find the mindset and perseverence you need on your writing journey.

Rejections are tough. There’s no two ways about it. Just remember to take care of yourself, take lots of breaks, and keep on keeping on.
Begin. Grow. Persevere.

Thanks for reading!

Posted on by hrchow12

Giving back to the writing community

So, this year marks a new chapter for me as an author. Though still battling imposter syndrome (as I think most authors do to some extent), I’m making a conscious effort to give back to the writing community this year.

As such, I’m officially a judge for the WriteHive Indie Ink Awards! As a judge, I’ll be reading six books in the next six months, scoring them in a rubric and rating them in the categories they were nominated. Out of the nominees, I’ve actually already selected the six I intend to read and downloaded my first read. Best Audio Narration & Best Light Read are the two categories I’m feeling in this season of life, so that’s where I’ll be hanging out.

But personally, I’m a big fan of book awards as a way to distinguish and lift up authors (indie authors especially) and I’m so excited to be a part of it.

But that’s not all!

This year, I’m also a 2025 WriteHive Mentor! This is an extra special opportunity for me since I was actually a 2023 WriteHive Mentee with EJ Dawson as my mentor, and I learned so much! I was so excited to pay it forward, and even more excited to pick Erin Scheuer as my mentee. I absolutely fell in love with her rock star/celebrity romance Love Songs and Other Lies, (which reads JUST like a K-drama, you all—squeee!!!), and we clicked instantly on our first call.

She’s entering into the revision phase, and I’m so excited to see her take her manuscript to the next level. Everyone is absolutely going to love her sweet, complicated characters, and I’m so excited for the world to meet them! Check out the mock cover and moodboard I put together for her!

It was also super interesting to be on the other side of the submission/rejection process, and I learned quite a lot. (Separate post coming on that soon!)

All in all, this has been such a positive experience so far, and I’m so glad I was able to take the leap to jump into these opportunities! I’ll be posting the books I review for Indie Ink awards here just like any other book, but when the results come out I’ll definitely post an update on the winners! And of course, if anything exciting happens with Erin’s Love Songs & Other Lies, I’ll be sure to post about that too, because I’m pulling hard for it!

Thanks so much for reading!

Posted on by hrchow12

Character Artist Recommendations for Authors

Okay, so this is the post I needed in my life as a budding author in 2019. I have always loved art since I was a kid, and now, as an author, I adore seeing books brought to life through character art, and use character art heavily when promoting my books. But when I first started out, I had no idea who to message about character art.

Over the years, as I admired other authors’ commissioned pieces, got recommendations from authors, and commissioned different artists myself, I began to gather quite a few art pieces of my books that I adored as well as a list of artists I enjoyed working with. I’m always on the look out for new artists and fresh styles, because I love to see how different people with different perspectives can bring to life characters in different ways.

And yes, I only work with human artists and likewise, human authors. In case you haven’t seen my thoughts on generative AI, you can find them in the graphic below.

So in part, this is an artist appreciation post for the artists who I’ve worked with over the years, and it’s also a resource for those other authors out there looking for (human) artists to commission. Without further ado, the guide is below! All handles are from Instagram unless otherwise noted.

Posted on by hrchow12

For writers: The ups & downs of being on submission

Look it’s me in the query… I mean submission trenches! 😂

So, the first rule of being on sub is that we don’t talk about sub. But, instead of talking about the specifics of my sub journey, I’m really just going to talk about the general vibes of being on submission. Because it’s definitely come with some surprises for me. Please keep in mind this is my own personal take based on my experience, which may or may not align with anyone else’s.

The good

  • Your agent believes in you and your story! This is huge!
  • The doors to the big publishers are open and your agent is championing your story! This is also huge!
  • You no longer have to spend valuable writing time sending out queries
  • So… you get more writing time! Huzzah!

The less good!

  • The stakes are higher. Think of it as climbing higher up a mountain and having farther to fall. (Because now your agent is also depending on your books to sell. And, if they don’t… well you might end up back in the query trenches.)
  • There’s more hope, and so also more disappointment. If you’re going to ride this roller coaster, mental toughness is a must.
  • Submission response times are longer than query response times (in my experience.) So be prepared to settle in and get comfortable

My Advice

Pessimist?

This is going to sound a lot like the querying advice article I wrote a couple years ago, and mostly these reminders are for me.

  • Try to keep your expectations low. Because even though I have an agent, my book still might not sell. And why you might call me a pessimist, it’s how I keep myself from getting crushed with those near misses. In the querying phase, I treated query letters like lottery tickets, and I need to treat submissions in the same way.
  • Have a rough idea of what you would do if you lost your agent. Would you self-publish your manuscripts or query a fresh book with your backlist in tow? I honestly have no idea what I would do, and I think that’s part of my current mindset problem.
  • Work on something else while you wait! This is common advice, but for good reason. Time goes a lot faster when you’re excited for a new manuscript. And this part, at least, I’ve got down. In the span of fourteen months, I actually sent my agent six manuscripts… which leads me to the next piece.
  • Find other ways to grow and learn as a writer. For me, in 2024, this looked like diving into craft books and signing up to be a mentor in the WriteHive Mentorship Program. But in 2025, I’ll be looking for different opportunities to explore. Conferences? In-person events? Marketing classes? I’m definitely open to ideas and recommendations
  • Trust the process (and your agent) and stick with it.

so what’s the bottom line

Being on sub can be difficult, just like querying can be difficult. But just because it’s difficult doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing. Try to enjoy the journey, even through the ups and downs, and the stories will find their way out into the world one way or another.

Cheers to the tenacity of being on sub and whatever comes next. Good luck out there!
Posted on by hrchow12

A Recommendation for Writers: The WriteHive Mentorship Program

If you’re a writer with a manuscript you’re trying to whip into shape for querying or self-publishing, this free program is for you! I was a mentee back in the 2023 with the wonderful E.J. Dawson as my mentor, and the help really transformed my manuscript. (And since then, I’ve gotten an agent and that manuscript is now on sub! 🎉)

Basically, you submit your query, manuscript, & synopsis, and if you get picked up by a mentor, you’re essentially getting a free critique/edit of your manuscript from someone who’s been in the publishing world for some time.

And the big news is, I’ll be joining the WriteHive team as one of the mentors this year! 🎉 I really love this program and I’m so excited to pay forward all I gained from it to a new mentee. I’ve included my bio, expectations, and MSWL wishlist below, but you can find the info on all the mentors here.

The big dates to remember are:
Nov 11-18: Mentor AMA
Nov 21-24: Mentee Submission Window
Jan 1, 2025: Mentorship pairings announced

So, be sure to check this one out, add it to your calendar, and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask!