✨Embracing the Zero Draft; & Living Your Life Until You Absolutely Have to Write✨
Plus, there's still time to sign up for CeCe's course!
Happy Friday, writing friends!
This week’s 📕Books with Hooks🪝is titled Finding the Heart of Story. In it, Carly and CeCe critique a memoir and medical thriller. You’ll find their written critiques in next Tuesday’s edition.
We have a Q&A by Eddie Huang, author of Come Undone. When asked what he’d do if his editor, agent, or publishers wanted to take his book in a new direction?
“I generally push back, then retreat and consider the value of what has been said. My agent, Kirby Kim, is the first agent I’ve had in any medium that’s actually been helpful from the artist’s point of view. He actually fights for the creative and I end up at times arguing for the marketplace. I don’t know if that’s his strategy to pull the reverse Uno card, but it works.”
We also love this hot take:
“I try not to write until I feel the hand of god pushing me to do it. Whenever I’ve clocked in to write or done it like a job, it’s been ass. Live your life until you absolutely have to write.”
Then in today’s video, longtime podcast listener, Sean David Robinson, author of The Door in Penrose Forest discusses Mastering the Art of the Zero Draft! What’s a zero draft? 👀 You’ll have to keep watching to find out!
Finally, there’s still time to sign up for CeCe’s fabulous upcoming course titled Starting It Right. Keep scrolling to see how to register!
That’s all for now. Thanks for reading! ❤️
The Shit No One Tells You About Writing Team
P.S. Still not sure about upgrading to paid? Check out our Tuesday Teaser below to see what you’re missing!
This Week’s Podcast✨🎙️✨
In this Books with Hooks segment, Bianca, CeCe, and Carly critique a memoir query about parenting a child with Down Syndrome, emphasizing that while emotionally powerful, it lacks a clear hook, market positioning, and defined narrative arc—and may not yet function as a full memoir. They stress the importance of framing personal experience in a way that’s compelling to readers, with strong stakes, structure, and deeper interiority on the page. Next, they critique a medical AI thriller query with a sharp concept and stakes. They share notes on refining the central conflict and strengthening the opening.
Listen to it here or watch it on YouTube!
Q&A with Eddie Huang!
TSNOTYAW: What is your writing routine? Do you light a scented candle, turn on background music, write in silence, prefer a coffee shop or your writing desk at home? What about your practice works for you and why?
Eddie Huang: I try to wake up before anyone else, make myself an espresso, and slip out of the house. It takes me about 30 minutes to use the restroom and while I’m there, I find a song to listen to that coincides with how I feel that day. On this particular day it’s Gazebo “I Like Chopin” so I’ll put it on a loop and listen for hours while I write. I don’t even really hear the song. It’s just there to block every thing out and help me find my voice.
How do you feed your creativity? Particularly in the face of rejection or difficult feedback?
Solitude is where I find my words. However to be alone at any particular place or time is how I connect with my feelings. It could be a two hour walk, it could be fishing, it could be going to the sauna, or just sitting quietly next to my wife who is also a hermit and understands me. We can sit and not say anything and know exactly how the other feels. That has always been the biggest signifier that I’m with my people because I can just be me. The people who aren’t my people and throw me off are the ones that need me to be a certain version of myself that I’ve learned as a defense or coping mechanism to wade through the world.
If any of your books have had a complicated structure (braided storylines, multiple timelines etc.), how did you manage the material? Did you write the stories out separately and then weave them together? Or did you jump around as you wrote?
My work with the most complicated structure was the documentary, Vice Is Broke. Before we went out in the field, I organized all the different angles of the Vice story and identified the people who I felt were best equipped to tell it. We categorized all the interviews into story buckets and after completing principal photography I got a big board and organized the categories of stories as well as the best characters in the category. It allowed me to try various structures, reorganize, and re-route without feeling like I was remaking the documentary every time. The idea was to “bank” the work i.e. within each category the story was clear and the hierarchy of characters was present. Once there was a block and an arc that made sense in the macro timeline, we locked that block of the film.
What do you do when your editor, agent, or publishers want to take your book in a new direction? How do you decide when to listen and when to push back?
I generally push back, then retreat and consider the value of what has been said. My agent, Kirby Kim, is the first agent I’ve had in any medium that’s actually been helpful from the artist’s point of view. He actually fights for the creative and I end up at times arguing for the marketplace. I don’t know if that’s his strategy to pull the reverse Uno card, but it works. That’s not a knock on any agents. I think if there’s one thing I wish agents could embrace it is the fact that as a genre of people, they are not speaking from a place of creativity. They should just laugh and acknowledge that their objective and priority is not the creative, it is the business as it should be. Agents represent the market and their job is to take an artist’s work, translate it to the market and ultimately translate the market back to the artist who then has decisions to make about how to or how not to shape the work for consumption. My editor, Chris Jackson, is also my publisher, and I think that’s a unique set-up that has worked for me. Chris is very aware of the market and the artist and over the course of 15 years has been my greatest collaborator besides my wife the last 5 years. I talk to my friend, Harold Rogers, who is also a writer and a Pisces. Recently I wrote a short story with a wonderful editor, Sophie Mancini, and at Baohaus, I speak with Chef Ray about our food, but otherwise I really don’t ask anyone what they think anymore. Solitude is my greatest collaborator.
How do you dive into each new world you create? With characters first, world first, plot first? What’s your process when you’re beginning a new project?
I just write. Chris Jackson asks me to outline and I do, but I almost never use the outline.
What tips do you suggest for differentiating the “voice” of different characters when switching perspectives?
Choose a person you know inside and out as the reference for the voice and then shape and oscillate it to serve the story.
If you could eavesdrop on a book club discussion of your book, what would you secretly hope they argue about or discuss?
Bars. I want to know which singular lines or turns of phrase hit for people. I’m a boom bap rap Sportscenter kid at heart so I speak in highlight reel. Who won, who lost, who got yammed on is how I talk about work.
Has your writing process changed across your career? How and why?
No. I just learned who to talk to and who not to.
When you are working on many subsequent drafts of a book, how do you know that the work you are doing is actually serving your book? More broadly, what are some tips for writers who have made it past the first and second draft and have no clue where to go from there?
Stop writing. I try not to write until I feel the hand of god pushing me to do it. Whenever I’ve clocked in to write or done it like a job, it’s been ass. Live your life until you absolutely have to write.
Do you buy into the “write what you know” adage? Why or why not?
Yes. Why would you write about something you don’t know?
Mastering the Art of the Zero Draft with Sean David Robinson!
In this week’s author video, Sean David Robinson, author of The Door in Penrose Forest, shares an innovative technique that blends pantsing and plotting—perfect for writers navigating their manuscript journey. Sean David Robinson shares insights on how a zero draft can unlock creativity, provide momentum, and serve as a versatile tool throughout the writing process.
Tuesday Teaser 😉
Paid members will find Carly and CeCe’s written critiques of the 📕Books with Hooks🪝 queries discussed in this week’s episode in Tuesday newsletter, along with…
Jessica M. Goldstein, author of Retro has penned an excellent essay titled How to Be Your Best Sweet-Spot Boss So You Actually Write Your Novel:
“Imagine the best boss you could ever have. Not the boss who is so chill they literally do not care if anything ever gets done—that boss is lovely, sure, but only at a bullshit job you don’t care about. This job, the job of writing the thing that you and only you can write at only this moment in your one wild and precious life, is one about which you care DEEPLY. So the laissez-faire, do-whatever boss is not the boss you need.”
You’ll want to keep reading for the rest of her incredible insights.
Then, in our Meet Your Dream Agent segment, we profile Joanna MacKenzie from Nelson Literary Agency.
When asked if she had a hook or a line from a query letter that really stood out, this is what she shared with us:
“To rescue their decaying college in the Southern Ozarks, an archivist and an English professor counterfeit a new work of gothic literature by the institution’s most acclaimed author. But as fascination with their collaboration turns to obsession, the women drag each other into an academic horror of envy, necrophilia and murder. “ Quinn Connor for their project Your Beloved Remains (Pine & Cedar October 2026)
“For cynical tarot reader Katie True, a keen gut and quick wit are just tools of the trade. But when a tarot reading gone wrong reveals her sly goth friend Marley’s murder scene behind the mall where they both work, Katie’s razor-sharp instincts are put to a deadly test.” Lina Chern for her project Play The Fool (Bantam March 2023)
Bonus! She includes an example of a near-perfect query letter that you’ll want to add to your collection!
In Tuesday’s video, Laura Evans, author of Little Wild shares practical advice for writers struggling through the dreaded middle of a first draft. Laura offers strategies for pushing through creative roadblocks, including stepping back to assess the story as a reader, changing your writing process, skipping difficult scenes, trusting readers to fill in gaps, and embracing flexibility in how a book is written.
Our author Q&A is with Ashley Poston, author of The Someday Garden:
“Usually, I realize an idea has legs when I can’t stop thinking about it. I’ll go on to write other books I have under contract, but I always loop back around to THAT idea. It’s a good feeling, to know that there is something new and shiny waiting in the wings!”
You’ll want to keep scrolling for the other relatable insights!
Don’t forget CeCe’s incredible course that’s coming up! There’s still time to sign up for it.
And check out The Serious Writer’s Essential Workbook either for yourself or a gift for your writing friends!
Not yet a member? For just $10 USD a month or $120 USD a year you get:
an exclusive newsletter on Tuesdays featuring bonus author Q&As and other exclusive content from industry experts
access to Carly Watters and CeCe Lyra’s written notes on queries from the podcast’s Books With Hooks feature
monthly bonus podcast episodes, AND
regular Ask Me Anythings / Q&As with Carly, CeCe, and Bianca Marais.
If that doesn’t kickstart your writing journey, we don’t know what will!
CeCe’s Latest Course!
The beginning—that’s the most important part of your story. It’s the beginning that must hook the reader. In fact, the beginning is more high stakes than your climax because if the reader doesn’t love the beginning they won’t stick around for the rest of the book.
The bad news is that it’s difficult to write a compelling beginning.
The good news is that it’s a skill that can be mastered.
Join CeCe’s 4-day course in July! She’ll cover:
* what makes for a great first line (and why it’s so important)
* different types of beginnings and how to choose the best one for you;
* the best place to start your story (with a handy checklist of essential elements);
* to prologue or not prologue;
* how to frame your inciting incident in an irresistible way;
* the best way to start your way (with a second handy checklist);
* common mistakes made by writers when beginning a story;
* how to balance exposition and mystery;
* how to balance backstory and present-day plot;
* how to begin a story that has dual/multi-POVs and/or has dual/multi-timelines;
* how to make readers fall in love with your protagonist; and
* how to make readers want to turn to chapter two.
This course features interactive components. There will be a full day for Q&A, as well as a day in which CeCe will review selected critiques.
That’s all for this week’s news! If you enjoyed it, why not share the love? 🥰
Tune in again next week for more invaluable wisdom from our wonderful hosts! Until then, happy writing! 😍
❤️ The Shit No One Tells You About Writing Team
Our work takes place on land now known as Toronto and Ottawa and we acknowledge that these are the traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat Peoples as well as the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation. Toronto is covered under Treaty 13 and the Williams Treaties. We respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures, languages, and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada. We invite you to learn more about the land you inhabit, the history of that land, and how to actively be part of a better future going forward together at Native Land or Whose Land.
Cece Lyra is a literary agent at Wendy Sherman Associates. If you’d like to query CeCe, please refer to the submission guidelines at www.wsherman.com. Carly Watters is a literary agent at P.S. Literary Agency, but her work on this podcast is not affiliated with the agency, and the views expressed by Carly on this podcast are solely that of her as a podcast co-host and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, policies, or position of P.S. Literary Agency.
"Live your life until you absolutely have to write."
Feeling this deeply as of late.
“Live your life until you absolutely have to write” made me laugh because I understand that pressure completely. But the zero-draft idea may be even more valuable: get down the story you can see before worrying whether it is elegant, marketable, or ready for anyone else. Editing can work miracles. It cannot revise the book we were too afraid to draft.