Nicole Zhu

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Issue 76: Variations on a theme

This past weekend, I took a Tin House craft intensive with Elaine Hsieh Chou on what film and TV can teach us about stories and novels. An optional part of our homework was listening to an episode of Scriptnotes, a podcast hosted by John August (Charlie’s Angels, Big Fish)

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Issue 75: On good art friends

In July, I spent 1.5 weeks at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference in Tennessee. I learned so much from my instructors and cohort, a dizzying array of special topics classes, readings, and lectures. I’ve jokingly called it “writer summer camp” because of the lakeside bonfires, ghost walks, and early

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Issue 74: Time, space, and circumstance

I had a cold for most of June. I did at home COVID tests and was relieved at the results. I pounded glasses of Emergen-C and gallons of peppermint tea. I went through two boxes of tissues. I finally felt better by the end of the second week, only to

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Issue 73: Understanding your influences

Congratulations to the winner of last issue’s giveaway, Zen, who will be receiving a signed copy of Elise Hu’s Flawless! Last week, I got to talk about my NYT Spelling Bee obsession with my friend, Michelle Béland, for her appropriately named newsletter, Obsessed. My boyfriend, E, does a

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Issue 72: What knits my life together

Today is my birthday so this will be a short dispatch! I had a wonderful chat with Stephanie Minn on The Bike Shed podcast about engineering management, how engineering and writing are similar and different, and how I balance my day job with my writing. The conversation tied in well

Interview

Issue 71: Writing towards a soul-driven beauty culture with Elise Hu

One of the first times I spoke with Elise Hu was when my sister and I interviewed her in 2017 for our podcast, Sweet and Sour. At the time, she was living in Seoul, South Korea as the NPR bureau chief. Her time there became the basis of her new

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Issue 70: What AI means for writers

Ever since ChatGPT was announced at the end of last year, there has been a lot written about what AI means for writing. Is it the machine coming for us all, or is it merely a tool that we can leverage? As both a software engineer and a writer, I’

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Issue 69: Getting dialogue right is boring

Dialogue is one of the things I find most challenging in fiction because it can be hard to pinpoint what makes good dialogue. It’s not just how the characters speak, but also how conversations are depicted. Up until now, I’ve defined “good” dialogue as capturing how people actually

Issue Featured

Issue 68: On literary labels: genre, style, and reading experience

I’ve been working on a new short story that’s experimental in its form. When I workshopped it at Tin House, I was concerned not just about the solidity of the ideas I was trying to explore, but also whether people would even be able to follow its many

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Issue 67: Receiving writing feedback

This is part two of a series focused on feedback. The first edition centered on defining and providing feedback. Today, I want to talk about how to prepare yourself to receive and process feedback so your writing benefits from people's input while ensuring you’re taking care of

Interview

Issue 66: Writing an honest graphic novel with Victoria Ying

I was excited to talk with Victoria Ying about her new YA graphic novel, Hungry Ghost, which follows teenager Valerie Chu as she grapples with an eating disorder, her friendships, and family dynamics. Having written about the cultural dimension of eating disorders and recovery, it excites me to see more

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Issue 65: Providing writing feedback

I’m so excited to announce that I’m teaching my first writing class with Accent Society on March 11! We’ll be looking at the ways in which contemporary technology can be incorporated into fiction, how to depict technology that’s constantly changing, and how to explore its intersections

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Issue 64: Keeping a commonplace book

At the end of last year, I started a new creative habit: keeping a commonplace book. I first heard of the concept in one of my college English classes and was reminded of it more recently in Austin Kleon’s newsletter. A commonplace book is a literary scrapbook, a way

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Issue 63: A letter to your future self

On January 11, 2022, I wrote a letter to my future self, to be opened a year later. This was part of a letter writing gathering run by Catherine LaSota, founder of The Resort, to set our writing intentions. Well, reader, I finally opened that letter this month. My partner

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Issue 62: Concrete year end reflections

A few weeks ago, I was accepted to the 2023 Tin House Winter Workshop for short fiction! Then this past Monday, I opened my inbox and received two rejections. The writing life is full of ups and downs—and a whole lot of patience—and as the year draws to

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Issue 61: Consistency over intensity

Last week, I hit a 365 day streak on Duolingo! I initially started by brushing up on my Mandarin, and when I completed that course in a few months, I started learning Spanish. Over the last year, I’ve usually dedicated 10-30 minutes every day to Duolingo. Some days, particularly

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Issue 60: Good at starting again

I’m excited to share that my short story “Linda Liu” was selected by Isabel Kaplan as the winner of the Pigeon Pages Flash Fiction Contest! This was my first foray into historical fiction, inspired partly by my own family history. I hope you’ll give it a read. November

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Issue 59: The agony of artist statements

I find many aspects of writing painful. Rejection, churning out a terrible first draft, staring down big structural edits, or even coming up with a story title. But I’ve found there is nothing more painful than writing formally about myself and my art. What is my vision as a

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Issue 58: Shifting into Lego mode

One rainy day a few weeks ago, my friend Sarah and I broke out my partner’s Seinfeld Lego set. (Let it be known that E preferred to play with the completed set and he brought us sliced apples while we assembled it.) Neither Sarah nor I had ever been

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Issue 57: Preparing for readings

This past month has been a whirlwind! My team relaunched a brand new Verge! Here’s a tour if you want to check it out. I did a Q&A with Anna Myers for her excellent newsletter, Where The Light Is. Her essays on joy and inspiration always light

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Issue 56: Cultivating surprise

One thing I love most about writing is the element of surprise. I love when I unexpectedly write my way into a story, make unintentional connections between characters, or stumble upon broader themes in my work. But I also know that you can’t always wait for inspiration to strike

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Issue 55: Shelving my first novel

Last week, I did another mini #1000wordsofsummer and finished the first draft of a novel I’ve been working on since 2020! It’s a milestone in my writing life, but it’s a weird one because this novel is going straight into the drawer. I started writing a romance

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Issue 54: Nothing needs to be resolved

I am currently convalescing after getting my wisdom teeth removed so today's will be a short letter! I’ve been reflecting on notes I took at my Aspen Words workshop where our instructor spoke about the differences between short stories and novels. The biggest consideration when thinking about

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Issue 53: Two weeks of writing workshops

The last month has been both restful and busy! I had a new short story published in The Lumiere Review—it’s about grief, social media (and IRL) stalking, and the ways in which the internet creates asymmetrical relationships. I also attended my first ever fiction workshops: the Kenyon Review

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Issue 52: HAGS

It was my birthday last week and this issue marks two years worth of nicoledonut! If you enjoy this newsletter, it’d mean a lot if you shared it or supported me via Ko-fi [https://ko-fi.com/nicoledonut] or Venmo [https://account.venmo.com/u/nicolezhu] to help with self-hosting