My (Fiction) Writing Journey: A Timeline


First Grade

My teacher is obsessed with Clifford the Big Red Dog. We read all the books, and then write and illustrate our own Clifford story in a blank hardback.

I love it. The dream to write and publish my own story takes root.


Middle School 

I write a series of adventures about a group of princesses named after all my friends, who read them at the lunch table.


High School & College 

In high school, I take a summer course on creative writing and love it.

I start writing a dual-POV story about a young man and woman from different countries who are captured by the same enemy and have to work together to escape. There are dragons. The ending turns out anti-climactic and forced, but I actually finish writing a story, which I hadn't been able to do previously!

In college, I major in writing but after a year switch to TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). I still want to write and publish a novel, but I also want to live and teach abroad.


2013

After college, I move abroad to teach in a country where I only know how to count to 10 and say "hello" and "thank you" in the local language.

I begin writing a story about a young woman who can understand every language she hears. Also, she joins a rebellion against an evil king and falls in love with an enemy. It's a fun project that I work on whenever the mood strikes: off and on, over 10 years...


...2023

I marry a local man, get a job teaching at the local university, and earn my masters in TESOL. Give birth abroad to our daughter in 2022. Still write occasionally.

Exhausted postpartum, I have ideas for my story. I finish in September 2023 and give it a title: SPEAKING FOR KINGS. I consider self-publishing (a process I learned about in college), but decide to simply share it online. I choose Inkitt as a platform.


Late 2023 - Early 2024

I get an idea for another story about a young woman who has to disguise herself as a man and join the invading army and ends up falling for her superior officer (Mulan vibes in an Ancient Rome-inspired world).

I write 60,000 words in six months and title it SURVIVE SONGE EMPIRE. I post it to Inkitt in April.


2024

I get an idea for a story, but it's set in the world of the Lord of the Rings. I write it anyway. It's dual POV: she's half-Elvish and an orc hunter; he's Haradrim and working for the orcs. They fall in love (obviously). Writing their story pushes me to improve my character development, world building, and resolution.

I finish it at 86k words, and I'm proud, but it's fan fiction and so can't be published. I post to Inkitt in October.


Late 2024 - Early 2025

I get an idea for a story about a woman who covers her deformity with a veil, and a handsome flirt who kidnaps her. Their witty banter is electric and I write 30k words, but then I get stuck. The magic system is frustrating, and I don't know who the villain is or how the story could end. I put it aside and write something else. 


2025

I write a 93k-word story about a military medic with a secret identity and magic crystals who has to court suitors, including (you guessed it!) her enemy from the war. It takes me six months. I don't get stuck this time and it's my strongest writing yet. I title it RINGED ONE. I begin releasing chapters on Inkitt in October, but take it down in early 2026 as I have dreams to publish.


Late 2025 

My writer friend urges me to return to VEILED. I brainstorm an ending.

I watch Brandon Sanderson's lectures on writing and publishing science fiction and fantasy, which help enormously!

I finish VEILED at 93k words. I want to publish it, and RINGED ONE. I consider both indie and traditional publishing. It's scary, but I don't want to look back and regret not even trying.


2026 

I decide to try traditional publishing first, despite its high rejection rates, and self-publishing as Plan B. I research and write a query package for VEILED and send it off to literary agents. It's a step I'd been dreaming of for many years, and it feels so good to make it (no matter the results)!


The Future: Publication


Thank you for following along on my journey! For more updates, find me on Instagram @katiewelchhu_author

Special thanks to those who have supported my writing over the years, including: my first grade teacher Mrs. Basset, my parents, my middle school friend group, Courtney Bidwell, Rachel Smith-González, Professor Brandon Sanderson, Tylor Grandison, and Makayla Lynn.

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