December 17, 2024 • 36 mins
Want a sneak peek into my life as a developmental editor and book coach? Listen in and find out what I do in my work week to help authors transform their story ideas into fully realized novels.
I'll walk you through what I'm learning, how I support fiction writers in finishing their novels, and my exciting plans for 2025. Plus, I'll share all the behind-the-scenes moments that make my book coach life so rewarding.
So, pour yourself a coffee (or matcha tea) and join me as I share:
[02:40] How the recording of my first audiobook is currently going and what I’m doing to keep my voice intact with all the talking.
[07:25] Why I pull out 12 blank calendar pages every December and how this simple planning ritual shapes my entire year ahead.
[10:15] What I learned working with two writers—a romance author and a sci-fi author—who started roughly at the same time but took completely different paths to reach the line editing phase simultaneously.
[22:42] Inside my final Notes To Novel coaching call and how these amazing writers have gained the confidence to take their ideas, turn them into outlines, and start writing noteworthy novels.
[27:10] The fascinating results from my annual listener survey shaping my 2025 content (Hint: you're in great company if you're still working on your debut novel or yet to start.)
Thanks for coming along on this journey with me! I love sharing little glimpses into my world with you.
Whether you're still simmering your first story idea or deep in revisions, I hope this behind-the-scenes peek gives you a real sense of my life as a developmental editor and book coach.
See you next week!
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🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:
- Get on the waitlist for updates on The Story Grid Masterwork Analysis Guide to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets here!
- Ep. 164 - Student Spotlight: Why She Ditched Her Agent And Self-Published Her Debut Novel With Stefanie Medrek
- Ep. 166 - Student Spotlight: How Jenn
Click here to register for my FREE training: 3 Things You Need to Write Your Novel in 2025.
👉 Looking for a transcript? If you’re listening o
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You might be thinking is it normal for it to take two
years to write and revise abook?
And honestly, it depends on somany things.
I've known writers who haveblasted through a draft in three
to six months.
I've known writers who do it inone year, two years, three
years.
There's no right answer, but Iwill say that two years is not
(00:20):
uncommon, especially when you'renot writing full time.
Right?
Most of us have day jobs, wehave family commitments and
other things that compete withour writing time.
Welcome to the Fiction WritingMade Easy podcast.
My name is Savannah Gilbo andI'm here to help you write a
story that works.
I want to prove to you thatwriting a novel doesn't have to
(00:41):
be overwhelming.
So each week, I'll bring you abrand new episode with simple,
actionable and step-by-stepstrategies that you can
implement in your writing rightaway.
So, whether you're brand new towriting or more of a seasoned
author looking to improve yourcraft, this podcast is for you.
So pick up a pen and let's getstarted.
In today's episode, I'm takingyou behind the scenes with me
(01:04):
throughout my entire work week.
I'm going to share what I'mworking on, what big projects
I'm focused on right now andbasically anything that happens
during the week, including anyfun or interesting insights that
come up as I work with otherwriters.
If you've been listening to thepodcast for a while, you know
I've done a few episodes likethis throughout the last couple
years and they continue to besome of your favorite episodes.
(01:26):
So I thought I would do onemore before we wrap up 2024, so
you can see what I'm working onand what's going on in my world
at the end of the year.
So that's what this episode isall about and, without further
ado, let's dive right in.
All right, it's Monday morningand I'm recording this first
update with all three dogs inthe background, so forgive us if
(01:48):
you hear any strange noises,but today is the one day a week
I set aside to dobusiness-related tasks for the
entire day.
A lot of times, these tasks arehonestly kind of boring.
So things like recording statson various things.
The podcast downloads emailsubscribers, things like that.
I spend a lot of time answeringemails and doing all kinds of
(02:11):
admin type work, so if I'mspeaking somewhere, usually
there's stuff to fill out orfiles I need to share with the
host of the event, things likethat.
Other times I will be creatingslide decks for those kind of
presentations, or sometimes Iwrite podcast scripts.
Usually it's a lot of littlethings that I need to do or
things that I just need to do onmy own, so it's usually not
(02:34):
very exciting.
However, today I am actuallydoing something really exciting,
and that is I'm getting readyto record the audiobook version
of the Story Grid MasterworkAnalysis Guide to Harry Potter
and the Sorcerer's Stone.
So, yes, we are getting anaudiobook and, yes, I am
recording the whole thing myself.
So I will be sure to let youknow how that goes and I will
(02:57):
probably do a whole podcastepisode about what that process
was like and things like that.
But for today, I just need tofind someone to edit the audio
files and get them all ready topublish on Audible.
I've already done a lot of theresearch and I've found a few
people who have given me pricequotes and timeline quotes and
things like that.
So I just need to pick one andmake that decision today.
(03:20):
And then I also need to make aplan for when and how I'm going
to record.
So I need to map out exactlyhow long I think it'll take,
when I need to have it done byto.
You know, send it to the editor, give them enough time to get
it back to me and then have alittle wiggle room in case any
other edits are needed all sothat I can publish on the day
that I want to publish it.
(03:41):
So I need to get all thatlocked in today so I can
actually start recording.
And luckily I can record in myhome office where I normally
record the podcast.
So that is all fantastic.
But one thing I know aboutmyself is that I can't record
more than a few hours per daywithout losing my voice.
So I need to consider all ofthe recording and the talking I
(04:03):
need to do in general.
So recording for the podcast Ineed to do in general.
So recording for the podcast,recording or doing any live
presentations I need to do orany client calls or business
calls that I have, and I'm alsogoing to rerecord my notes to
novel course before the new yearas well.
So it's not just aboutrecording the audio book, it's
looking at my entire scheduleand considering all of the other
(04:25):
things that I'm going to needgood vocals for as well, which
might sound like kind of a lot,and on one hand, it is a lot of
stuff, but on the other hand Ijust need to map it all out and
then it will be fine.
So when I say I need to make aplan for the audiobook, it's a
little more involved than justsitting down and mapping out
like how long this is going totake me to record.
It's all the other stuff thathappens around recording for the
(04:48):
audiobook that could causeproblems and it's just going to
take some massaging.
So I need to figure that allout today, which I'm confident I
can do Now.
I also mentioned I'mre-recording my notes to novel
course and the reason I'm doingthis is because every year or so
I like to update what's in theprogram so that my students are
always getting the mostup-to-date strategies and
(05:11):
techniques and things that areworking for authors right now.
And the more students that gothrough the course, the more I
get to see patterns in whatworks, what doesn't work, where
people are getting stuck, youknow things like that.
So when I do rerecord I cantweak how I'm teaching things to
help my students get betterresults.
So that's really why I'mrerecording, and if you're
(05:33):
listening to this and you're aNotes Novel alumni, you will be
getting free access to all theupdates, so stay tuned for more
information on that Past.
Students always get free accessto the updates, which is pretty
cool.
So as I work on the audiobookrecording plan and schedule, I
also need to be mindful ofmassaging that with my plan for
re-recording the course beforewe reopen enrollment in January.
(05:56):
So that's what I'm doing today,and I will be back later with a
Monday evening update to letyou know how it goes.
Okay, so it's Monday evening nowand I'm happy to report that I
think I sorted out a plan forrecording the audiobook and
re-recording the notes to novelcourse and I feel pretty good
about it for now.
I also chose an audio editorand secured my spot in their
(06:20):
calendar.
All good there as well, and,like I said earlier, I'm going
to keep track of the process anddo a full episode on what it
was like to record the audiobook.
You know where I had struggles,what worked well, what I wish.
I did different things likethat so that I can share them
with you.
And if you are ever going torecord an audiobook someday,
then hopefully you can learnfrom my experience and whatever
(06:41):
mistakes I made, because I'msure there will be some.
I've never recorded an audiobook before, so I'm pretty
excited to see how it goes.
I'm sure it's going to be kindof a fun challenge.
So all of that's great.
I did the things I wanted to do.
Now.
The other thing I did today isI sent out a survey to all of my
newsletter subscribers so thatI could get a better sense of
what they need and want, helpwith what kind of podcast
(07:03):
episodes they want to hear in2025, and things like that.
I typically do surveys likethese about once a year, and
it's always really fun to seeyou know how things change or
don't change.
So I'm going to gather allthose insights and I'll share
some things with you that Ilearned on Friday.
But that's kind of it for me.
I need to go walk the dogs andfeed them dinner, so I'm going
(07:25):
to let you go for now, and Iwill be back tomorrow morning
with a Tuesday update.
Hello, hello.
I am back for a Tuesday morningupdate and this may surprise
you, but I am going to be inbusiness planning mode all day
today and, as weird as thissounds, this is my favorite time
of year to plan what I want mybusiness to look like in the
(07:46):
next year.
So I'm going to sit down with acalendar and all the notes I've
been keeping over the last 10to 12 months and map out what I
want 2025 to look like, and I'mreally excited because I love
doing this kind of stuff and Ihave some really cool things
planned for 2025.
So not only will the audioversion of the Story Grid
(08:07):
Masterwork Analysis Guide toHarry Potter and the Sorcerer's
Stone come out, we will also bereleasing the book version of
the Story Grid MasterworkAnalysis Guide to Harry Potter
and the Chamber of Secrets, sothat's really exciting.
We'll have more information foryou on that soon.
We're also going to startdrafting the analysis guide to
Harry Potter and the Prisoner ofAzkaban.
(08:28):
So full steam ahead there, andI am really excited about that.
I also already know I'm goingto open enrollment for another
live round of notes to novel inJanuary and then sometime in the
fall.
So mark your calendars ifyou've been looking forward to
that.
I have some speaking engagementslined up already, which I know
probably sounds crazy, but inreality, we all have to plan
(08:49):
ahead or things just don't workout.
So I do have some of thoselined up and basically what I'm
going to do today is I'm goingto map out things on calendar
pages.
So I literally print out 12pages, one for each month, and I
just start mapping things outto see where I might have
overlap, where I might have alot of white space, where I
(09:10):
might want to take time off, andthen I kind of just let myself
dream a bit about what I want todo, what I might want to change
, and for me it's just a lot offun.
So that's what I've set asidethe entire day for today, and I
will be back later on to let youknow how things went.
Okay, it's Tuesday, lateafternoon, slash early evening
now, and I made some goodprogress on my plans for 2025
(09:33):
today.
I'm not totally done, but I'vegot enough down where I can step
away and let things marinatefor a bit.
It also helped to scratch theitch I've been feeling about
wanting to sit down and capturesome of my big ideas and some of
my plans for the new year.
So I feel a bit relieved tohave finally spent some time
looking forward and planning,which, again, I really love to
do.
So it was a fun day, but otherthan that, there's not really a
(09:56):
whole lot to share about the day.
It was a really quiet day, butI got a lot done and I feel good
about where things are headed.
So I think I will just end theupdate there.
I have a lot more to share withyou tomorrow, so I will talk to
you in the morning for aWednesday morning update.
Hello and good morning.
It's Wednesday now and I havetwo calls with writers today who
(10:18):
are in the line editing phase,and I thought it would be
interesting to share thetimeline of how long it took
these writers to outline andwrite their books and a little
bit about what they're goingthrough in the line editing
phase, Because who doesn't lovea peek behind the scenes, right?
I also think it's kind ofinteresting because these
writers are writing totallydifferent stories, so one's a
(10:39):
romance and one is sciencefiction and I started working
with both writers around thesame time I actually think it
was in the exact same week andnow they're both in the line
editing phase at the same time.
So this is interesting, right.
It doesn't always happen likethis.
In the past I might havestarted working with two
different writers in the sameweek, but then life happens.
(11:01):
One might go slower or faster.
One might have a book they'republishing while they write the
next one.
You know things like that.
So it's been kind of fun for meto see both of these writers
track with each other as theywent through the whole process.
So I just want to run through aquick timeline of what each of
their journeys looked like andgive you kind of a realistic
look behind the scenes of howlong things take.
(11:24):
So the first writer who iswriting science fiction she and
I started working together atthe end of July or in the
beginning of early August 2022.
And when I met her, she had afinished draft and I did a
developmental edit for herbefore we engaged in the
one-on-one coaching and she wasable to use a lot of that
(11:45):
initial draft as the baselinefor what we worked on together.
But there was also a lot torewrite and develop as well.
So, yes, on one hand, she had afinished draft before we
started working together, but onthe other hand, it was kind of
like starting from scratchbecause we had to do some pretty
major things like develop theantagonist, flesh out the
(12:07):
conflict in the middle of thestory and things like that.
So in those two years it waswriting and revising in
different phases.
We even re-outlined her entirebook before digging into the
rewrites, because there were somany structural changes needed
after we developed herantagonist and his role in the
conflict and things like that.
So this makes me wonder andit's interesting from my
(12:30):
perspective because I'm thinkingwould it have taken her
significantly longer than twoyears to write and revise her
book if she was truly startingfrom scratch?
So if she didn't have thatinitial draft that we used as a
baseline?
And my gut really says no, Ithink sometimes it's just as
hard to dismantle a draft thatneeds to be rewritten as it is
(12:51):
to start from complete scratch.
So I think, either way, shecould have written and revised
that book in that two-yearperiod.
And, like I said, she sent herbook to a line editor in October
and is now working throughthose line edits, which has been
kind of fun.
Now, writer number two, Istarted working with her at the
same time, so the end of July,early August in 2022.
(13:12):
And this is the writer who'swriting romance.
So, coincidentally, when Istarted working with her, she
also had a finished draft, but Idid not do a developmental edit
on that draft.
So when we started workingtogether, this writer told me
that she knew something wasn'tworking with her story and she
basically wanted to dismantle itand build it back up so that it
(13:34):
worked.
So she loved her characters andher idea, but she didn't like
where that first draft hadlanded.
So what we did is we took heridea.
We fleshed out a fewfoundational things, in this
case mainly some plot elementsand both of her lead characters'
backstories.
But she had a lot of fun ideasfor her characters'
personalities and how theybecame the way they were.
(13:56):
So in this case it was kind ofmore like streamlining her ideas
or getting rid of things thatmaybe were fun but didn't really
do anything for the biggerstory other than maybe cause
some potential confusion.
So we did that.
We worked on the foundation fora while.
We created a scene by sceneoutline which took about two
months, and then we reallyfleshed things out in that
(14:18):
outline and pressure tested itto smooth out plot holes, make
sure character arcs were clearand things like that.
So we did a lot of deep work onthe foundation and the outline
of her story and then, as shewrote her revised draft, we
would pause every now and thenand we would go back to the
outline, make sure any changeswe made in the actual draft were
(14:39):
reflected in the outline andthings like that.
So, for example, let's say shegot to the end of act one, we
would pause and go back to theoutline and say did anything big
change while you were writingAct 1?
And if it did, how can weupdate that going forward so
that your draft is kind ofalways showing the most
up-to-date version of your idea?
So, overall for this writer,she just sent her draft to the
(15:02):
line editor in October as welland she's also working through
line edits.
So what's really cool for me tosee not only is it just fun, you
know, to see these two writers'different timelines that
coincidentally unfolded in thesame way.
At the same time, it's fun tosee the line edit notes they got
back because they both did somuch hard, deep work on making
(15:24):
sure the foundational elementsof their story worked, making
sure their outlines were astight and fleshed out as they
possibly could be.
Again, you know we're not goingto know everything in the
outlining stage, but there's alot we can do to almost use that
outline as our first draft, ourdiscovery draft, and then, you
know, fix plot holes, characterarcs, things like that.
So these two writers did somuch of that work and they spent
(15:46):
so much time doing this hardwork that the line edit notes
they got were really actionableand really focused on what a
line edit should be.
So it wasn't like there were alot of big plot holes or a lot
of things that the line editorwas like this doesn't make sense
.
There wasn't a lot of that.
There were little things hereand there, but it was mostly
like this story works.
It's great.
(16:06):
Now let's try to, you know,look at your sentences and your
paragraphs and make it evenbetter.
So I hope that's interesting tohear, because I don't know.
It's fascinating for me to justkind of compare and contrast.
You might be thinking is itnormal for it to take two years
to write and revise a book?
And honestly, it depends on somany things.
I've known writers who haveblasted through a draft in three
(16:28):
to six months.
I've known writers who do it inone year, two years, three
years.
There's no right answer, but Iwill say that two years is not
uncommon, especially when you'renot writing full time, right?
Most of us have day jobs, wehave family commitments and
other things that compete withour writing time.
So I really wanted to sharethis because I think it's
(16:50):
important to see what theprocess looks like for real
writers.
So I hope it was interestingand helpful for you to hear as
well.
When I come back at the end ofthe day for my update, I will
let you know what else happenedtoday.
But, like I said, I have thosetwo calls and I'm just gonna do
some other random things as Ihave time for them.
So I'll let you know what thosethings are later, and bye for
(17:18):
now.
Okay, so it's Wednesday eveningnow and my two calls went
really well.
Both writers are plugging awayat their line edits and making
progress.
They're also working on liningup cover designers and making
some decisions about how toactually produce their books and
things like that.
So all good there, very happyto see their progress.
Other than that, I did someediting for the StoryGrid
Masterwork Analysis Guide ofHarry Potter and the Chamber of
(17:39):
Secrets.
So for this one, abigail isdoing the writing and I am doing
the editing, which is a reverseof what we did for the first
Harry Potter book analysis, andit's kind of fun being on the
other side of the equation thistime.
In some ways it's really notthat different, because Abigail
and I worked very closely onbook one and we're working very
closely on book two together.
But in other ways it's kind oflike it's less pressure because,
(18:02):
as the writer, abigail owns thefinal decision on everything.
So it's fun for me to be ableto support her and talk through
things when she needs a secondopinion, offer my agreement on
things or a differentperspective if I have one.
All of that's really fun, andit's what she did for me when I
was writing the Story GridMasterwork Analysis Guide to
(18:23):
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer'sStone.
So I'm just doing my best to bea great editor for her, like
she was a great editor for me,and I'm really proud of how this
one's turning out.
I think it's going to be reallyfun for you to see our take on
how JK Rowling did things likeraising the stakes from book one
, continuing Harry's characterarc, introducing new characters
and more of the world and thingslike that.
(18:44):
So stay tuned.
We will have more updates onthis soon, but if you're already
like I can't wait, tell me whenit's out.
Then you can go sign up for thewaitlist at savannahgilbocom
forward slash HP and we'll sendyou all the info as soon as we
have it available.
And also a shameless favor, ask, if you don't mind, if you did
(19:04):
read the Story Grid MasterworkAnalysis Guide to Harry Potter
and the Sorcerer's Stone and ifyou enjoyed it, would you please
go leave us a review on Amazon?
We read every single one ofthese reviews and it's been
really helpful to see what youliked, what you wanted more of
and things like that.
We're taking all of that intoconsideration as we work on book
two.
And if you do, go leave areview.
(19:26):
Thank you in advance.
So that's a large part of whatI did today.
I think I'm going to officiallysign off for the night and I
will be back tomorrow with aThursday morning update.
Good morning, it's Thursday andit's Halloween today, so I am
recording this update onHalloween and I'm recording it a
(19:46):
little bit later than normalbecause I woke up, had some
coffee and just kind of startedworking on accident, even though
I meant to record this before Istarted working.
So this morning, what I've doneso far is I wrote my November
peak behind the scenesnewsletter, which, if you're on
my email list, you'll knowexactly what I'm talking about,
but if you're not, basicallythis is a newsletter that I send
(20:09):
out once a month to give mysubscribers a peek inside my
world, so kind of like what I'mdoing on this podcast.
I talk about what I'm workingon, what's coming up on the
podcast where I'm speaking at,or if I'm running any kind of
live event in the coming monthsor things like that.
But as I was putting togetherthe newsletter this morning, I
realized that four of theauthors I've worked with are
(20:30):
publishing their books thismonth.
So not only is it a fun daybecause it's Halloween, but it's
a fun month because four of theauthors I've worked with are
publishing their books.
So I just wanted to give aquick shout out to these four
authors.
Two of them you've heard on thepodcast before.
Jennifer Lauer published hersecond book this month.
It's called Start Somewhere.
It's the first book in theStrange Chronicles series.
(20:52):
Stephanie Medrick you've heardher on the podcast before as
well.
She published her debut novelcalled Into the Fire.
Margaret Mantor published herdebut as well.
It's called Air and Ashes.
And then, finally, angela Haaspublished the second novel in
her Keepers of the Universeseries, and this one's called
(21:14):
Seconds to Oblivion.
So I wanted to give these fourwriters a shout out and just say
congratulations, I'm so excitedthat your books are out in the
world and I can't wait to seehow readers react to them.
So congratulations to Jennifer,stephanie, margaret and Angela.
Now, as far as the rest of theday goes, I have two calls that
I'm looking forward to.
The first one is with my Notesto Novel students, so this is
the last coaching call they havewith me before the program
(21:35):
wraps up.
We've been doing these callsonce a week for eight weeks and
it's been really, really fun towatch everyone's progress as
they work on their books.
And then I have a call with thewriters in my membership.
So we're doing an office hourscall, which we do twice a month,
and essentially this is groupcoaching.
It's a group Q&A where writerscan ask me questions, we can
(21:56):
brainstorm things.
Sometimes they submit pages forme to go over and I do that and
I give them feedback, thingslike that, and these calls are
always a lot of fun.
So I'm off to do both of thosenow and I'll be back later to
give a little update and let youknow how things went.
(22:18):
Okay, so it's Thursday afternoonnow and I'm doing my end of day
update a little earlier thannormal because on days where I
have a lot of video calls I tendto want to go back into my
introvert cave as soon as Ipossibly can.
So since I'm already at my desk, I thought I would just record
a quick update, let you know howthe calls went, and then I'm
going to get off technology andstart reading a draft that I'm
doing a developmental edit onwhich I am very excited about.
(22:38):
So, as I mentioned earlier,today was the last group
coaching call in my Notes toNovel course.
We've spent eight weekstogether and it's been really
fun to see everyone take theirideas, turn them into outlines
and then actually start writing.
I love seeing stories developso much and I love seeing
writers confidence build weekafter week and I like seeing
(23:00):
people make connections in thegroup and things like that.
It just lights me up and I loveit so much.
So we had our last call todayand on one hand it's always sad
and bittersweet to wrap thingsup, but at the same time it's a
great thing to kind of take thetraining wheels off and have
everyone go off on their own towrite their books.
The goal is always that my Notesto Novel students leave the
(23:21):
course with everything they needto write a really solid first
draft and they've spent the lasteight weeks building out the
foundation of their stories soplot, character, key genre
elements, things like that.
And then they've taken all thatfoundational work and they've
turned it into a working outlineand then they pressure tested
that outline to catch anyobvious plot holes or
(23:41):
inconsistencies in character orwhatever it might be.
And if they do the work that'srecommended in the course, they
walk away with that.
So a working outline that'spressure tested and a log line
and a synopsis that are kind ofthose high level summaries of
their stories.
So we spend a lot of timelooking at these things together
.
In the first few weeks we workon the log line and the synopsis
(24:02):
to really get that big picturestory down, especially as they
develop those foundationalelements like plot and character
and things like that.
And then they take that andturn it into a scene by scene
outline and we work on thattogether as well.
So it's been a lot of fun tosee.
I never get tired of watchingstories develop or writers grow
in confidence, and so, yes, onone hand it's bittersweet, it's
(24:24):
our last group coaching call,but I'm happy to see them also
graduate the program and go offand write their stories as well.
So in the last call we hadtoday we talked a lot about what
to do if you get stuck.
We talked about how most of thewriters I've worked with tend
to feel negative emotions orthey straight up dislike their
stories at certain points in theprocess.
(24:44):
So usually this happens whenthey finish outlining or writing
one of the acts in their story,so like act one or something.
Other times it happens whenthey finish an entire outline or
when they finish an entiredraft, so usually it's like at
the end of a section, at the endof a draft.
These are all common places Isee writers fall into that
self-doubt, that impostersyndrome, that perfectionism,
(25:06):
things like that.
And I just reminded everyone inthe call today that if this
happens it's totally normal andto just keep moving forward.
So if you're listening and youhappen to be in that kind of rut
right now, then hopefully thatwas just the message you needed
to hear today.
But yeah, a big congratulationsto all of my Notes to Novel
season students.
(25:26):
You made it to the finish lineand I could not be more proud of
all the progress you've madeover the last eight weeks, so
very excited for you and I hopethat in a future, one of these
Week in the Life episodes I canbe talking about how your book
came out.
I would just love that so much.
Now, the other call I had today.
This was the writers in myStory Lab membership.
(25:47):
So these are all writers whohave gone through the Notes
Novel course and who wantongoing support and feedback
from me.
So today we had a groupcoaching slash Q&A call and we
actually did a lot of outlinedworkshopping.
So a few writers submittedsections of their outlines
either parts they were stuck onor full sections like Act 1 or
Act 2, things like that and thenI put them on screen and I walk
(26:10):
everyone through my thoughtsand or how I would tweak certain
things and why.
So that was really fun and it'salways helpful for everyone to
see not only how people areapproaching their outlines or
thinking about their stories,but also how I would approach
things or tweak things as adevelopmental editor.
So that's what I had today.
I had two big calls with twodifferent groups of writers.
(26:32):
I had a lot of little things tocatch up on as well, like
writing that monthly newsletter,doing a lot of little tasks
involved with the podcast butnothing exciting and, of course,
answering emails and goingthrough the inbox, which,
unfortunately, is a littlebacked up at the moment.
And, like I said earlier, I'msigning off computer related
stuff a bit earlier than normaltoday because all my introvert
(26:52):
heart wants to do is just sit onthe couch with my dogs and read
.
So that's what I'll be doingand luckily I get to do that for
a living.
So I'll be reading a draft thatI'm doing a developmental edit
on and I'm super excited to diginto that.
So that's my Thursday update.
I will be back with anotherupdate tomorrow, so I will talk
to you then.
Hello, hello, happy Friday.
(27:13):
I have what I think is a funupdate for you today.
So I mentioned on Monday that Isurveyed my email newsletter
subscribers to get a sense ofwhere people are at in the
writing, editing and publishingprocess, to see what kinds of
books people are writing, tohear what topics people want me
to cover on the podcast andthings like that, and I wanted
(27:33):
to share some of the resultswith you because I think they're
really interesting and alsobecause I want to show you what
I do with this information.
So, after going through all theinformation, all the results, I
learned a few key things, andone of them was that 50% of the
people who were polledidentified as beginners, while
(27:54):
45% identify as intermediatewriters and only about 5%
identify as experts, which allof this makes total sense to me
and is very in line withprevious polls that I've done.
The second thing I learned isthat, out of everyone polled,
85% of people have eitherstarted writing a novel and are
somewhere in the middle of theirdraft, or they know they want
(28:16):
to write a novel, but theyhaven't officially started
writing yet, and this numbermakes sense to me, too.
But I thought you might like tohear that you're in good
company if you're also workingon your first book or looking
forward to starting your firstbook Now.
I also asked what's the hardestpart about writing a book so
far, and 20% of people said it'sdeveloping the pieces of their
(28:38):
idea into something that cansupport a full-length novel, and
30% said it's just getting tothe end of their draft.
So this information is gold tome, because it helps me
prioritize what kind of episodesI create in 2025, what kind of
resources to create, based onwhat you need and things like
that.
I also learned that 30% oflisteners are writing fantasy,
(28:59):
while 20% are writing romance.
And then the next biggest chunkthere was a tie between mystery
crime, thrillers and sci-fi.
So I just think this is so cooland it helps me prioritize what
kind of you know guest expertsI'll bring on the podcast, what
kind of books and movies to dodeep dives into, and things like
that.
And speaking of types ofepisodes, I thought it was
(29:22):
really interesting that out ofthose pulled, most people said
they really liked the soloepisodes where it's just me
talking.
But there was definitely an askfor more of the first chapter
episodes.
So Abigail and I are going tobring those back in 2025.
And, to be honest, theseepisodes kind of just fell off
our radar on accident becausewe've been working so hard on
(29:44):
the Story Grid MasterworkAnalysis Guide to Harry Potter
and the Sorcerer's Stone, whichwe published earlier this year,
and then the Analysis Guide toHarry Potter and the Sorcerer's
Stone, which we publishedearlier this year, and then the
analysis guide to Harry Potterand the Chamber of Secrets,
which will be coming out early2025.
So they really just fell offour radar on accident and we
actually love doing thoseepisodes, so knowing that people
enjoy them as much as we lovedoing them, that helps us
(30:07):
prioritize them again and getthem back into our workflow.
So I just really thought thissurvey was fascinating.
There was a lot that hasn'tchanged from previous year's
surveys, but there was a lotthat was different and
interesting as well.
I really liked reading all theresponses and the kind words
people sent in.
I read through every singleresponse and I'm so thankful to
(30:27):
all of those who took the timeto participate in the survey and
share their thoughts.
So if that was you, thank youso much.
I really do appreciate it.
Now, what am I doing the rest ofthe day?
Well, I have a few things on mylist.
So one is that I'm going to dosome more editing on Abigail's
draft of the Story GradeMasterwork Analysis Guide to
Harry Potter and the Chamber ofSecrets, and then I'm going to
(30:55):
finish reading the draft thatI'm doing a developmental edit
on that.
I started earlier in the week,so I can't remember if that was
yesterday or Wednesday, but Ineed to finish reading that.
So it's a pretty fun Friday ifyou ask me, and I will come back
later to share a quick Fridayevening update, so I will talk
to you then to let you know howit all went.
Okay, it's Friday afternoon andI don't have much else to report
, other than that I didn't getto do any of the edits on
(31:17):
Abigail's draft for theStoryGrid Masterwork Analysis
Guide to Harry Potter and theChamber of Secrets, mostly
because I just ran out of steamand that happens sometimes,
right?
Luckily, abigail is notnecessarily waiting on my
feedback, so I can get to thatthis weekend or early next week,
depending on how things go.
But other than that, I am veryready for the weekend and I have
(31:39):
no big plans this weekend.
I mostly just want to relax andspend some time at home, maybe
finish one of the books I'mcurrently reading and basically
just keep things really, reallymellow.
I need a relaxing weekend, soI'm looking forward to that.
And to kick off the weekend, mydogs and I are going to be in
the kitchen making dog food.
So if you've heard any of thesebehind the scenes episodes
(32:00):
before, you know that I homemake my dog's food following a
recipe from a company calledJust Food for Dogs, and all
three of my dogs are superobsessed with it.
This week we're going to makethe turkey that's called beef
and russet potatoes.
So basically, imagine it's likea stew but for dogs.
So it's all human grade foodgood quality beef, good quality
(32:21):
vegetables and things like that.
And then the dogs, of course,get a dog specific nutrient
blend added in and some fish oiland things like that.
So we want to make sure theyget all their vitamins and
minerals.
So, yeah, my dogs really loveit, no matter which flavor I
make.
It's really not that hard tocook.
It takes me about 30 minutes tomake their food for the whole
week and it's really funnybecause every time I mentioned
(32:43):
making food for my dogs, I getso many messages asking for more
information, which I love.
I love that so many of you wantto make your pets food as well.
So if you want to check outwhat I do, I will put a link in
the show notes or you can justgo to savannahgilbocom forward
slash food for dogs all one wordfood for dogs and takea.
Look around on their website.
(33:04):
You can buy pre-made frozenfood, or you can do what I do,
which is get the DIY recipe, thefish oil and the nutrient blend
and then make your own dog foodat home.
So you'll need to buy groceriesand have a way to cook it, but
it's not as hard as it seems.
So one more time if you'reinterested, you can go to
savannagilbocom forward slashfood for dogs all one word or
(33:24):
click the link in the show notesto browse around and learn more
about feeding your pet fresh,delicious food.
They do also have food for cats, so cat lovers are welcome to
check it out as well.
So, anyway, that's what I'll bedoing tonight to kick off my
relaxing weekend, and that isthe end of this Week in the Life
episode.
I hope you enjoyed coming alongfor the ride this week.
(33:44):
I know I had fun pulling backthe curtain and giving you a
peek behind the scenes.
I got to share a lot that Idon't typically talk about on
the podcast, because I'm usuallytalking about more craft,
specific things like how towrite, edit and publish a book,
and, yeah, it was just fun toshare some of the things I don't
get to talk about that much.
So I hope you enjoyed thisepisode.
So that's it for today'sepisode.
(34:10):
As always, thank you so much fortuning in and for showing your
support.
If you want to check out any ofthe links I mentioned in this
episode.
You can find them in the shownotes listed in the description
of each episode inside yourpodcast player or at
savannahgilbocom forward slashpodcast.
If you're an Apple user, I'dreally appreciate it if you took
a few seconds to leave a ratingand a review.
(34:31):
Your ratings and reviews tellApple that this is a podcast
that's worth listening to and,in turn, your reviews will help
this podcast get in front ofmore fiction writers just like
you.
And while you're there, goahead and hit that follow button
, because there's going to beanother brand new episode next
week, full of actionable tips,tools and strategies to help you
become a better writer.
So I'll see you next week anduntil then, happy writing.
You might be thinking is it normal for it to take two
years to write and revise abook?
And honestly, it depends on somany things.
I've known writers who haveblasted through a draft in three
to six months.
I've known writers who do it inone year, two years, three
years.
There's no right answer, but Iwill say that two years is not
(00:20):
uncommon, especially when you'renot writing full time.
Right?
Most of us have day jobs, wehave family commitments and
other things that compete withour writing time.
Welcome to the Fiction WritingMade Easy podcast.
My name is Savannah Gilbo andI'm here to help you write a
story that works.
I want to prove to you thatwriting a novel doesn't have to
(00:41):
be overwhelming.
So each week, I'll bring you abrand new episode with simple,
actionable and step-by-stepstrategies that you can
implement in your writing rightaway.
So, whether you're brand new towriting or more of a seasoned
author looking to improve yourcraft, this podcast is for you.
So pick up a pen and let's getstarted.
In today's episode, I'm takingyou behind the scenes with me
(01:04):
throughout my entire work week.
I'm going to share what I'mworking on, what big projects
I'm focused on right now andbasically anything that happens
during the week, including anyfun or interesting insights that
come up as I work with otherwriters.
If you've been listening to thepodcast for a while, you know
I've done a few episodes likethis throughout the last couple
years and they continue to besome of your favorite episodes.
(01:26):
So I thought I would do onemore before we wrap up 2024, so
you can see what I'm working onand what's going on in my world
at the end of the year.
So that's what this episode isall about and, without further
ado, let's dive right in.
All right, it's Monday morningand I'm recording this first
update with all three dogs inthe background, so forgive us if
(01:48):
you hear any strange noises,but today is the one day a week
I set aside to dobusiness-related tasks for the
entire day.
A lot of times, these tasks arehonestly kind of boring.
So things like recording statson various things.
The podcast downloads emailsubscribers, things like that.
I spend a lot of time answeringemails and doing all kinds of
(02:11):
admin type work, so if I'mspeaking somewhere, usually
there's stuff to fill out orfiles I need to share with the
host of the event, things likethat.
Other times I will be creatingslide decks for those kind of
presentations, or sometimes Iwrite podcast scripts.
Usually it's a lot of littlethings that I need to do or
things that I just need to do onmy own, so it's usually not
(02:34):
very exciting.
However, today I am actuallydoing something really exciting,
and that is I'm getting readyto record the audiobook version
of the Story Grid MasterworkAnalysis Guide to Harry Potter
and the Sorcerer's Stone.
So, yes, we are getting anaudiobook and, yes, I am
recording the whole thing myself.
So I will be sure to let youknow how that goes and I will
(02:57):
probably do a whole podcastepisode about what that process
was like and things like that.
But for today, I just need tofind someone to edit the audio
files and get them all ready topublish on Audible.
I've already done a lot of theresearch and I've found a few
people who have given me pricequotes and timeline quotes and
things like that.
So I just need to pick one andmake that decision today.
(03:20):
And then I also need to make aplan for when and how I'm going
to record.
So I need to map out exactlyhow long I think it'll take,
when I need to have it done byto.
You know, send it to the editor, give them enough time to get
it back to me and then have alittle wiggle room in case any
other edits are needed all sothat I can publish on the day
that I want to publish it.
(03:41):
So I need to get all thatlocked in today so I can
actually start recording.
And luckily I can record in myhome office where I normally
record the podcast.
So that is all fantastic.
But one thing I know aboutmyself is that I can't record
more than a few hours per daywithout losing my voice.
So I need to consider all ofthe recording and the talking I
(04:03):
need to do in general.
So recording for the podcast Ineed to do in general.
So recording for the podcast,recording or doing any live
presentations I need to do orany client calls or business
calls that I have, and I'm alsogoing to rerecord my notes to
novel course before the new yearas well.
So it's not just aboutrecording the audio book, it's
looking at my entire scheduleand considering all of the other
(04:25):
things that I'm going to needgood vocals for as well, which
might sound like kind of a lot,and on one hand, it is a lot of
stuff, but on the other hand Ijust need to map it all out and
then it will be fine.
So when I say I need to make aplan for the audiobook, it's a
little more involved than justsitting down and mapping out
like how long this is going totake me to record.
It's all the other stuff thathappens around recording for the
(04:48):
audiobook that could causeproblems and it's just going to
take some massaging.
So I need to figure that allout today, which I'm confident I
can do Now.
I also mentioned I'mre-recording my notes to novel
course and the reason I'm doingthis is because every year or so
I like to update what's in theprogram so that my students are
always getting the mostup-to-date strategies and
(05:11):
techniques and things that areworking for authors right now.
And the more students that gothrough the course, the more I
get to see patterns in whatworks, what doesn't work, where
people are getting stuck, youknow things like that.
So when I do rerecord I cantweak how I'm teaching things to
help my students get betterresults.
So that's really why I'mrerecording, and if you're
(05:33):
listening to this and you're aNotes Novel alumni, you will be
getting free access to all theupdates, so stay tuned for more
information on that Past.
Students always get free accessto the updates, which is pretty
cool.
So as I work on the audiobookrecording plan and schedule, I
also need to be mindful ofmassaging that with my plan for
re-recording the course beforewe reopen enrollment in January.
(05:56):
So that's what I'm doing today,and I will be back later with a
Monday evening update to letyou know how it goes.
Okay, so it's Monday evening nowand I'm happy to report that I
think I sorted out a plan forrecording the audiobook and
re-recording the notes to novelcourse and I feel pretty good
about it for now.
I also chose an audio editorand secured my spot in their
(06:20):
calendar.
All good there as well, and,like I said earlier, I'm going
to keep track of the process anddo a full episode on what it
was like to record the audiobook.
You know where I had struggles,what worked well, what I wish.
I did different things likethat so that I can share them
with you.
And if you are ever going torecord an audiobook someday,
then hopefully you can learnfrom my experience and whatever
(06:41):
mistakes I made, because I'msure there will be some.
I've never recorded an audiobook before, so I'm pretty
excited to see how it goes.
I'm sure it's going to be kindof a fun challenge.
So all of that's great.
I did the things I wanted to do.
Now.
The other thing I did today isI sent out a survey to all of my
newsletter subscribers so thatI could get a better sense of
what they need and want, helpwith what kind of podcast
(07:03):
episodes they want to hear in2025, and things like that.
I typically do surveys likethese about once a year, and
it's always really fun to seeyou know how things change or
don't change.
So I'm going to gather allthose insights and I'll share
some things with you that Ilearned on Friday.
But that's kind of it for me.
I need to go walk the dogs andfeed them dinner, so I'm going
(07:25):
to let you go for now, and Iwill be back tomorrow morning
with a Tuesday update.
Hello, hello.
I am back for a Tuesday morningupdate and this may surprise
you, but I am going to be inbusiness planning mode all day
today and, as weird as thissounds, this is my favorite time
of year to plan what I want mybusiness to look like in the
(07:46):
next year.
So I'm going to sit down with acalendar and all the notes I've
been keeping over the last 10to 12 months and map out what I
want 2025 to look like, and I'mreally excited because I love
doing this kind of stuff and Ihave some really cool things
planned for 2025.
So not only will the audioversion of the Story Grid
(08:07):
Masterwork Analysis Guide toHarry Potter and the Sorcerer's
Stone come out, we will also bereleasing the book version of
the Story Grid MasterworkAnalysis Guide to Harry Potter
and the Chamber of Secrets, sothat's really exciting.
We'll have more information foryou on that soon.
We're also going to startdrafting the analysis guide to
Harry Potter and the Prisoner ofAzkaban.
(08:28):
So full steam ahead there, andI am really excited about that.
I also already know I'm goingto open enrollment for another
live round of notes to novel inJanuary and then sometime in the
fall.
So mark your calendars ifyou've been looking forward to
that.
I have some speaking engagementslined up already, which I know
probably sounds crazy, but inreality, we all have to plan
(08:49):
ahead or things just don't workout.
So I do have some of thoselined up and basically what I'm
going to do today is I'm goingto map out things on calendar
pages.
So I literally print out 12pages, one for each month, and I
just start mapping things outto see where I might have
overlap, where I might have alot of white space, where I
(09:10):
might want to take time off, andthen I kind of just let myself
dream a bit about what I want todo, what I might want to change
, and for me it's just a lot offun.
So that's what I've set asidethe entire day for today, and I
will be back later on to let youknow how things went.
Okay, it's Tuesday, lateafternoon, slash early evening
now, and I made some goodprogress on my plans for 2025
(09:33):
today.
I'm not totally done, but I'vegot enough down where I can step
away and let things marinatefor a bit.
It also helped to scratch theitch I've been feeling about
wanting to sit down and capturesome of my big ideas and some of
my plans for the new year.
So I feel a bit relieved tohave finally spent some time
looking forward and planning,which, again, I really love to
do.
So it was a fun day, but otherthan that, there's not really a
(09:56):
whole lot to share about the day.
It was a really quiet day, butI got a lot done and I feel good
about where things are headed.
So I think I will just end theupdate there.
I have a lot more to share withyou tomorrow, so I will talk to
you in the morning for aWednesday morning update.
Hello and good morning.
It's Wednesday now and I havetwo calls with writers today who
(10:18):
are in the line editing phase,and I thought it would be
interesting to share thetimeline of how long it took
these writers to outline andwrite their books and a little
bit about what they're goingthrough in the line editing
phase, Because who doesn't lovea peek behind the scenes, right?
I also think it's kind ofinteresting because these
writers are writing totallydifferent stories, so one's a
(10:39):
romance and one is sciencefiction and I started working
with both writers around thesame time I actually think it
was in the exact same week andnow they're both in the line
editing phase at the same time.
So this is interesting, right.
It doesn't always happen likethis.
In the past I might havestarted working with two
different writers in the sameweek, but then life happens.
(11:01):
One might go slower or faster.
One might have a book they'republishing while they write the
next one.
You know things like that.
So it's been kind of fun for meto see both of these writers
track with each other as theywent through the whole process.
So I just want to run through aquick timeline of what each of
their journeys looked like andgive you kind of a realistic
look behind the scenes of howlong things take.
(11:24):
So the first writer who iswriting science fiction she and
I started working together atthe end of July or in the
beginning of early August 2022.
And when I met her, she had afinished draft and I did a
developmental edit for herbefore we engaged in the
one-on-one coaching and she wasable to use a lot of that
(11:45):
initial draft as the baselinefor what we worked on together.
But there was also a lot torewrite and develop as well.
So, yes, on one hand, she had afinished draft before we
started working together, but onthe other hand, it was kind of
like starting from scratchbecause we had to do some pretty
major things like develop theantagonist, flesh out the
(12:07):
conflict in the middle of thestory and things like that.
So in those two years it waswriting and revising in
different phases.
We even re-outlined her entirebook before digging into the
rewrites, because there were somany structural changes needed
after we developed herantagonist and his role in the
conflict and things like that.
So this makes me wonder andit's interesting from my
(12:30):
perspective because I'm thinkingwould it have taken her
significantly longer than twoyears to write and revise her
book if she was truly startingfrom scratch?
So if she didn't have thatinitial draft that we used as a
baseline?
And my gut really says no, Ithink sometimes it's just as
hard to dismantle a draft thatneeds to be rewritten as it is
(12:51):
to start from complete scratch.
So I think, either way, shecould have written and revised
that book in that two-yearperiod.
And, like I said, she sent herbook to a line editor in October
and is now working throughthose line edits, which has been
kind of fun.
Now, writer number two, Istarted working with her at the
same time, so the end of July,early August in 2022.
(13:12):
And this is the writer who'swriting romance.
So, coincidentally, when Istarted working with her, she
also had a finished draft, but Idid not do a developmental edit
on that draft.
So when we started workingtogether, this writer told me
that she knew something wasn'tworking with her story and she
basically wanted to dismantle itand build it back up so that it
(13:34):
worked.
So she loved her characters andher idea, but she didn't like
where that first draft hadlanded.
So what we did is we took heridea.
We fleshed out a fewfoundational things, in this
case mainly some plot elementsand both of her lead characters'
backstories.
But she had a lot of fun ideasfor her characters'
personalities and how theybecame the way they were.
(13:56):
So in this case it was kind ofmore like streamlining her ideas
or getting rid of things thatmaybe were fun but didn't really
do anything for the biggerstory other than maybe cause
some potential confusion.
So we did that.
We worked on the foundation fora while.
We created a scene by sceneoutline which took about two
months, and then we reallyfleshed things out in that
(14:18):
outline and pressure tested itto smooth out plot holes, make
sure character arcs were clearand things like that.
So we did a lot of deep work onthe foundation and the outline
of her story and then, as shewrote her revised draft, we
would pause every now and thenand we would go back to the
outline, make sure any changeswe made in the actual draft were
(14:39):
reflected in the outline andthings like that.
So, for example, let's say shegot to the end of act one, we
would pause and go back to theoutline and say did anything big
change while you were writingAct 1?
And if it did, how can weupdate that going forward so
that your draft is kind ofalways showing the most
up-to-date version of your idea?
So, overall for this writer,she just sent her draft to the
(15:02):
line editor in October as welland she's also working through
line edits.
So what's really cool for me tosee not only is it just fun, you
know, to see these two writers'different timelines that
coincidentally unfolded in thesame way.
At the same time, it's fun tosee the line edit notes they got
back because they both did somuch hard, deep work on making
(15:24):
sure the foundational elementsof their story worked, making
sure their outlines were astight and fleshed out as they
possibly could be.
Again, you know we're not goingto know everything in the
outlining stage, but there's alot we can do to almost use that
outline as our first draft, ourdiscovery draft, and then, you
know, fix plot holes, characterarcs, things like that.
So these two writers did somuch of that work and they spent
(15:46):
so much time doing this hardwork that the line edit notes
they got were really actionableand really focused on what a
line edit should be.
So it wasn't like there were alot of big plot holes or a lot
of things that the line editorwas like this doesn't make sense
.
There wasn't a lot of that.
There were little things hereand there, but it was mostly
like this story works.
It's great.
(16:06):
Now let's try to, you know,look at your sentences and your
paragraphs and make it evenbetter.
So I hope that's interesting tohear, because I don't know.
It's fascinating for me to justkind of compare and contrast.
You might be thinking is itnormal for it to take two years
to write and revise a book?
And honestly, it depends on somany things.
I've known writers who haveblasted through a draft in three
(16:28):
to six months.
I've known writers who do it inone year, two years, three
years.
There's no right answer, but Iwill say that two years is not
uncommon, especially when you'renot writing full time, right?
Most of us have day jobs, wehave family commitments and
other things that compete withour writing time.
So I really wanted to sharethis because I think it's
(16:50):
important to see what theprocess looks like for real
writers.
So I hope it was interestingand helpful for you to hear as
well.
When I come back at the end ofthe day for my update, I will
let you know what else happenedtoday.
But, like I said, I have thosetwo calls and I'm just gonna do
some other random things as Ihave time for them.
So I'll let you know what thosethings are later, and bye for
(17:18):
now.
Okay, so it's Wednesday eveningnow and my two calls went
really well.
Both writers are plugging awayat their line edits and making
progress.
They're also working on liningup cover designers and making
some decisions about how toactually produce their books and
things like that.
So all good there, very happyto see their progress.
Other than that, I did someediting for the StoryGrid
Masterwork Analysis Guide ofHarry Potter and the Chamber of
(17:39):
Secrets.
So for this one, abigail isdoing the writing and I am doing
the editing, which is a reverseof what we did for the first
Harry Potter book analysis, andit's kind of fun being on the
other side of the equation thistime.
In some ways it's really notthat different, because Abigail
and I worked very closely onbook one and we're working very
closely on book two together.
But in other ways it's kind oflike it's less pressure because,
(18:02):
as the writer, abigail owns thefinal decision on everything.
So it's fun for me to be ableto support her and talk through
things when she needs a secondopinion, offer my agreement on
things or a differentperspective if I have one.
All of that's really fun, andit's what she did for me when I
was writing the Story GridMasterwork Analysis Guide to
(18:23):
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer'sStone.
So I'm just doing my best to bea great editor for her, like
she was a great editor for me,and I'm really proud of how this
one's turning out.
I think it's going to be reallyfun for you to see our take on
how JK Rowling did things likeraising the stakes from book one
, continuing Harry's characterarc, introducing new characters
and more of the world and thingslike that.
(18:44):
So stay tuned.
We will have more updates onthis soon, but if you're already
like I can't wait, tell me whenit's out.
Then you can go sign up for thewaitlist at savannahgilbocom
forward slash HP and we'll sendyou all the info as soon as we
have it available.
And also a shameless favor, ask, if you don't mind, if you did
(19:04):
read the Story Grid MasterworkAnalysis Guide to Harry Potter
and the Sorcerer's Stone and ifyou enjoyed it, would you please
go leave us a review on Amazon?
We read every single one ofthese reviews and it's been
really helpful to see what youliked, what you wanted more of
and things like that.
We're taking all of that intoconsideration as we work on book
two.
And if you do, go leave areview.
(19:26):
Thank you in advance.
So that's a large part of whatI did today.
I think I'm going to officiallysign off for the night and I
will be back tomorrow with aThursday morning update.
Good morning, it's Thursday andit's Halloween today, so I am
recording this update onHalloween and I'm recording it a
(19:46):
little bit later than normalbecause I woke up, had some
coffee and just kind of startedworking on accident, even though
I meant to record this before Istarted working.
So this morning, what I've doneso far is I wrote my November
peak behind the scenesnewsletter, which, if you're on
my email list, you'll knowexactly what I'm talking about,
but if you're not, basicallythis is a newsletter that I send
(20:09):
out once a month to give mysubscribers a peek inside my
world, so kind of like what I'mdoing on this podcast.
I talk about what I'm workingon, what's coming up on the
podcast where I'm speaking at,or if I'm running any kind of
live event in the coming monthsor things like that.
But as I was putting togetherthe newsletter this morning, I
realized that four of theauthors I've worked with are
(20:30):
publishing their books thismonth.
So not only is it a fun daybecause it's Halloween, but it's
a fun month because four of theauthors I've worked with are
publishing their books.
So I just wanted to give aquick shout out to these four
authors.
Two of them you've heard on thepodcast before.
Jennifer Lauer published hersecond book this month.
It's called Start Somewhere.
It's the first book in theStrange Chronicles series.
(20:52):
Stephanie Medrick you've heardher on the podcast before as
well.
She published her debut novelcalled Into the Fire.
Margaret Mantor published herdebut as well.
It's called Air and Ashes.
And then, finally, angela Haaspublished the second novel in
her Keepers of the Universeseries, and this one's called
(21:14):
Seconds to Oblivion.
So I wanted to give these fourwriters a shout out and just say
congratulations, I'm so excitedthat your books are out in the
world and I can't wait to seehow readers react to them.
So congratulations to Jennifer,stephanie, margaret and Angela.
Now, as far as the rest of theday goes, I have two calls that
I'm looking forward to.
The first one is with my Notesto Novel students, so this is
the last coaching call they havewith me before the program
(21:35):
wraps up.
We've been doing these callsonce a week for eight weeks and
it's been really, really fun towatch everyone's progress as
they work on their books.
And then I have a call with thewriters in my membership.
So we're doing an office hourscall, which we do twice a month,
and essentially this is groupcoaching.
It's a group Q&A where writerscan ask me questions, we can
(21:56):
brainstorm things.
Sometimes they submit pages forme to go over and I do that and
I give them feedback, thingslike that, and these calls are
always a lot of fun.
So I'm off to do both of thosenow and I'll be back later to
give a little update and let youknow how things went.
(22:18):
Okay, so it's Thursday afternoonnow and I'm doing my end of day
update a little earlier thannormal because on days where I
have a lot of video calls I tendto want to go back into my
introvert cave as soon as Ipossibly can.
So since I'm already at my desk, I thought I would just record
a quick update, let you know howthe calls went, and then I'm
going to get off technology andstart reading a draft that I'm
doing a developmental edit onwhich I am very excited about.
(22:38):
So, as I mentioned earlier,today was the last group
coaching call in my Notes toNovel course.
We've spent eight weekstogether and it's been really
fun to see everyone take theirideas, turn them into outlines
and then actually start writing.
I love seeing stories developso much and I love seeing
writers confidence build weekafter week and I like seeing
(23:00):
people make connections in thegroup and things like that.
It just lights me up and I loveit so much.
So we had our last call todayand on one hand it's always sad
and bittersweet to wrap thingsup, but at the same time it's a
great thing to kind of take thetraining wheels off and have
everyone go off on their own towrite their books.
The goal is always that my Notesto Novel students leave the
(23:21):
course with everything they needto write a really solid first
draft and they've spent the lasteight weeks building out the
foundation of their stories soplot, character, key genre
elements, things like that.
And then they've taken all thatfoundational work and they've
turned it into a working outlineand then they pressure tested
that outline to catch anyobvious plot holes or
(23:41):
inconsistencies in character orwhatever it might be.
And if they do the work that'srecommended in the course, they
walk away with that.
So a working outline that'spressure tested and a log line
and a synopsis that are kind ofthose high level summaries of
their stories.
So we spend a lot of timelooking at these things together
.
In the first few weeks we workon the log line and the synopsis
(24:02):
to really get that big picturestory down, especially as they
develop those foundationalelements like plot and character
and things like that.
And then they take that andturn it into a scene by scene
outline and we work on thattogether as well.
So it's been a lot of fun tosee.
I never get tired of watchingstories develop or writers grow
in confidence, and so, yes, onone hand it's bittersweet, it's
(24:24):
our last group coaching call,but I'm happy to see them also
graduate the program and go offand write their stories as well.
So in the last call we hadtoday we talked a lot about what
to do if you get stuck.
We talked about how most of thewriters I've worked with tend
to feel negative emotions orthey straight up dislike their
stories at certain points in theprocess.
(24:44):
So usually this happens whenthey finish outlining or writing
one of the acts in their story,so like act one or something.
Other times it happens whenthey finish an entire outline or
when they finish an entiredraft, so usually it's like at
the end of a section, at the endof a draft.
These are all common places Isee writers fall into that
self-doubt, that impostersyndrome, that perfectionism,
(25:06):
things like that.
And I just reminded everyone inthe call today that if this
happens it's totally normal andto just keep moving forward.
So if you're listening and youhappen to be in that kind of rut
right now, then hopefully thatwas just the message you needed
to hear today.
But yeah, a big congratulationsto all of my Notes to Novel
season students.
(25:26):
You made it to the finish lineand I could not be more proud of
all the progress you've madeover the last eight weeks, so
very excited for you and I hopethat in a future, one of these
Week in the Life episodes I canbe talking about how your book
came out.
I would just love that so much.
Now, the other call I had today.
This was the writers in myStory Lab membership.
(25:47):
So these are all writers whohave gone through the Notes
Novel course and who wantongoing support and feedback
from me.
So today we had a groupcoaching slash Q&A call and we
actually did a lot of outlinedworkshopping.
So a few writers submittedsections of their outlines
either parts they were stuck onor full sections like Act 1 or
Act 2, things like that and thenI put them on screen and I walk
(26:10):
everyone through my thoughtsand or how I would tweak certain
things and why.
So that was really fun and it'salways helpful for everyone to
see not only how people areapproaching their outlines or
thinking about their stories,but also how I would approach
things or tweak things as adevelopmental editor.
So that's what I had today.
I had two big calls with twodifferent groups of writers.
(26:32):
I had a lot of little things tocatch up on as well, like
writing that monthly newsletter,doing a lot of little tasks
involved with the podcast butnothing exciting and, of course,
answering emails and goingthrough the inbox, which,
unfortunately, is a littlebacked up at the moment.
And, like I said earlier, I'msigning off computer related
stuff a bit earlier than normaltoday because all my introvert
(26:52):
heart wants to do is just sit onthe couch with my dogs and read
.
So that's what I'll be doingand luckily I get to do that for
a living.
So I'll be reading a draft thatI'm doing a developmental edit
on and I'm super excited to diginto that.
So that's my Thursday update.
I will be back with anotherupdate tomorrow, so I will talk
to you then.
Hello, hello, happy Friday.
(27:13):
I have what I think is a funupdate for you today.
So I mentioned on Monday that Isurveyed my email newsletter
subscribers to get a sense ofwhere people are at in the
writing, editing and publishingprocess, to see what kinds of
books people are writing, tohear what topics people want me
to cover on the podcast andthings like that, and I wanted
(27:33):
to share some of the resultswith you because I think they're
really interesting and alsobecause I want to show you what
I do with this information.
So, after going through all theinformation, all the results, I
learned a few key things, andone of them was that 50% of the
people who were polledidentified as beginners, while
(27:54):
45% identify as intermediatewriters and only about 5%
identify as experts, which allof this makes total sense to me
and is very in line withprevious polls that I've done.
The second thing I learned isthat, out of everyone polled,
85% of people have eitherstarted writing a novel and are
somewhere in the middle of theirdraft, or they know they want
(28:16):
to write a novel, but theyhaven't officially started
writing yet, and this numbermakes sense to me, too.
But I thought you might like tohear that you're in good
company if you're also workingon your first book or looking
forward to starting your firstbook Now.
I also asked what's the hardestpart about writing a book so
far, and 20% of people said it'sdeveloping the pieces of their
(28:38):
idea into something that cansupport a full-length novel, and
30% said it's just getting tothe end of their draft.
So this information is gold tome, because it helps me
prioritize what kind of episodesI create in 2025, what kind of
resources to create, based onwhat you need and things like
that.
I also learned that 30% oflisteners are writing fantasy,
(28:59):
while 20% are writing romance.
And then the next biggest chunkthere was a tie between mystery
crime, thrillers and sci-fi.
So I just think this is so cooland it helps me prioritize what
kind of you know guest expertsI'll bring on the podcast, what
kind of books and movies to dodeep dives into, and things like
that.
And speaking of types ofepisodes, I thought it was
(29:22):
really interesting that out ofthose pulled, most people said
they really liked the soloepisodes where it's just me
talking.
But there was definitely an askfor more of the first chapter
episodes.
So Abigail and I are going tobring those back in 2025.
And, to be honest, theseepisodes kind of just fell off
our radar on accident becausewe've been working so hard on
(29:44):
the Story Grid MasterworkAnalysis Guide to Harry Potter
and the Sorcerer's Stone, whichwe published earlier this year,
and then the Analysis Guide toHarry Potter and the Sorcerer's
Stone, which we publishedearlier this year, and then the
analysis guide to Harry Potterand the Chamber of Secrets,
which will be coming out early2025.
So they really just fell offour radar on accident and we
actually love doing thoseepisodes, so knowing that people
enjoy them as much as we lovedoing them, that helps us
(30:07):
prioritize them again and getthem back into our workflow.
So I just really thought thissurvey was fascinating.
There was a lot that hasn'tchanged from previous year's
surveys, but there was a lotthat was different and
interesting as well.
I really liked reading all theresponses and the kind words
people sent in.
I read through every singleresponse and I'm so thankful to
(30:27):
all of those who took the timeto participate in the survey and
share their thoughts.
So if that was you, thank youso much.
I really do appreciate it.
Now, what am I doing the rest ofthe day?
Well, I have a few things on mylist.
So one is that I'm going to dosome more editing on Abigail's
draft of the Story GradeMasterwork Analysis Guide to
Harry Potter and the Chamber ofSecrets, and then I'm going to
(30:55):
finish reading the draft thatI'm doing a developmental edit
on that.
I started earlier in the week,so I can't remember if that was
yesterday or Wednesday, but Ineed to finish reading that.
So it's a pretty fun Friday ifyou ask me, and I will come back
later to share a quick Fridayevening update, so I will talk
to you then to let you know howit all went.
Okay, it's Friday afternoon andI don't have much else to report
, other than that I didn't getto do any of the edits on
(31:17):
Abigail's draft for theStoryGrid Masterwork Analysis
Guide to Harry Potter and theChamber of Secrets, mostly
because I just ran out of steamand that happens sometimes,
right?
Luckily, abigail is notnecessarily waiting on my
feedback, so I can get to thatthis weekend or early next week,
depending on how things go.
But other than that, I am veryready for the weekend and I have
(31:39):
no big plans this weekend.
I mostly just want to relax andspend some time at home, maybe
finish one of the books I'mcurrently reading and basically
just keep things really, reallymellow.
I need a relaxing weekend, soI'm looking forward to that.
And to kick off the weekend, mydogs and I are going to be in
the kitchen making dog food.
So if you've heard any of thesebehind the scenes episodes
(32:00):
before, you know that I homemake my dog's food following a
recipe from a company calledJust Food for Dogs, and all
three of my dogs are superobsessed with it.
This week we're going to makethe turkey that's called beef
and russet potatoes.
So basically, imagine it's likea stew but for dogs.
So it's all human grade foodgood quality beef, good quality
(32:21):
vegetables and things like that.
And then the dogs, of course,get a dog specific nutrient
blend added in and some fish oiland things like that.
So we want to make sure theyget all their vitamins and
minerals.
So, yeah, my dogs really loveit, no matter which flavor I
make.
It's really not that hard tocook.
It takes me about 30 minutes tomake their food for the whole
week and it's really funnybecause every time I mentioned
(32:43):
making food for my dogs, I getso many messages asking for more
information, which I love.
I love that so many of you wantto make your pets food as well.
So if you want to check outwhat I do, I will put a link in
the show notes or you can justgo to savannahgilbocom forward
slash food for dogs all one wordfood for dogs and takea.
Look around on their website.
(33:04):
You can buy pre-made frozenfood, or you can do what I do,
which is get the DIY recipe, thefish oil and the nutrient blend
and then make your own dog foodat home.
So you'll need to buy groceriesand have a way to cook it, but
it's not as hard as it seems.
So one more time if you'reinterested, you can go to
savannagilbocom forward slashfood for dogs all one word or
(33:24):
click the link in the show notesto browse around and learn more
about feeding your pet fresh,delicious food.
They do also have food for cats, so cat lovers are welcome to
check it out as well.
So, anyway, that's what I'll bedoing tonight to kick off my
relaxing weekend, and that isthe end of this Week in the Life
episode.
I hope you enjoyed coming alongfor the ride this week.
(33:44):
I know I had fun pulling backthe curtain and giving you a
peek behind the scenes.
I got to share a lot that Idon't typically talk about on
the podcast, because I'm usuallytalking about more craft,
specific things like how towrite, edit and publish a book,
and, yeah, it was just fun toshare some of the things I don't
get to talk about that much.
So I hope you enjoyed thisepisode.
So that's it for today'sepisode.
(34:10):
As always, thank you so much fortuning in and for showing your
support.
If you want to check out any ofthe links I mentioned in this
episode.
You can find them in the shownotes listed in the description
of each episode inside yourpodcast player or at
savannahgilbocom forward slashpodcast.
If you're an Apple user, I'dreally appreciate it if you took
a few seconds to leave a ratingand a review.
(34:31):
Your ratings and reviews tellApple that this is a podcast
that's worth listening to and,in turn, your reviews will help
this podcast get in front ofmore fiction writers just like
you.
And while you're there, goahead and hit that follow button
, because there's going to beanother brand new episode next
week, full of actionable tips,tools and strategies to help you
become a better writer.
So I'll see you next week anduntil then, happy writing.
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