January 21, 2025 • 20 mins
Got writer's block and convinced it's because you lack talent? Think again! And I have the solution that'll change the way you approach your writing…
If you're struggling to finish your novel, I want you to know that your lack of progress has nothing to do with your capabilities or the quality of your ideas. In fact, it boils down to an imbalance of three essential things—or pillars of novel creation, if you will.
In this week's episode, I'm sharing what these three things are so you can overcome writing roadblocks and finish your novel in 2025.
These three things helped Jenny finish her draft in 6 months (after being stuck for 12 years) and gave Laura the confidence to move past self-doubt and finish her 83,000-word fantasy story.
Here’s what I talk about:
[03:43] Your secret roadmap to avoid the endless planning loop where you waste months (or even years) trying to make everything perfect.
[10:01] The most overlooked part of successfully writing a first draft, which many people ignore, and how to leverage it when self-doubt kicks in.
[15:36] The technical piece of the writing puzzle and why even beautiful prose won't help if the other two pieces aren't in place.
And so much more…
If you're ready to stop spinning your wheels and start making real progress on your story, grab your headphones, turn the volume up, and press play. This could be the writing breakthrough you've been waiting for.
🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:
- Click here to learn more about my signature program Notes to Novel™—and join us for the next LIVE cohort before doors close on January 30th, 2025.
- Ep. 88 - Perfectionism vs. Procrastination: What's REALLY Going On?
- Ep. 123 - How To Overcome The 5 Types Of Imposter Syndrome
- Ep. 134 - How To Stop Procrastinating: 5 Productivity Tips For Writers
⭐ Rate + Review + Follow on Apple Podcasts
"I love the Fiction Writing Made Easy podcast!" ← If that sounds like you, please consider rating and reviewing this show! Your rating and review will help other writers find this podcast, and they're also super fun for me to read. Just click here, scroll all the way to the bottom, tap five stars to rate the show, and then select "Write a Review." Be sure to let me know your favorite episodes, too!
Also, if you haven't done so already, make sure you're following the podcast! I'll be adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the feed, and if you're not following the show, there's a good chance you'll miss them. Click here to follow now!
👉 Looking for a transcript? If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, scroll down below the episode player until you see the transcript.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you're experiencing writer's block, it
has nothing to do with yourcapabilities or the quality of
your ideas.
It all boils down to trying towrite a book with an imbalance
of those three things process,mindset and craft.
You need these three thingsworking together in tandem, to
be the kind of writer thatfinishes and publishes their
(00:21):
book.
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
be overwhelming, so each week,I'll bring you a brand new
episode with simple, actionableand step-by-step strategies that
you can implement in yourwriting right away.
(00:42):
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 goingto share the three things you
need to write your book in 2025.
But really, this episode is nottime dependent.
(01:03):
These three things are timeless, in my opinion, and they're the
key to finishing your draft andhaving the kind of writing life
you want.
So what are these three things?
Well, I'll tell you in a second, but first let me tell you
something I've noticed afteryears and years of working with
first-time novelists so manytalented first-time writers get
(01:25):
stuck and fail to finish theirdrafts, not because they lack
good ideas or creativity, butbecause they're focusing on the
wrong things at the wrong time.
They're trying to perfect theirprose before they have a solid
story structure, they'rebattling self-doubt when they
should be building momentum,they're searching for the
(01:45):
perfect writing routine whenwhat they really need is a clear
roadmap, and so on and so on.
So I want to reiterate thispoint because it's really
important.
Many first-time writers fail tofinish their books or get to
the end of their drafts simplybecause they lack clarity on
their ideas and because theydon't have the right steps to
(02:07):
take to turn their ideas into astory that works.
So that is exactly why I wantedto talk about this topic today.
Like I said earlier, I'm goingto share the three things you
need to write your novel in 2025or any year really and we're
not talking about just startingyour novel, but finishing it as
(02:27):
well.
So let's talk about those threethings really quick.
The three things you need towrite your novel in 2025 are
process, mindset and craft, andwe're going to dig into each one
of those, starting with process.
So I want you to think of thislike your roadmap it's what you
need to do and when you need todo it.
(02:49):
And just like you wouldn't setout on a cross-country road trip
without some kind of navigation, you shouldn't start writing
your novel without knowing themajor milestones ahead either.
So you need a process, and theprocess doesn't need to be
something super complicated Infact, I think simpler is better
but you do need a process,because without some kind of
(03:11):
clear process, you're likelygoing to find yourself stuck in
what I call the endlessbrainstorming loop or the
revision spiral.
I've seen many writers spendmonths and months, or even
sometimes years and years,brainstorming and planning their
stories, thinking they have toget everything perfect or
figured.
Many writers spend months andmonths, or even sometimes years
and years, brainstorming andplanning their stories, thinking
they have to get everythingperfect or figured out right out
the gate or, even worse,writing and rewriting the first
(03:33):
three chapters instead of movingforward with their story.
And these behaviors are allrooted in two things One of them
is a lack of process to follow,and the second is mindset,
which we're going to talk aboutin a few minutes.
So let me share a quick storyabout a writer I worked with in
my Notes to Novel program.
Her name is Jenny, and before Imet Jenny, she had been working
(03:54):
on her story on and off forabout 12 years, and she could
never get to the end of a draftfor various reasons, but the
biggest one was due to a lack oftime.
So Jenny is still, to this day,a very, very busy person.
She has a day job, she haschildren, she volunteers in her
community and she's caring forone of her elderly parents.
(04:14):
So you can easily imagine justhow busy Jenny is.
On top of that, jenny alsostruggles with imposter syndrome
because she never went tocollege.
So every time Jenny does findpockets of time to write, her
inner critic rears its ugly headand then causes her to either
abandon her writing for the timebeing or procrastinate.
And so you can probably alsoimagine how fast those 12 years
(04:38):
zoomed by for Jenny having kids,working a full-time job,
volunteering and things likethat, all while trying to write
a novel in small pockets of time.
Now here's the thing Jennydidn't lack talent or
imagination or dedication.
She simply didn't have aroadmap to follow that would
help her turn all of her ideasinto a story that worked in the
(05:00):
pockets of time she hadavailable.
And this is what I see with alot of writers.
So it's not about their ideasor their education level or how
dedicated they are yes, ofcourse those things will factor
into it but it's more abouthaving a process to follow that
helps you make the most of thetime you set aside to write.
(05:21):
So, going back to Jenny, she wasreally struggling to find the
time to write.
She hadn't made that muchprogress on her story over those
12 years, and when I met Jennywe talked about all of this.
So I said in reality, theamount of time you have to write
is not going to change.
You might have a season or twowhere you're less busy, but in
general you're not magicallygoing to find more time to write
(05:43):
, and I think that's true for alot of us.
So what Jenny and I did, whatwe talked about, was we needed
to get her some kind of processto follow so she knew what to
work on when she did have thoselimited pockets of time to work
on her book.
So fast forward, jenny learnedthe step-by-step process that I
teach in my notes to novelcourse, and she went from hardly
(06:05):
any progress over a 12-yearperiod to writing the first
draft of her novel in six months.
And that's amazing, right, herwriting time more efficiently,
and this is what I want for you,too.
Whether the process that youfind and follow is in my Notes
(06:26):
to Novel course or somewhereelse, or delivered from someone
else, it doesn't matter.
What's important is having aclear process to follow and
understanding that it's not justabout organization, it's about
making every minute of yourwriting time count and then
building your storyintentionally, layer by layer.
So I like to think of it ashaving a GPS, versus wandering
(06:46):
around and just kind of hopingyou find your destination.
Yes, in theory, you might stillget there, but I think we could
all agree that one path issignificantly more efficient,
and this is really where havinga process can become your secret
weapon.
When you know the exact stepsto take to write a novel from
start to finish, from initialidea through final draft, you'll
(07:08):
never have to worry about whatto work on next.
You can sit down andimmediately start making
progress because you have thatroadmap or that process.
So this is super important, andI think it's something that not
enough writers pay attention to,or they think they are
following a roadmap, sosomething like the hero's
(07:28):
journey or save the cat orwhatever it is, but really all
that is is a way to plot orstructure your story, so it's
not a process that you canfollow to help you write your
book from start to finish.
So just something to keep inmind, and this was something
that really helped Jenny, thewriter I was talking about
earlier.
One of the biggest revelationsfor her was realizing that she
(07:50):
didn't need to spend the timefiguring out how to do
everything from scratch, orspending hours and hours on
Pinterest or the internet orwhatever, piecing together the
process of how to write a novelfrom start to finish.
So, for her, following a provenprocess meant she could focus
on telling her story instead ofconstantly wondering if she was
doing things in the right orderor if she was veering too far
(08:12):
off course.
So, again, this is why I'm afirm believer in having a clear
process or a roadmap.
Yes, every writer's journey isgoing to be unique and
everyone's going to approachthings in their own way, but
that doesn't mean you have tonavigate it by yourself or
reinvent the wheel.
There really is a method to themadness when it comes to
(08:32):
writing a novel, and I thinkit's important to know that just
because you follow a process,that doesn't mean you're going
to stifle your creativity oranything like that.
If you've been listening tothis podcast for a while, you
know that.
I think the opposite is trueHaving a process to follow gives
you that structure that reallyallows your creativity to bloom
(08:53):
and flourish.
So that's the first thing youneed to write your novel in 2025
, or really any year.
You need a process to follow.
The second thing you need towrite your book is the right
mindset, and this is probablythe most overlooked aspect of
writing a novel, but it'sabsolutely crucial, and that's
because your mindset determineswhether you'll push through when
(09:15):
writing gets tough or give upat the first sign of resistance.
It affects whether you'll getstuck in the planning stage or
writing and rewriting thosefirst three chapters over and
over, or whether you're going totrust yourself enough to move
forward even when things arestill unknown.
It also influences how you'llhandle feedback too, how you'll
(09:36):
approach revisions, how you'llapproach getting feedback, and
whether or not you'll actuallytake that book to the finish
line.
Now, the good news here is thatmindset is something you can
actively work on and improve.
I have episodes of this podcastthat will help you make some
pretty key mindset shifts,depending on what mindset
(09:56):
gremlin is plaguing you at themoment.
So a few listener favorites ifyou need some help with mindset
is episode number 88.
That one's called Perfectionismvs Procrastination what's
Really Going On?
Another one that might help youis episode number 123, which is
called how to Overcome the FiveTypes of Imposter Syndrome.
And lastly, if you'restruggling with managing your
(10:17):
time, check out episode number175, called Five Easy Time
Management Strategies to Writeyour Novel in Less Time.
We will link to those threeepisodes in the show notes for
easy access.
Now to bring this mindsetelement to life.
I want to talk about a writer Iworked with whose name is Laura.
So Laura had been dreamingabout writing a fantasy novel
(10:38):
for years and years and she wasa very big reader.
So she would read like 50 to 75books in a year and you know
she instinctually understood theshape of stories because she
was such an avid reader.
She had a really greatimagination.
She had notebooks filled withall these like world building
details and character profilesand things like that, but every
(10:59):
time she sat down to work on hernovel, she would freeze.
And this would happen mostlybecause she was comparing what
she would try to write, or thatlike first draft of an idea, to
her favorite published novelsand she would think, oh my gosh,
I'm so far away from writing abook like that.
Who am I even kidding, tryingto become an author?
(11:19):
Maybe I shouldn't even bother,maybe I should wait a little bit
longer before I try to writethings like that.
If any of that sounds familiar,you are so not alone.
So when I met Laura, she wasreally struggling with this
mindset element.
Like I said, she had greatideas, she had an instinctual
knowledge of what it means towrite a story and how stories
work and things like that.
(11:40):
But she couldn't get past thatinner critic.
We decided to give her innercritic a name and she decided to
call her inner critic theprofessor and she had this whole
vibe for what the professor'spersonality was like.
And it was so interestingbecause once she separated this
inner critic kind of outside ofherself and gave it a name, it
(12:01):
became a lot easier for her tosay you know what Thank you for
your input, professor.
I hear you, but I'm going towrite today anyway.
So it was just this littlemindset shift of, like I said,
separating that inner critic,just getting a little distance
between her and that voice, thatinner critic voice in her head,
that really allowed her tostart making progress.
(12:21):
Now, if you're someone whohasn't dealt with this kind of
mindset, gremlin, that mightsound a little simple like, oh,
all she did was think about thisin a different way.
But that's the power of mindset, right?
Sometimes it's all about justtaking something, flipping it on
its head and you're all of asudden unlocked and able to make
progress.
So let's go back to Laura.
(12:43):
Laura did start writing her book.
She felt nervous about writingstill and she still had moments
of self-doubt, and that innercritic did still exist.
But she stopped letting all ofthat stop her and control how
she showed up to her writingdesk.
So, instead of endlesslygetting stuck at that first
chapter or thinking over thesame world, building details
(13:03):
again and again, she was finallyable to give herself permission
to write something that wasmessy.
And then, six months later,laura finished that draft.
So it was an 83,000 word firstdraft.
It wasn't perfect, Of course.
It wasn't right.
No first draft is ever going tobe perfect, but here's what
Laura told me when she typed theend on that draft.
(13:24):
She said for the first timeever, I feel like a real writer,
not because the draft isperfect I know I still have a
lot of work ahead of me butbecause I finally proved to
myself that I could do it.
I wrote a freaking book andthis is exactly what I want for
you too.
So, regardless of what kind ofmindset, gremlin, you're dealing
with, there's power in activelyworking on it and trying to
(13:47):
just flip that switch or tryingto make it feel less impactful.
I do think it's unrealistic forus to think that our
perfectionism or impostersyndrome or inner critic
whatever it is they're not goingto totally go away, but there
are ways to deal with them andkind of accept them as part of
the process.
Right For me.
I'm a perfectionist, so that'smy little mindset, gremlin that
(14:10):
I have to deal with a lot and ithasn't gone away, but I have
gotten way better at dealingwith it.
So again, whatever your mindset, gremlin, is, there is hope,
and this is the second thingthat it takes to write a novel
in 2025 or again any year.
Really, it takes keeping up onour mindset and addressing some
of those mindset gremlins sothat we can write and finish our
(14:32):
books All right now.
The third thing you need towrite your novel in 2025, or any
year really is craft, and thisis what most writers focus on
exclusively.
So the actual writingtechniques and storytelling
skills needed to write a storythat works.
And while, of course, craft isreally important, it's not
(14:53):
everything If you don't have aprocess to follow to help you
turn your ideas into an actualfull-length story.
It doesn't matter if you knowhow to write technically good
sentences or the most beautifulprose If you don't have the
right mindset to stay in thegame when things get tough.
It doesn't matter if you knowhow to develop your character's
backstory or build a story worldfrom scratch, or if you know
how to develop your character'sbackstory or build a story world
(15:14):
from scratch.
Now, I'm not going to go toodeep into this one, because this
podcast is full of craft tips,but here's what all of this
boils down to.
I see way too many writers focuson just learning the craft of
writing, and what this leads tois perfectionism and, oftentimes
, procrastination.
We know what we need to do intheory, we see examples of
(15:36):
stories that work and then wetry to write our own stories,
only to feel disappointed thatthe stories we write don't live
up to the examples we see or toour expectations, which are
usually pretty high.
I also see too many writersdiscount the importance of
mindset.
And when you're not in theright mindset to write a book
and deal with the ups and downsthat happen to everybody, not
(15:57):
just first-time writers, this iswhat makes us spiral into
self-doubt and have thosefeelings of imposter syndrome
pop up.
And then I also see too manywriters without a process to
follow which leads to overwhelmand trying to do too many things
at once.
So here's the thing All ofthese things, these feelings I
just mentioned self-doubt,overwhelm, perfectionism and
(16:19):
procrastination all of that'swriter's block.
And writer's block has nothingto do with your capabilities or
the quality of your ideas.
Okay, I'm going to say that onemore time because it's very
important.
If you're experiencing writer'sblock, it has nothing to do
with your capabilities or thequality of your ideas.
It all boils down to trying towrite a book with an imbalance
(16:42):
of those three things process,mindset and craft.
You need these three thingsworking together in tandem to be
the kind of writer thatfinishes and publishes their
book, and when these threethings work together, that's
when the magic happens.
But when they're out of balance,that's when writers typically
struggle.
This is why I get a littlefrustrated when I see advice
(17:05):
that's telling aspiring authorsthat you just need to write
every day or you just need tolearn proper story structure.
Yes, those things matter, butthey're not the whole picture.
Writing a novel is a journeythat requires all three of those
elements mindset, process andcraft working together in
harmony.
So for now, before I let you go, I want you to know something
(17:28):
really important If you've beenstruggling to write your novel,
it's not because you're not cutout to be a writer.
It's likely because you've beentrying to build a three-legged
stool with only one or two legs.
And you can't sit on a stoolwith one or two legs right, it's
just not going to work.
So once you have all threeelements mindset, process and
(17:48):
craft working together, you'llbe amazed at what you can
accomplish.
Now, if you want my help writingyour book this year, I want to
let you know that, at the timeof this, recording my Notes to
Novel course is officially openfor enrollment.
Notes to Novel is a liveeight-week group coaching
experience in which I teach youmy proven step-by-step process
(18:10):
for turning your ideas into afinished draft, and you'll get
real-time guidance, feedback andsupport every step of the way.
This is one of the few times ayear when you'll get a lot of
attention and mentorship from meso that you can brainstorm,
outline and write a story you'reproud of.
And you guessed it, in thecourse, there is a big emphasis
on balancing the three things wetalked about today mindset,
(18:32):
process and craft.
If you want to learn more aboutthe Notes to Novel course, go
to savannahgilbocom forwardslash yes, and join us before
enrollment closes on January30th 2025.
If you're listening to thisepisode after enrollment has
closed, get on the waitlist andyou'll be the first to hear
about the next time we opendoors to the live Notes to Novel
experience.
(19:02):
So that's it for today's episode.
As always, thank you so muchfor tuning in and for showing
your support.
If you want to check out any ofthe links I mentioned in this
episode, you can find them inthe show notes listed in the
description of each episodeinside your podcast 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.
Your ratings and reviews tellApple that this is a podcast
(19:24):
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.
If you're experiencing writer's block, it
has nothing to do with yourcapabilities or the quality of
your ideas.
It all boils down to trying towrite a book with an imbalance
of those three things process,mindset and craft.
You need these three thingsworking together in tandem, to
be the kind of writer thatfinishes and publishes their
(00:21):
book.
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
be overwhelming, so each week,I'll bring you a brand new
episode with simple, actionableand step-by-step strategies that
you can implement in yourwriting right away.
(00:42):
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 goingto share the three things you
need to write your book in 2025.
But really, this episode is nottime dependent.
(01:03):
These three things are timeless, in my opinion, and they're the
key to finishing your draft andhaving the kind of writing life
you want.
So what are these three things?
Well, I'll tell you in a second, but first let me tell you
something I've noticed afteryears and years of working with
first-time novelists so manytalented first-time writers get
(01:25):
stuck and fail to finish theirdrafts, not because they lack
good ideas or creativity, butbecause they're focusing on the
wrong things at the wrong time.
They're trying to perfect theirprose before they have a solid
story structure, they'rebattling self-doubt when they
should be building momentum,they're searching for the
(01:45):
perfect writing routine whenwhat they really need is a clear
roadmap, and so on and so on.
So I want to reiterate thispoint because it's really
important.
Many first-time writers fail tofinish their books or get to
the end of their drafts simplybecause they lack clarity on
their ideas and because theydon't have the right steps to
(02:07):
take to turn their ideas into astory that works.
So that is exactly why I wantedto talk about this topic today.
Like I said earlier, I'm goingto share the three things you
need to write your novel in 2025or any year really and we're
not talking about just startingyour novel, but finishing it as
(02:27):
well.
So let's talk about those threethings really quick.
The three things you need towrite your novel in 2025 are
process, mindset and craft, andwe're going to dig into each one
of those, starting with process.
So I want you to think of thislike your roadmap it's what you
need to do and when you need todo it.
(02:49):
And just like you wouldn't setout on a cross-country road trip
without some kind of navigation, you shouldn't start writing
your novel without knowing themajor milestones ahead either.
So you need a process, and theprocess doesn't need to be
something super complicated Infact, I think simpler is better
but you do need a process,because without some kind of
(03:11):
clear process, you're likelygoing to find yourself stuck in
what I call the endlessbrainstorming loop or the
revision spiral.
I've seen many writers spendmonths and months, or even
sometimes years and years,brainstorming and planning their
stories, thinking they have toget everything perfect or
figured.
Many writers spend months andmonths, or even sometimes years
and years, brainstorming andplanning their stories, thinking
they have to get everythingperfect or figured out right out
the gate or, even worse,writing and rewriting the first
(03:33):
three chapters instead of movingforward with their story.
And these behaviors are allrooted in two things One of them
is a lack of process to follow,and the second is mindset,
which we're going to talk aboutin a few minutes.
So let me share a quick storyabout a writer I worked with in
my Notes to Novel program.
Her name is Jenny, and before Imet Jenny, she had been working
(03:54):
on her story on and off forabout 12 years, and she could
never get to the end of a draftfor various reasons, but the
biggest one was due to a lack oftime.
So Jenny is still, to this day,a very, very busy person.
She has a day job, she haschildren, she volunteers in her
community and she's caring forone of her elderly parents.
(04:14):
So you can easily imagine justhow busy Jenny is.
On top of that, jenny alsostruggles with imposter syndrome
because she never went tocollege.
So every time Jenny does findpockets of time to write, her
inner critic rears its ugly headand then causes her to either
abandon her writing for the timebeing or procrastinate.
And so you can probably alsoimagine how fast those 12 years
(04:38):
zoomed by for Jenny having kids,working a full-time job,
volunteering and things likethat, all while trying to write
a novel in small pockets of time.
Now here's the thing Jennydidn't lack talent or
imagination or dedication.
She simply didn't have aroadmap to follow that would
help her turn all of her ideasinto a story that worked in the
(05:00):
pockets of time she hadavailable.
And this is what I see with alot of writers.
So it's not about their ideasor their education level or how
dedicated they are yes, ofcourse those things will factor
into it but it's more abouthaving a process to follow that
helps you make the most of thetime you set aside to write.
(05:21):
So, going back to Jenny, she wasreally struggling to find the
time to write.
She hadn't made that muchprogress on her story over those
12 years, and when I met Jennywe talked about all of this.
So I said in reality, theamount of time you have to write
is not going to change.
You might have a season or twowhere you're less busy, but in
general you're not magicallygoing to find more time to write
(05:43):
, and I think that's true for alot of us.
So what Jenny and I did, whatwe talked about, was we needed
to get her some kind of processto follow so she knew what to
work on when she did have thoselimited pockets of time to work
on her book.
So fast forward, jenny learnedthe step-by-step process that I
teach in my notes to novelcourse, and she went from hardly
(06:05):
any progress over a 12-yearperiod to writing the first
draft of her novel in six months.
And that's amazing, right, herwriting time more efficiently,
and this is what I want for you,too.
Whether the process that youfind and follow is in my Notes
(06:26):
to Novel course or somewhereelse, or delivered from someone
else, it doesn't matter.
What's important is having aclear process to follow and
understanding that it's not justabout organization, it's about
making every minute of yourwriting time count and then
building your storyintentionally, layer by layer.
So I like to think of it ashaving a GPS, versus wandering
(06:46):
around and just kind of hopingyou find your destination.
Yes, in theory, you might stillget there, but I think we could
all agree that one path issignificantly more efficient,
and this is really where havinga process can become your secret
weapon.
When you know the exact stepsto take to write a novel from
start to finish, from initialidea through final draft, you'll
(07:08):
never have to worry about whatto work on next.
You can sit down andimmediately start making
progress because you have thatroadmap or that process.
So this is super important, andI think it's something that not
enough writers pay attention to,or they think they are
following a roadmap, sosomething like the hero's
(07:28):
journey or save the cat orwhatever it is, but really all
that is is a way to plot orstructure your story, so it's
not a process that you canfollow to help you write your
book from start to finish.
So just something to keep inmind, and this was something
that really helped Jenny, thewriter I was talking about
earlier.
One of the biggest revelationsfor her was realizing that she
(07:50):
didn't need to spend the timefiguring out how to do
everything from scratch, orspending hours and hours on
Pinterest or the internet orwhatever, piecing together the
process of how to write a novelfrom start to finish.
So, for her, following a provenprocess meant she could focus
on telling her story instead ofconstantly wondering if she was
doing things in the right orderor if she was veering too far
(08:12):
off course.
So, again, this is why I'm afirm believer in having a clear
process or a roadmap.
Yes, every writer's journey isgoing to be unique and
everyone's going to approachthings in their own way, but
that doesn't mean you have tonavigate it by yourself or
reinvent the wheel.
There really is a method to themadness when it comes to
(08:32):
writing a novel, and I thinkit's important to know that just
because you follow a process,that doesn't mean you're going
to stifle your creativity oranything like that.
If you've been listening tothis podcast for a while, you
know that.
I think the opposite is trueHaving a process to follow gives
you that structure that reallyallows your creativity to bloom
(08:53):
and flourish.
So that's the first thing youneed to write your novel in 2025
, or really any year.
You need a process to follow.
The second thing you need towrite your book is the right
mindset, and this is probablythe most overlooked aspect of
writing a novel, but it'sabsolutely crucial, and that's
because your mindset determineswhether you'll push through when
(09:15):
writing gets tough or give upat the first sign of resistance.
It affects whether you'll getstuck in the planning stage or
writing and rewriting thosefirst three chapters over and
over, or whether you're going totrust yourself enough to move
forward even when things arestill unknown.
It also influences how you'llhandle feedback too, how you'll
(09:36):
approach revisions, how you'llapproach getting feedback, and
whether or not you'll actuallytake that book to the finish
line.
Now, the good news here is thatmindset is something you can
actively work on and improve.
I have episodes of this podcastthat will help you make some
pretty key mindset shifts,depending on what mindset
(09:56):
gremlin is plaguing you at themoment.
So a few listener favorites ifyou need some help with mindset
is episode number 88.
That one's called Perfectionismvs Procrastination what's
Really Going On?
Another one that might help youis episode number 123, which is
called how to Overcome the FiveTypes of Imposter Syndrome.
And lastly, if you'restruggling with managing your
(10:17):
time, check out episode number175, called Five Easy Time
Management Strategies to Writeyour Novel in Less Time.
We will link to those threeepisodes in the show notes for
easy access.
Now to bring this mindsetelement to life.
I want to talk about a writer Iworked with whose name is Laura.
So Laura had been dreamingabout writing a fantasy novel
(10:38):
for years and years and she wasa very big reader.
So she would read like 50 to 75books in a year and you know
she instinctually understood theshape of stories because she
was such an avid reader.
She had a really greatimagination.
She had notebooks filled withall these like world building
details and character profilesand things like that, but every
(10:59):
time she sat down to work on hernovel, she would freeze.
And this would happen mostlybecause she was comparing what
she would try to write, or thatlike first draft of an idea, to
her favorite published novelsand she would think, oh my gosh,
I'm so far away from writing abook like that.
Who am I even kidding, tryingto become an author?
(11:19):
Maybe I shouldn't even bother,maybe I should wait a little bit
longer before I try to writethings like that.
If any of that sounds familiar,you are so not alone.
So when I met Laura, she wasreally struggling with this
mindset element.
Like I said, she had greatideas, she had an instinctual
knowledge of what it means towrite a story and how stories
work and things like that.
(11:40):
But she couldn't get past thatinner critic.
We decided to give her innercritic a name and she decided to
call her inner critic theprofessor and she had this whole
vibe for what the professor'spersonality was like.
And it was so interestingbecause once she separated this
inner critic kind of outside ofherself and gave it a name, it
(12:01):
became a lot easier for her tosay you know what Thank you for
your input, professor.
I hear you, but I'm going towrite today anyway.
So it was just this littlemindset shift of, like I said,
separating that inner critic,just getting a little distance
between her and that voice, thatinner critic voice in her head,
that really allowed her tostart making progress.
(12:21):
Now, if you're someone whohasn't dealt with this kind of
mindset, gremlin, that mightsound a little simple like, oh,
all she did was think about thisin a different way.
But that's the power of mindset, right?
Sometimes it's all about justtaking something, flipping it on
its head and you're all of asudden unlocked and able to make
progress.
So let's go back to Laura.
(12:43):
Laura did start writing her book.
She felt nervous about writingstill and she still had moments
of self-doubt, and that innercritic did still exist.
But she stopped letting all ofthat stop her and control how
she showed up to her writingdesk.
So, instead of endlesslygetting stuck at that first
chapter or thinking over thesame world, building details
(13:03):
again and again, she was finallyable to give herself permission
to write something that wasmessy.
And then, six months later,laura finished that draft.
So it was an 83,000 word firstdraft.
It wasn't perfect, Of course.
It wasn't right.
No first draft is ever going tobe perfect, but here's what
Laura told me when she typed theend on that draft.
(13:24):
She said for the first timeever, I feel like a real writer,
not because the draft isperfect I know I still have a
lot of work ahead of me butbecause I finally proved to
myself that I could do it.
I wrote a freaking book andthis is exactly what I want for
you too.
So, regardless of what kind ofmindset, gremlin, you're dealing
with, there's power in activelyworking on it and trying to
(13:47):
just flip that switch or tryingto make it feel less impactful.
I do think it's unrealistic forus to think that our
perfectionism or impostersyndrome or inner critic
whatever it is they're not goingto totally go away, but there
are ways to deal with them andkind of accept them as part of
the process.
Right For me.
I'm a perfectionist, so that'smy little mindset, gremlin that
(14:10):
I have to deal with a lot and ithasn't gone away, but I have
gotten way better at dealingwith it.
So again, whatever your mindset, gremlin, is, there is hope,
and this is the second thingthat it takes to write a novel
in 2025 or again any year.
Really, it takes keeping up onour mindset and addressing some
of those mindset gremlins sothat we can write and finish our
(14:32):
books All right now.
The third thing you need towrite your novel in 2025, or any
year really is craft, and thisis what most writers focus on
exclusively.
So the actual writingtechniques and storytelling
skills needed to write a storythat works.
And while, of course, craft isreally important, it's not
(14:53):
everything If you don't have aprocess to follow to help you
turn your ideas into an actualfull-length story.
It doesn't matter if you knowhow to write technically good
sentences or the most beautifulprose If you don't have the
right mindset to stay in thegame when things get tough.
It doesn't matter if you knowhow to develop your character's
backstory or build a story worldfrom scratch, or if you know
how to develop your character'sbackstory or build a story world
(15:14):
from scratch.
Now, I'm not going to go toodeep into this one, because this
podcast is full of craft tips,but here's what all of this
boils down to.
I see way too many writers focuson just learning the craft of
writing, and what this leads tois perfectionism and, oftentimes
, procrastination.
We know what we need to do intheory, we see examples of
(15:36):
stories that work and then wetry to write our own stories,
only to feel disappointed thatthe stories we write don't live
up to the examples we see or toour expectations, which are
usually pretty high.
I also see too many writersdiscount the importance of
mindset.
And when you're not in theright mindset to write a book
and deal with the ups and downsthat happen to everybody, not
(15:57):
just first-time writers, this iswhat makes us spiral into
self-doubt and have thosefeelings of imposter syndrome
pop up.
And then I also see too manywriters without a process to
follow which leads to overwhelmand trying to do too many things
at once.
So here's the thing All ofthese things, these feelings I
just mentioned self-doubt,overwhelm, perfectionism and
(16:19):
procrastination all of that'swriter's block.
And writer's block has nothingto do with your capabilities or
the quality of your ideas.
Okay, I'm going to say that onemore time because it's very
important.
If you're experiencing writer'sblock, it has nothing to do
with your capabilities or thequality of your ideas.
It all boils down to trying towrite a book with an imbalance
(16:42):
of those three things process,mindset and craft.
You need these three thingsworking together in tandem to be
the kind of writer thatfinishes and publishes their
book, and when these threethings work together, that's
when the magic happens.
But when they're out of balance,that's when writers typically
struggle.
This is why I get a littlefrustrated when I see advice
(17:05):
that's telling aspiring authorsthat you just need to write
every day or you just need tolearn proper story structure.
Yes, those things matter, butthey're not the whole picture.
Writing a novel is a journeythat requires all three of those
elements mindset, process andcraft working together in
harmony.
So for now, before I let you go, I want you to know something
(17:28):
really important If you've beenstruggling to write your novel,
it's not because you're not cutout to be a writer.
It's likely because you've beentrying to build a three-legged
stool with only one or two legs.
And you can't sit on a stoolwith one or two legs right, it's
just not going to work.
So once you have all threeelements mindset, process and
(17:48):
craft working together, you'llbe amazed at what you can
accomplish.
Now, if you want my help writingyour book this year, I want to
let you know that, at the timeof this, recording my Notes to
Novel course is officially openfor enrollment.
Notes to Novel is a liveeight-week group coaching
experience in which I teach youmy proven step-by-step process
(18:10):
for turning your ideas into afinished draft, and you'll get
real-time guidance, feedback andsupport every step of the way.
This is one of the few times ayear when you'll get a lot of
attention and mentorship from meso that you can brainstorm,
outline and write a story you'reproud of.
And you guessed it, in thecourse, there is a big emphasis
on balancing the three things wetalked about today mindset,
(18:32):
process and craft.
If you want to learn more aboutthe Notes to Novel course, go
to savannahgilbocom forwardslash yes, and join us before
enrollment closes on January30th 2025.
If you're listening to thisepisode after enrollment has
closed, get on the waitlist andyou'll be the first to hear
about the next time we opendoors to the live Notes to Novel
experience.
(19:02):
So that's it for today's episode.
As always, thank you so muchfor tuning in and for showing
your support.
If you want to check out any ofthe links I mentioned in this
episode, you can find them inthe show notes listed in the
description of each episodeinside your podcast 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.
Your ratings and reviews tellApple that this is a podcast
(19:24):
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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