July 22, 2025 • 17 mins
All those writing articles you've bookmarked? They might be the exact reason you can't finish your novel. Here's what's really happening—and the simple shift that changes everything.
You know that browser folder labeled "Writing Advice"? The one with 147 articles about plot structure and 83 posts on character development? Yeah, that one. What if I told you it's actually keeping you stuck?
In this episode, I'm exposing the "writing advice trap" that catches even the most dedicated writers. After helping hundreds of writers finish their novels, I've discovered why the most knowledgeable writers often write the least (and what you can do differently starting today).
Tune in to hear me talk about:
- [00:52] Why writers who read the most writing advice often can't finish their novels (the pattern that surprised me)
- [01:53] How to stop rewriting Chapter One forever (and what broke the cycle for a writer stuck for 5 years
- [03:44] Save the Cat vs Hero's Journey vs Story Grid (and why contradictory writing advice is keeping you stuck
- [08:16] The 3 things successful writers do differently to actually finish their first draft
- [12:20] How to choose a writing method and stick with it (plus the one question that changes everything)
The truth? Any complete system works better than ten partial systems. You don't need the "perfect" method. You need to pick one and follow it all the way through.
🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:
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Ready to stop overthinking and start writing? Join my LIVE 3-Day Writer Breakthrough Bootcamp and I'll help you go from stuck and overwhelmed to clear, confident, and ready to write your story. Click here to save your spot for just $27!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Your first draft is supposed to be messy.
It's supposed to have problems.
That's literally what firstdrafts are for.
They're for discovering yourstory and getting all of those
ideas out of your head and ontothe page.
And I promise you that you willlearn more from writing one
terrible scene or one terriblefirst draft than from reading 50
articles about scene structureor how to plot your novel.
(00:20):
To plot your novel.
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, we'retalking about why writing advice
might be keeping you stuck andwhat to do instead.
And to paint a picture of whatthis looks like, I want you to
think about that browserbookmark folder that you've
(01:04):
labeled writing advice, the onethat has 147 articles about plot
structure, 83 posts oncharacter development, and that
YouTube playlist titled how towrite a novel that you started
three months ago but neverfinished.
Yeah, that one.
Now, if you don't relate tohaving a browser bookmark folder
full of writing advice, swap ina notebook or a bookshelf
(01:24):
filled with craft books,whatever that looks like, no
matter how it manifests for you,the thing I want you to know is
that all of that writing adviceyou're collecting, it might be
the exact reason you haven'tfinished your draft, and I know
that sounds backwards.
After all, you're beingresponsible, right.
You're learning the craft,you're preparing, you're making
sure you know what you're doingbefore you dive in.
(01:44):
But here's the thing I'venoticed after working with
hundreds of aspiring authors thewriters who consume the most
advice often write the least.
Let me share a story that mightsound familiar.
One of my students spent fiveyears yes, five years writing
and rewriting the first fewchapters of her novel.
She'd read an article aboutopening hooks and then go back
(02:06):
to revise it.
She'd discover a new plottingmethod and then she would start
over.
She'd listen to a podcast aboutcharacter voice and think, oh
my gosh, I've been doing it allwrong and you guessed it.
She'd start over and eventuallyshe scrapped the whole thing.
Sound familiar?
If you can relate to this, Iwant you to know that you're so
not alone.
Here's what's really happeningwhen you're stuck in this
research or informationgathering mode, what's really
(02:29):
happening is that you're notactually learning to write,
you're learning to avoid writing, and that's because every new
piece of advice becomes anotherreason to doubt what you've
already written.
Every expert's quote-unquotemust-haves become another
standard that you're failing tomeet.
Experts quote-unquotemust-haves become another
standard that you're failing tomeet.
Every contradictory opinionbecomes another excuse to stop
and reconsider everything you'vealready done.
(02:50):
And I get it, I really do.
You've heard me say before thatI am a recovering perfectionist
.
I love to learn, I love tocollect information.
But when you're just startingout or when you've been stuck
writing your novel for a while,it can often feel safer to keep
learning than to risk doing itwrong.
And that's because your innercritic will whisper things to
you like you need to know morebefore you start, or real
(03:12):
writers understand all thisstuff already.
Or if you just find the rightmethod, then maybe writing your
first draft will be easy, ormaybe, worst of all, you're just
not ready yet.
But here's the truth bomb thatyou need to hear.
You are never going to feelready enough and I'm going to
say that one more time becauseit's so important you are never
(03:32):
going to feel ready enough towrite a novel.
I've worked with hundreds ofwriters and not one of them has
felt ready enough beforestarting, but the ones that go
on to finish their books, theystart anyway, okay.
So think about it like this fora second when you're trying to
write your novel, you're alreadyjuggling like 47 different
elements right, plot, characterdevelopment, dialogue, pacing,
world building, theme, voice,scene structure and
(03:55):
approximately 39 other things.
Now add to the fact that everyexpert out there has their own
terminology, their own quoteunquote foolproof method and
their own strong opinions aboutthe quote-unquote right way to
do things, and it starts tobecome a lot right.
The save the cat method saysthat your inciting incident
should happen at the 10% mark,but the hero's journey calls it
the call to adventure andsuggests that it happens around
(04:17):
12 to 15%, depending on whereyou look.
The three-act structure mighthave it at the end of act one,
and then you might find yourselfover on Storygrid's website
that has totally differentterminology altogether.
And it's not just aboutstructure right.
One expert might swear by adetailed 40-page outline that
maps out every single scene.
Another insists that outlineskill creativity and that you
(04:37):
should just go ahead and pantsthe whole thing.
Some say that you must knowyour ending before you even
start writing, and others saydiscovering the ending is half
the fun.
And we could still go on and on.
So it's no wonder you'refeeling stuck or overwhelmed or
worried about getting right.
In one of my group coachingcalls earlier this week, one of
my students described itperfectly.
She was talking about how she'dconsumed almost every writing
(05:00):
podcast and, yes, even this onethat you're listening to.
She'd bought multiple coursesand knew more about the craft of
writing a novel than manypublished authors seem to.
But despite having all of thatknowledge stored in her notebook
, her web browser, her brain,whatever she still couldn't
finish a first draft.
And that's because too muchinformation creates way too many
(05:21):
choices for you, and too manychoices creates this kind of
paralysis or freezing and notbeing able to move forward.
So instead of asking what elsedo I need to learn, I'd rather
you ask something like whatwould happen if I only followed
one approach all the way throughto the end of my draft.
So we're not looking for theperfect approach.
We're not looking for acombination of 17 different
(05:43):
methods, just one completesystem from start to finish.
Now, like I said, I know a lotof writers who experience this
kind of overwhelm from all ofthe craft advice out there, and
when some of my students madethis shift from thinking let me
try to couple all these methodstogether to I'm going to follow
one process from start to finish.
Here's what happened.
Jenny went from 12 years offalse starts to completing her
(06:06):
first draft in six months.
Despite being a busy mom with afull-time job and elderly
parents to care for, Lindsayspent six months trying to draft
on her own and only managed towrite 25,000 words.
And then she committed to oneclear process from start to
finish, and she wrote 100,000words in the next six months.
Another writer went from fiveyears of writing and rewriting
(06:28):
the same chapters to actuallyfinishing a complete manuscript.
And yes, these are people justlike you who finally stopped
collecting advice and startedfollowing one proven process
from start to finish.
Now here's something that mostwriting gurus won't tell you or
don't talk about for some reasonAny complete system that you
follow from start to finish isgoing to work better than 10
(06:49):
partial systems all hobbledtogether.
And that's because, despite allof the different terminology
out there and all the differenttimelines, most credible writing
methods are trying to get youto the same place.
They all want you to createcompelling characters that
readers care about, they allwant you to build a plot that
keeps pages turning, they allwant you to develop meaningful
conflict and stakes, and theyall want you to deliver a
(07:11):
satisfying ending.
Now, each method is going to goabout this in a different way.
Right, the save the cat methodhas 15 story beats.
The hero's journey has stages,there's the three-act structure.
All of these are just differentmaps to the same ending
destination.
It's kind of like having fivedifferent GPS apps all giving
you directions to the samerestaurant.
The streets they suggest you godown might be a little
(07:33):
different, the estimated arrivaltime might vary by a few
minutes, right, but they're allgoing to get you there, and so
the problem only comes when youtry to follow all five different
GPS directions at once, right?
That's when you can findyourself driving in circles.
Another way to think about itis it's kind of like trying to
bake a cake by following fivedifferent recipes at once.
So maybe you take the flouramount from recipe A, the baking
(07:56):
time from recipe B, the mixingmethod from recipe C, and so on
and so on, and you end up with amess that may or may not
resemble a cake at all, but ifyou pick one recipe to follow
all the way through, then you'reprobably going to end up with a
pretty decent cake.
Might not be perfect on thefirst try, but it'll definitely
be a cake, and the same is truefor your novel.
So, after helping hundreds ofwriters move from stuck to
(08:19):
finished, here's what I know forsure.
The writers who finish theirnovels do three things
differently.
Number one they stop preparingand they start practicing.
And here's the connection thatmost writers miss.
You can't learn to write byreading about writing, any more
than you can swim by watchingOlympic footage.
One of my students, sylvia, hadbeen consuming writing advice
(08:39):
for years, even rereading thesame content multiple times, and
despite working on what was herthird novel, she found herself
really struggling with low dailyword counts and feeling
defeated.
Her breakthrough came when sheremembered that her job was to
discover her story on the firstdraft and not write a polished
and perfect first draft.
And there's this trap that a lotof us fall into.
(09:00):
Right, preparing to write canfeel really productive.
You're taking notes, you'rewriting down ideas, maybe you're
even organizing all the 15beats of the save the cat method
in Scrivener or whatever kindof software you use.
But that's still just preparingto write right, Practicing or
actually putting words on thepage, even if they're messy
words.
That's where the real learninghappens.
(09:21):
You're putting what you'velearned into practice and that's
what's creating those neuralpathways that help something
really cement itself in yourbrain.
So just to remind you, yourfirst draft is supposed to be
messy, it's supposed to haveproblems.
That's literally what firstdrafts are for.
They're for discovering yourstory and getting all of those
ideas out of your head and ontothe page.
And I promise you that you willlearn more from writing one
(09:44):
terrible scene or one terriblefirst draft than from reading 50
articles about scene structureor how to plot your novel.
All right.
So that's number one, the firstthing that writers who finish
their novels do differently.
They stop preparing to writeand they start actually putting
what they've been learning intopractice.
The second thing they do isthey choose one path and they
stick with it.
(10:05):
So again, imagine you'redriving from New York to Los
Angeles.
You could spend monthsresearching every possible route
, comparing highways, readingreviews of rest stops and
debating the merits of thenorthern versus the southern
path or whatever right.
Or you could just pick a majorhighway and start driving.
Will it be the absolute mostefficient route?
(10:25):
Maybe, maybe not, but you willactually get to LA while the
person still researching routesis sitting in their driveway in
New York.
And so to clear up a commonmisconception or fear around
choosing one path and stickingwith it choosing one path
doesn't mean you're married toit forever.
It just means you're committingto following it all the way
through, to the end of yourfirst draft.
So you're giving yourselfpermission to stop shopping for
(10:47):
methods and to actually startwriting your book.
One of my Notes to Novelstudents she wrote 114,000 words
in just 88 days, and she didn'thave any kind of secret
superpower Although if she'slistening, I know she's probably
thinking I sure wish I didright.
All she did was pick oneapproach and she followed it all
the way to the end, withoutlooking back, without second
guessing and without checking tosee if another method might be
(11:10):
better.
All right, so that's the secondthing that writers who actually
finish their novels dodifferently they choose one path
and they stick with it till theend.
The third thing is that theymeasure progress, not perfection
, and here's the biggest mindsetshift.
You probably need to makeWriters who finish their books
care more about forward momentumthan they do about polished
prose, at least in the beginningstages, on their first, second,
(11:34):
maybe even third draft.
So instead of asking, is thischapter good enough, they ask
questions like did I move mystory forward today?
Did I make progress?
Instead of thinking I need tofix this scene before I continue
, they think things like I'lljust make a note of what I want
to change and keep going.
It's all about making progress.
So they understand that youcan't edit a blank page, but you
(11:55):
can absolutely edit a messy one, right?
They know that perfectionism issomething you work toward in
revision, not something youachieve in a first draft.
They measure success by pageswritten, not by pages perfected,
and paradoxically, this leadsto better writing, because they
actually finish drafts that canthen be polished into something
wonderful, all right.
So that is number three, thethird thing that writers who
(12:17):
finish their novels dodifferently than the ones who
don't.
Now I know you might be thinkingokay, savannah, this all makes
sense, but which process shouldI follow?
How do I know I'm picking theright one?
Well, here's the thing.
You're doing it again, right?
You're looking for the perfectanswer instead of just picking
one and taking action.
So I want to make this supersimple for you Pick the one
(12:38):
teacher or the one method thatresonates with you the most and
commit to following theircomplete system for your entire
first draft.
That's it no mixing andmatching, no second guessing, no
shopping for additionalopinions.
Just pick one approach andfollow it all the way through to
the end of your first draft.
All right, now let's getspecific about what sticking to
one method actually means.
(12:59):
Let's say you're following somekind of structured approach,
like, let's say that you lovethis podcast and that you're
going to put every episode youhear into practice.
Let's say, that's been goingreally well for you, and then
you come across a blog post thatclaims every scene needs seven
specific elements.
But the method that you'refollowing and what I teach on my
podcast says there are fiveelements, right?
(13:20):
So instead of panicking thatyou're missing these two crucial
elements, you'll need to justrecognize that different
teachers simply break down thesame concepts differently.
So in this scenario, you wouldstick with the five element
approach that you're alreadyusing and just keep going
forward.
Another example is maybe you'rehalfway through your outline
when you discover another craftbook that really talks about the
(13:41):
glory of pantsing and howeverybody should be pantsing, or
writing without an outline.
Instead of walking away fromyour outline to try this better
method, you can file that littlenugget of information away as
something to potentially explorewith your next book.
Now, this is assuming that theoutlining you're doing is
actually working for you andmoving you forward.
Right, it may still be hard attimes, but the point is, if it's
(14:03):
working for you, you don't needto mess with it.
You can file something away asa strategy, a technique,
whatever to try with your nextbook.
And then when your inner criticpops up and they say something
like well, what if anothermethod would help me write
faster, better or easier, justthink to yourself all right,
maybe that's true, but I'm goingto find out what this method
can do for me first.
(14:24):
So it's not about blindlyfollowing rules.
It's about giving yourself andyour writing the gift of focus,
and I think that's a reallyimportant mindset shift.
So I'm going to say it one moretime Sticking to one method is
not about blindly followingrules.
It's about giving yourself andyour writing the gift of focus.
So right now you have twooptions.
Number one you can keepcollecting advice, keep reading
(14:46):
articles, keep watching videos,keep telling yourself you'll
start when you know more, keepwriting chapter one for another
five years.
Or option number two you canchoose one complete system,
method whatever, and follow itall the way to the end of your
draft.
And I know which one I wouldchoose.
I know which one I wouldrecommend to you.
And, hint, it's the one thatactually results in a finished
(15:07):
novel.
All right, so I hope you foundthis episode helpful today.
If you are ready to trade your147 bookmarked articles or your
notebooks full of writing advicefor one proven process that
will take you from chapter oneto the end of your draft, then I
am here to help you.
My Notes to Novel course isopening for enrollment very soon
and this is my proven,step-by-step process that will
(15:29):
help you take your ideas andturn them into a finished draft.
We just opened up the waitlistand if you want to be first in
line when doors open, go tosavannahgilbocom forward slash
waitlist.
Put your name on the waitlistnow.
So one more time.
That's savannagilbocom forwardslash waitlist to put your name
on the notes to novel waitlistand be the first to know when
doors open.
(15:50):
All right, so that's it for thisepisode of the Fiction Writing
Made Easy podcast.
Head over to savannagilbocomforward slash podcast for the
complete show notes, includingthe resources I mentioned today,
as well as bonus materials tohelp you implement what you've
learned.
And if you're ready to get morepersonalized guidance for your
specific writing stage whetheryou're just starting out, stuck
(16:11):
somewhere in the middle of adraft, drowning in revisions, or
getting ready to publish, takemy free 30-second quiz at
savannahgilbocom forward slashquiz.
You'll get a customized podcastplaylist that'll meet you right
where you're at and help youget to your next big milestone.
Last but not least, make sureto follow this podcast in your
podcast player of choice,because I'll be back next week
(16:31):
with another episode full ofactionable tips, tools and
strategies to help you become abetter writer.
Until then, happy writing.
Your first draft is supposed to be messy.
It's supposed to have problems.
That's literally what firstdrafts are for.
They're for discovering yourstory and getting all of those
ideas out of your head and ontothe page.
And I promise you that you willlearn more from writing one
terrible scene or one terriblefirst draft than from reading 50
articles about scene structureor how to plot your novel.
(00:20):
To plot your novel.
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, we'retalking about why writing advice
might be keeping you stuck andwhat to do instead.
And to paint a picture of whatthis looks like, I want you to
think about that browserbookmark folder that you've
(01:04):
labeled writing advice, the onethat has 147 articles about plot
structure, 83 posts oncharacter development, and that
YouTube playlist titled how towrite a novel that you started
three months ago but neverfinished.
Yeah, that one.
Now, if you don't relate tohaving a browser bookmark folder
full of writing advice, swap ina notebook or a bookshelf
(01:24):
filled with craft books,whatever that looks like, no
matter how it manifests for you,the thing I want you to know is
that all of that writing adviceyou're collecting, it might be
the exact reason you haven'tfinished your draft, and I know
that sounds backwards.
After all, you're beingresponsible, right.
You're learning the craft,you're preparing, you're making
sure you know what you're doingbefore you dive in.
(01:44):
But here's the thing I'venoticed after working with
hundreds of aspiring authors thewriters who consume the most
advice often write the least.
Let me share a story that mightsound familiar.
One of my students spent fiveyears yes, five years writing
and rewriting the first fewchapters of her novel.
She'd read an article aboutopening hooks and then go back
(02:06):
to revise it.
She'd discover a new plottingmethod and then she would start
over.
She'd listen to a podcast aboutcharacter voice and think, oh
my gosh, I've been doing it allwrong and you guessed it.
She'd start over and eventuallyshe scrapped the whole thing.
Sound familiar?
If you can relate to this, Iwant you to know that you're so
not alone.
Here's what's really happeningwhen you're stuck in this
research or informationgathering mode, what's really
(02:29):
happening is that you're notactually learning to write,
you're learning to avoid writing, and that's because every new
piece of advice becomes anotherreason to doubt what you've
already written.
Every expert's quote-unquotemust-haves become another
standard that you're failing tomeet.
Experts quote-unquotemust-haves become another
standard that you're failing tomeet.
Every contradictory opinionbecomes another excuse to stop
and reconsider everything you'vealready done.
(02:50):
And I get it, I really do.
You've heard me say before thatI am a recovering perfectionist
.
I love to learn, I love tocollect information.
But when you're just startingout or when you've been stuck
writing your novel for a while,it can often feel safer to keep
learning than to risk doing itwrong.
And that's because your innercritic will whisper things to
you like you need to know morebefore you start, or real
(03:12):
writers understand all thisstuff already.
Or if you just find the rightmethod, then maybe writing your
first draft will be easy, ormaybe, worst of all, you're just
not ready yet.
But here's the truth bomb thatyou need to hear.
You are never going to feelready enough and I'm going to
say that one more time becauseit's so important you are never
(03:32):
going to feel ready enough towrite a novel.
I've worked with hundreds ofwriters and not one of them has
felt ready enough beforestarting, but the ones that go
on to finish their books, theystart anyway, okay.
So think about it like this fora second when you're trying to
write your novel, you're alreadyjuggling like 47 different
elements right, plot, characterdevelopment, dialogue, pacing,
world building, theme, voice,scene structure and
(03:55):
approximately 39 other things.
Now add to the fact that everyexpert out there has their own
terminology, their own quoteunquote foolproof method and
their own strong opinions aboutthe quote-unquote right way to
do things, and it starts tobecome a lot right.
The save the cat method saysthat your inciting incident
should happen at the 10% mark,but the hero's journey calls it
the call to adventure andsuggests that it happens around
(04:17):
12 to 15%, depending on whereyou look.
The three-act structure mighthave it at the end of act one,
and then you might find yourselfover on Storygrid's website
that has totally differentterminology altogether.
And it's not just aboutstructure right.
One expert might swear by adetailed 40-page outline that
maps out every single scene.
Another insists that outlineskill creativity and that you
(04:37):
should just go ahead and pantsthe whole thing.
Some say that you must knowyour ending before you even
start writing, and others saydiscovering the ending is half
the fun.
And we could still go on and on.
So it's no wonder you'refeeling stuck or overwhelmed or
worried about getting right.
In one of my group coachingcalls earlier this week, one of
my students described itperfectly.
She was talking about how she'dconsumed almost every writing
(05:00):
podcast and, yes, even this onethat you're listening to.
She'd bought multiple coursesand knew more about the craft of
writing a novel than manypublished authors seem to.
But despite having all of thatknowledge stored in her notebook
, her web browser, her brain,whatever she still couldn't
finish a first draft.
And that's because too muchinformation creates way too many
(05:21):
choices for you, and too manychoices creates this kind of
paralysis or freezing and notbeing able to move forward.
So instead of asking what elsedo I need to learn, I'd rather
you ask something like whatwould happen if I only followed
one approach all the way throughto the end of my draft.
So we're not looking for theperfect approach.
We're not looking for acombination of 17 different
(05:43):
methods, just one completesystem from start to finish.
Now, like I said, I know a lotof writers who experience this
kind of overwhelm from all ofthe craft advice out there, and
when some of my students madethis shift from thinking let me
try to couple all these methodstogether to I'm going to follow
one process from start to finish.
Here's what happened.
Jenny went from 12 years offalse starts to completing her
(06:06):
first draft in six months.
Despite being a busy mom with afull-time job and elderly
parents to care for, Lindsayspent six months trying to draft
on her own and only managed towrite 25,000 words.
And then she committed to oneclear process from start to
finish, and she wrote 100,000words in the next six months.
Another writer went from fiveyears of writing and rewriting
(06:28):
the same chapters to actuallyfinishing a complete manuscript.
And yes, these are people justlike you who finally stopped
collecting advice and startedfollowing one proven process
from start to finish.
Now here's something that mostwriting gurus won't tell you or
don't talk about for some reasonAny complete system that you
follow from start to finish isgoing to work better than 10
(06:49):
partial systems all hobbledtogether.
And that's because, despite allof the different terminology
out there and all the differenttimelines, most credible writing
methods are trying to get youto the same place.
They all want you to createcompelling characters that
readers care about, they allwant you to build a plot that
keeps pages turning, they allwant you to develop meaningful
conflict and stakes, and theyall want you to deliver a
(07:11):
satisfying ending.
Now, each method is going to goabout this in a different way.
Right, the save the cat methodhas 15 story beats.
The hero's journey has stages,there's the three-act structure.
All of these are just differentmaps to the same ending
destination.
It's kind of like having fivedifferent GPS apps all giving
you directions to the samerestaurant.
The streets they suggest you godown might be a little
(07:33):
different, the estimated arrivaltime might vary by a few
minutes, right, but they're allgoing to get you there, and so
the problem only comes when youtry to follow all five different
GPS directions at once, right?
That's when you can findyourself driving in circles.
Another way to think about itis it's kind of like trying to
bake a cake by following fivedifferent recipes at once.
So maybe you take the flouramount from recipe A, the baking
(07:56):
time from recipe B, the mixingmethod from recipe C, and so on
and so on, and you end up with amess that may or may not
resemble a cake at all, but ifyou pick one recipe to follow
all the way through, then you'reprobably going to end up with a
pretty decent cake.
Might not be perfect on thefirst try, but it'll definitely
be a cake, and the same is truefor your novel.
So, after helping hundreds ofwriters move from stuck to
(08:19):
finished, here's what I know forsure.
The writers who finish theirnovels do three things
differently.
Number one they stop preparingand they start practicing.
And here's the connection thatmost writers miss.
You can't learn to write byreading about writing, any more
than you can swim by watchingOlympic footage.
One of my students, sylvia, hadbeen consuming writing advice
(08:39):
for years, even rereading thesame content multiple times, and
despite working on what was herthird novel, she found herself
really struggling with low dailyword counts and feeling
defeated.
Her breakthrough came when sheremembered that her job was to
discover her story on the firstdraft and not write a polished
and perfect first draft.
And there's this trap that a lotof us fall into.
(09:00):
Right, preparing to write canfeel really productive.
You're taking notes, you'rewriting down ideas, maybe you're
even organizing all the 15beats of the save the cat method
in Scrivener or whatever kindof software you use.
But that's still just preparingto write right, Practicing or
actually putting words on thepage, even if they're messy
words.
That's where the real learninghappens.
(09:21):
You're putting what you'velearned into practice and that's
what's creating those neuralpathways that help something
really cement itself in yourbrain.
So just to remind you, yourfirst draft is supposed to be
messy, it's supposed to haveproblems.
That's literally what firstdrafts are for.
They're for discovering yourstory and getting all of those
ideas out of your head and ontothe page.
And I promise you that you willlearn more from writing one
(09:44):
terrible scene or one terriblefirst draft than from reading 50
articles about scene structureor how to plot your novel.
All right.
So that's number one, the firstthing that writers who finish
their novels do differently.
They stop preparing to writeand they start actually putting
what they've been learning intopractice.
The second thing they do isthey choose one path and they
stick with it.
(10:05):
So again, imagine you'redriving from New York to Los
Angeles.
You could spend monthsresearching every possible route
, comparing highways, readingreviews of rest stops and
debating the merits of thenorthern versus the southern
path or whatever right.
Or you could just pick a majorhighway and start driving.
Will it be the absolute mostefficient route?
(10:25):
Maybe, maybe not, but you willactually get to LA while the
person still researching routesis sitting in their driveway in
New York.
And so to clear up a commonmisconception or fear around
choosing one path and stickingwith it choosing one path
doesn't mean you're married toit forever.
It just means you're committingto following it all the way
through, to the end of yourfirst draft.
So you're giving yourselfpermission to stop shopping for
(10:47):
methods and to actually startwriting your book.
One of my Notes to Novelstudents she wrote 114,000 words
in just 88 days, and she didn'thave any kind of secret
superpower Although if she'slistening, I know she's probably
thinking I sure wish I didright.
All she did was pick oneapproach and she followed it all
the way to the end, withoutlooking back, without second
guessing and without checking tosee if another method might be
(11:10):
better.
All right, so that's the secondthing that writers who actually
finish their novels dodifferently they choose one path
and they stick with it till theend.
The third thing is that theymeasure progress, not perfection
, and here's the biggest mindsetshift.
You probably need to makeWriters who finish their books
care more about forward momentumthan they do about polished
prose, at least in the beginningstages, on their first, second,
(11:34):
maybe even third draft.
So instead of asking, is thischapter good enough, they ask
questions like did I move mystory forward today?
Did I make progress?
Instead of thinking I need tofix this scene before I continue
, they think things like I'lljust make a note of what I want
to change and keep going.
It's all about making progress.
So they understand that youcan't edit a blank page, but you
(11:55):
can absolutely edit a messy one, right?
They know that perfectionism issomething you work toward in
revision, not something youachieve in a first draft.
They measure success by pageswritten, not by pages perfected,
and paradoxically, this leadsto better writing, because they
actually finish drafts that canthen be polished into something
wonderful, all right.
So that is number three, thethird thing that writers who
(12:17):
finish their novels dodifferently than the ones who
don't.
Now I know you might be thinkingokay, savannah, this all makes
sense, but which process shouldI follow?
How do I know I'm picking theright one?
Well, here's the thing.
You're doing it again, right?
You're looking for the perfectanswer instead of just picking
one and taking action.
So I want to make this supersimple for you Pick the one
(12:38):
teacher or the one method thatresonates with you the most and
commit to following theircomplete system for your entire
first draft.
That's it no mixing andmatching, no second guessing, no
shopping for additionalopinions.
Just pick one approach andfollow it all the way through to
the end of your first draft.
All right, now let's getspecific about what sticking to
one method actually means.
(12:59):
Let's say you're following somekind of structured approach,
like, let's say that you lovethis podcast and that you're
going to put every episode youhear into practice.
Let's say, that's been goingreally well for you, and then
you come across a blog post thatclaims every scene needs seven
specific elements.
But the method that you'refollowing and what I teach on my
podcast says there are fiveelements, right?
(13:20):
So instead of panicking thatyou're missing these two crucial
elements, you'll need to justrecognize that different
teachers simply break down thesame concepts differently.
So in this scenario, you wouldstick with the five element
approach that you're alreadyusing and just keep going
forward.
Another example is maybe you'rehalfway through your outline
when you discover another craftbook that really talks about the
(13:41):
glory of pantsing and howeverybody should be pantsing, or
writing without an outline.
Instead of walking away fromyour outline to try this better
method, you can file that littlenugget of information away as
something to potentially explorewith your next book.
Now, this is assuming that theoutlining you're doing is
actually working for you andmoving you forward.
Right, it may still be hard attimes, but the point is, if it's
(14:03):
working for you, you don't needto mess with it.
You can file something away asa strategy, a technique,
whatever to try with your nextbook.
And then when your inner criticpops up and they say something
like well, what if anothermethod would help me write
faster, better or easier, justthink to yourself all right,
maybe that's true, but I'm goingto find out what this method
can do for me first.
(14:24):
So it's not about blindlyfollowing rules.
It's about giving yourself andyour writing the gift of focus,
and I think that's a reallyimportant mindset shift.
So I'm going to say it one moretime Sticking to one method is
not about blindly followingrules.
It's about giving yourself andyour writing the gift of focus.
So right now you have twooptions.
Number one you can keepcollecting advice, keep reading
(14:46):
articles, keep watching videos,keep telling yourself you'll
start when you know more, keepwriting chapter one for another
five years.
Or option number two you canchoose one complete system,
method whatever, and follow itall the way to the end of your
draft.
And I know which one I wouldchoose.
I know which one I wouldrecommend to you.
And, hint, it's the one thatactually results in a finished
(15:07):
novel.
All right, so I hope you foundthis episode helpful today.
If you are ready to trade your147 bookmarked articles or your
notebooks full of writing advicefor one proven process that
will take you from chapter oneto the end of your draft, then I
am here to help you.
My Notes to Novel course isopening for enrollment very soon
and this is my proven,step-by-step process that will
(15:29):
help you take your ideas andturn them into a finished draft.
We just opened up the waitlistand if you want to be first in
line when doors open, go tosavannahgilbocom forward slash
waitlist.
Put your name on the waitlistnow.
So one more time.
That's savannagilbocom forwardslash waitlist to put your name
on the notes to novel waitlistand be the first to know when
doors open.
(15:50):
All right, so that's it for thisepisode of the Fiction Writing
Made Easy podcast.
Head over to savannagilbocomforward slash podcast for the
complete show notes, includingthe resources I mentioned today,
as well as bonus materials tohelp you implement what you've
learned.
And if you're ready to get morepersonalized guidance for your
specific writing stage whetheryou're just starting out, stuck
(16:11):
somewhere in the middle of adraft, drowning in revisions, or
getting ready to publish, takemy free 30-second quiz at
savannahgilbocom forward slashquiz.
You'll get a customized podcastplaylist that'll meet you right
where you're at and help youget to your next big milestone.
Last but not least, make sureto follow this podcast in your
podcast player of choice,because I'll be back next week
(16:31):
with another episode full ofactionable tips, tools and
strategies to help you become abetter writer.
Until then, happy writing.
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