December 9, 2025 • 15 mins
Discover why “I’m not ready yet” is a fear-driven mindset and learn how to take small, confident steps that move your novel forward.
So many writers get trapped in the feeling that they need more time, more research, or more clarity before they can truly start their first draft. And on the surface, that sounds reasonable. But most of the time, “I’m not ready yet” is a sign that you're scared to make the wrong choice, afraid to write something imperfect, or petrified you won't live up to your idea.
In today’s episode, I want to help you understand what's really underneath the “I’m not ready” feeling, how to recognize when planning has quietly turned into procrastination, and how small, low-pressure experiments can help you build momentum right now. My goal is to help you shift out of waiting mode and into action so your story can finally start taking shape.
This is what I talk about:
[02:30] The hidden fear driving “I'm not ready yet” and why it shows up for even the most motivated writers.
[03:15] How research becomes a safety blanket, and the mindset shift that moves you from learner to creator.
[04:45] The real reason clarity doesn’t arrive before you start writing and how drafting gives you the answers you’re looking for.
[07:45] Simple “safe to fail” experiments that lower the stakes and help you build confidence on the page
[09:35] How to tell whether you actually need more foundation work or you're using prep to avoid making decisions.
You don't need to feel ready to start writing your novel. You just need permission to begin, and that confidence can come from you today. Tune in and take the very first step toward finishing your first draft.
🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:
- Get on the Notes to Novel waitlist!
- Take The Author Success Blueprint Quiz
- 5 Writing Roadblocks Keeping You Stuck & How to Break Through
⭐ Follow & Review
If you loved this episode, please take a moment to follow the show and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your review will help other writers find this podcast and get the insights they need to finish their books. Thanks for tuning in to The Fiction Writing Made Easy Podcast! See you next week!
👉 Looking for a transcript? If you’re listening on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, scroll down below the episode player until you see the transcript.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (02:03):
When you make this mindset shift, then everything
really does change.
You stop waiting for confidenceto arrive and you start building
that confidence through action.
You stop accumulatinginformation and start
accumulating pages.
And you finally experience whatit feels like to make real,
tangible progress on the storythat you've been carrying around
in your head.
(02:25):
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 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
(02:47):
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 something I hear
from aspiring writers all thetime.
And that is, I'm just not readyto write my novel yet.
Maybe you've said these wordsyourself, maybe you're feeling
this way right now, like youjust need to do a little more
(03:07):
research, a little moreplanning, or get a little more
clarity before you can actuallysit down to start writing your
novel.
And look, I get it, starting anovel can genuinely feel scary.
But something I've learned afteryears of coaching writers is
that fear isn't the problem.
Fear is a very normal part ofthe process.
But when that fear that you feelconvinces you that you're not
(03:30):
ready to write a novel, and thenyou don't write that novel
that's been on your heart foryears and years, then that's a
problem.
And when writers say thatthey're not ready or not ready
yet, this is usually just fearin disguise.
And if you don't learn torecognize that fear for what it
is, then you're going to staystuck in that preparation phase
(03:50):
forever.
So in this episode, I'm going tohelp you figure out whether
you're genuinely not ready, likelet's say you're missing
foundational pieces of yourstory, or whether you're hiding
from the blank page.
I'm going to share the mindsetshift that finally got two of my
students unstuck after a decadeof false starts, and I'll give
you some low-stakes experimentsyou can try this week to start
(04:12):
building momentum.
So this episode is for you ifyou have a story idea that
you've been carrying aroundforever, but every time you sit
down to write, you freeze.
It's for you if you've beenpreparing to write your novel
but haven't actually madeprogress on the manuscript
itself, or if you're just tiredof waiting to feel ready and
want permission to begin.
So let's dive right into theepisode.
(04:34):
Alright, let me start off bypainting a picture that might
feel uncomfortably familiar.
You've got this brilliant storyidea, you can see certain scenes
so clearly in your mind, yourmain character feels almost
real, you love the setting thatyour story takes place in, but
when you sit down to actuallywrite your book, you freeze.
Suddenly you're overwhelmed byeverything you don't know yet.
(04:55):
How does magic work in yourfantasy world?
What's the perfect opening line?
Should you write in first personor third, or mix it up and
combine both?
What if your plot has holes orthings that you haven't thought
about yet that are going tobreak down midway through your
draft?
What if your dialogue soundswooden and what if, what if,
what if, right?
And then you do what feelsresponsible.
(05:16):
So you research, you readanother craft book, you take
another online workshop, and thewhole time you tell yourself
that you're preparing to writeyour novel.
But here's the uncomfortabletruth that you might need to
hear, and that is that you mightnot really be preparing to
write.
Instead, you might be hidingfrom your novel, hoping that
someday it will feel easier orthat you'll feel more ready.
(05:37):
One of my notes to novelstudents, Christina, described
this perfectly.
She said she'd been preparing towrite her story for years and
years.
She knew what she wanted towrite, but she didn't know where
to start.
And because of that, theresearch felt endless, yet
really safe at the same time.
Because as long as she wasresearching, she didn't have to
face that blank page.
Does that sound familiar?
(05:58):
If so, I want you to know thisis super normal.
Research feels productivebecause it feeds this illusion
that there is a quote unquoteright way to write your novel,
and that if you just learnenough, you're going to unlock
the secret code that makeswriting easy.
But here's what actuallyhappens.
Every new piece of advice youcome across creates another
(06:18):
standard that you feel you needto meet.
And contradictory informationleaves you more confused than
when you started.
And because of all of that, thatgap between what you know and
what you've written keepsgrowing.
Again, I see this patternconstantly.
I meet writers all the time whocan quote every writing guru but
haven't written past chapterthree.
I've met a ton of writers whoknow the hero's journey
(06:40):
backwards and forwards, butcan't tell you what happens in
act two of their story.
It's more like they tell youwhat they know should happen,
but they don't actually know howit happens in their own novel.
So, yes, you could read everywriting book ever published and
still not feel ready to writeyour novel.
And that's because readinessisn't about having knowledge or
feeling ready someday.
(07:01):
Instead, it's about takingaction despite not having
everything figured out.
And it's about having courage.
Now, when I say readiness ismore about having courage,
courage doesn't mean feelingconfident.
It means giving yourselfpermission to start before you
feel ready.
So it means taking messy actionwhen you're unsure of things,
(07:22):
and it means feeling that fearof not being ready and doing it
anyway.
So I want you to stop thinkingof yourself as a researcher who
needs to learn more and startthinking of yourself as a
creator who needs to create.
Because that is what we wantanyway, right?
We want to create stories, wewant to finish our books and
share them with the world.
And just to paint you a pictureof what I mean by this,
(07:45):
researchers wait for permissionwhile creators give themselves
permission.
Researchers seek the rightanswers while creators
experiment until they find whatworks.
Researchers accumulateinformation and creators
accumulate pages.
And lastly, researchers prepareendlessly, but creators start
imperfectly.
(08:05):
Alright, so again, this isn'tabout arrogance or pretending
you know everything.
It's about recognizing afundamental truth.
You can only learn to write bywriting, not by just reading
about writing.
Think of it this way (08:17):
you can't steer a parked car, right?
You need to be moving before youcan course correct, and the same
applies to your novel.
You need to be writing beforeyou can see what your story
truly wants to be.
Now, Jenny, one of my notes tonovel students, she spent over a
decade in researcher mode.
She was constantly starting overbecause she felt like she needed
(08:37):
to know more before she couldmove forward.
But when she finally shiftedinto creator mode instead of
researcher mode and gave herselfpermission to write a messy
draft without having all theanswers, she completed her first
draft in six months.
And again, the difference wasn'tthat Jenny had more knowledge or
anything like that.
It was just that she gaveherself permission to do it
(08:58):
scared and do it messy.
And she told me later that thebiggest change she felt wasn't
to do with the fact that she hada finished manuscript.
It was actually in how she sawherself.
So she finally felt like a realwriter, and that wasn't because
she'd learned some secret towriting a book, but it was
because she'd proven to herselfthat she could do the things
she'd been afraid to try.
(09:18):
So I don't say this lightly, butwhen you make this shift, this
mindset shift, then everythingreally does change.
You stop waiting for confidenceto arrive and you start building
that confidence through action.
You stop accumulatinginformation and start
accumulating pages.
And you finally experience whatit feels like to make real,
tangible progress on the storythat you've been carrying around
(09:41):
in your head.
So how do you actually make thatshift?
Well, this is where safe to failexperiments come in.
So instead of writing theperfect first chapter, what if
you just committed to writing afirst chapter?
Not the one that's going to bein your final book, just an
experiment or a test run.
That's what I mean by a safe tofail experiment.
(10:01):
It's safe to fail or producesomething that's not totally
perfect.
So here are some other safe tofail experiments that you can
try this week.
Number one, you can write youropening scene five different
ways.
And I don't mean that you haveto write 2,000 plus words.
I just mean write a fewparagraphs and don't worry about
the quality of those paragraphs.
(10:21):
Just see what happens when youstart in a different place or
with a different approach.
Number two, you can write aconversation between your
protagonist and antagonist thatwill never appear in your book.
So set this conversationsomeplace neutral, coffee shop,
a waiting room, stuck elevator,it doesn't really matter.
And just aim for 500 words ofpure dialogue.
(10:41):
Let them talk so you can heartheir voices, see what's
motivating them, and things likethat.
And then most of all, let it befun.
Number three, you can set atimer for 15 minutes and write a
messy scene from the middle ofyour novel.
So pick any scene, maybe it'syour protagonist's first failure
or moment of doubt, or maybeit's when your protagonist
finally starts succeeding afterthey've learned some crucial
(11:03):
piece of information or gainedmore confidence.
Either way, it doesn't reallymatter, just set that timer for
15 minutes, start writing, anddon't stop writing until that
timer goes off.
Now, no matter which exerciseyou choose, if you are so brave
to choose one this week, thepoint isn't to create any kind
of usable material, although youmight surprise yourself.
The point is more about loweringthe stakes so far that your fear
(11:27):
has nowhere to hide.
And that's because wheneverything is an experiment,
then nothing is a failure,right?
You're just having fun,gathering data, and building
your writing muscles.
Now, some of you might bewondering if you're the
exception or if you really doneed more preparation before you
start drafting.
And that is a fair questionbecause here's something I wish
someone had told me early on.
(11:49):
There is a difference betweenbeing not ready because you're
scared and being not readybecause you're missing a key
piece of your story.
So how do you know which campyou're in?
Well, you can ask yourself thesequestions.
Number one, do I know thecentral problem that my
protagonist is trying to solve?
Yes or no.
Number two, do I have a generalsense of how my story ends?
(12:11):
Yes or no.
Number three, do I understandwhy the story and the central
conflict and the goal yourcharacter's after, all of that?
Do you understand why thatmatters so much to your
protagonist?
Yes or no.
Number four, do you know whatgenre you're writing in?
And do you have a general senseof what readers expect from a
book like yours?
(12:32):
Yes or no.
And finally, number five, am Iavoiding decisions because I
lack information or because I'mafraid to choose?
So am I avoiding decisionsbecause I lack information or
because I'm afraid to choose?
All right, now if you can answerthe first four of those
questions, the yes or noquestions, with even some kind
of basic clarity, then believeit or not, you have enough to
(12:55):
begin.
You don't need all of theanswers, you just need a
starting point and the courageto get going.
And if you can't answer thosefirst four questions, that's
okay too.
It just means that you need tospend some time with your
story's foundational elementsbefore you draft.
Again, this does not mean thatyou need to do endless research.
It's more like focusedexploration of your character,
(13:16):
their problem, and what's atstake.
And it definitely helps to havesome familiarity with the genre
you're writing in as well.
All right, so that is adifferent kind of work than
reading your 15th craft book,right?
And it's work that will actuallymove your novel forward and get
you ready to write.
Alright, so before I let you go,let me quickly recap the three
key points from today's episode.
(13:37):
Key point number one is thatwhen you tell yourself you're
not ready, what you usually meanis I'm scared.
And that fear often disguisesitself as endless research,
which feels productive but isreally just a way to avoid the
blank page.
Key point number two, couragedoesn't mean feeling confident.
It means giving yourselfpermission to start before you
(13:57):
feel ready.
You learn to write by writing,not by endlessly reading about
writing.
And key point number three isthat perfectionism can't survive
low stakes.
When you approach your writingas an experiment instead of a
performance that you're going tobe graded on, your inner critic
has nothing to latch on to, andyou can finally start building
that momentum that you've beenchasing.
(14:18):
Alright, so if you've heard thiswhole episode and you're still
kind of waiting for someone totell you that you're ready to
start writing, then fine, I willdo it.
You have permission to startyour novel today.
You have permission to writebadly, to not have all the
answers, to figure it out as yougo, and to be a beginner.
Because again, here's the truth: you're never going to feel (14:36):
undefined
completely ready.
Ready is a story that your feartells you to keep you safe.
And the writers who finish theirnovels, they aren't the ones who
felt ready.
They're the ones who felt thatfear or that uncertainty and
started anyway.
All right, so your story iswaiting not for you to be ready,
but for you to just begin.
(14:57):
And as always, if you want myhelp getting your story off the
ground and if you want acomplete roadmap for actually
finishing your novel, make sureyour name is on the wait list
for my notes to novel coursebecause doors are opening again
very soon.
And in that course, I teach youexactly how to brainstorm,
outline, and write your story,even if you only have 30 minutes
a day.
All right, so I'll put the linkto that in the show notes as
(15:19):
well.
You can also go to SavannahGilbo.com forward slash wait
list to get your name on thewait list for my notes to novel
course, which will be openingagain very soon.
Alright, so that's it for thisepisode of the Fiction Writing
Made Easy podcast.
Head over to SavannahGilbo.comforward slash podcast for the
complete show notes, includingthe resources I mentioned today,
(15:42):
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
somewhere in the middle of adraft, drowning in revisions, or
getting ready to publish, takemy free 30-second quiz at
savannaGilbo.com forward slashquiz.
You'll get a customized podcastplaylist that'll meet you right
(16:03):
where you're at and help you getto your next big milestone.
Last but not least, make sure tofollow this podcast in your
podcast player of choice becauseI'll be back next week with
another episode full ofactionable tips, tools, and
strategies to help you become abetter writer.
Until then, happy writing.
When you make this mindset shift, then everything
really does change.
You stop waiting for confidenceto arrive and you start building
that confidence through action.
You stop accumulatinginformation and start
accumulating pages.
And you finally experience whatit feels like to make real,
tangible progress on the storythat you've been carrying around
in your head.
(02:25):
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 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
(02:47):
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 something I hear
from aspiring writers all thetime.
And that is, I'm just not readyto write my novel yet.
Maybe you've said these wordsyourself, maybe you're feeling
this way right now, like youjust need to do a little more
(03:07):
research, a little moreplanning, or get a little more
clarity before you can actuallysit down to start writing your
novel.
And look, I get it, starting anovel can genuinely feel scary.
But something I've learned afteryears of coaching writers is
that fear isn't the problem.
Fear is a very normal part ofthe process.
But when that fear that you feelconvinces you that you're not
(03:30):
ready to write a novel, and thenyou don't write that novel
that's been on your heart foryears and years, then that's a
problem.
And when writers say thatthey're not ready or not ready
yet, this is usually just fearin disguise.
And if you don't learn torecognize that fear for what it
is, then you're going to staystuck in that preparation phase
(03:50):
forever.
So in this episode, I'm going tohelp you figure out whether
you're genuinely not ready, likelet's say you're missing
foundational pieces of yourstory, or whether you're hiding
from the blank page.
I'm going to share the mindsetshift that finally got two of my
students unstuck after a decadeof false starts, and I'll give
you some low-stakes experimentsyou can try this week to start
(04:12):
building momentum.
So this episode is for you ifyou have a story idea that
you've been carrying aroundforever, but every time you sit
down to write, you freeze.
It's for you if you've beenpreparing to write your novel
but haven't actually madeprogress on the manuscript
itself, or if you're just tiredof waiting to feel ready and
want permission to begin.
So let's dive right into theepisode.
(04:34):
Alright, let me start off bypainting a picture that might
feel uncomfortably familiar.
You've got this brilliant storyidea, you can see certain scenes
so clearly in your mind, yourmain character feels almost
real, you love the setting thatyour story takes place in, but
when you sit down to actuallywrite your book, you freeze.
Suddenly you're overwhelmed byeverything you don't know yet.
(04:55):
How does magic work in yourfantasy world?
What's the perfect opening line?
Should you write in first personor third, or mix it up and
combine both?
What if your plot has holes orthings that you haven't thought
about yet that are going tobreak down midway through your
draft?
What if your dialogue soundswooden and what if, what if,
what if, right?
And then you do what feelsresponsible.
(05:16):
So you research, you readanother craft book, you take
another online workshop, and thewhole time you tell yourself
that you're preparing to writeyour novel.
But here's the uncomfortabletruth that you might need to
hear, and that is that you mightnot really be preparing to
write.
Instead, you might be hidingfrom your novel, hoping that
someday it will feel easier orthat you'll feel more ready.
(05:37):
One of my notes to novelstudents, Christina, described
this perfectly.
She said she'd been preparing towrite her story for years and
years.
She knew what she wanted towrite, but she didn't know where
to start.
And because of that, theresearch felt endless, yet
really safe at the same time.
Because as long as she wasresearching, she didn't have to
face that blank page.
Does that sound familiar?
(05:58):
If so, I want you to know thisis super normal.
Research feels productivebecause it feeds this illusion
that there is a quote unquoteright way to write your novel,
and that if you just learnenough, you're going to unlock
the secret code that makeswriting easy.
But here's what actuallyhappens.
Every new piece of advice youcome across creates another
(06:18):
standard that you feel you needto meet.
And contradictory informationleaves you more confused than
when you started.
And because of all of that, thatgap between what you know and
what you've written keepsgrowing.
Again, I see this patternconstantly.
I meet writers all the time whocan quote every writing guru but
haven't written past chapterthree.
I've met a ton of writers whoknow the hero's journey
(06:40):
backwards and forwards, butcan't tell you what happens in
act two of their story.
It's more like they tell youwhat they know should happen,
but they don't actually know howit happens in their own novel.
So, yes, you could read everywriting book ever published and
still not feel ready to writeyour novel.
And that's because readinessisn't about having knowledge or
feeling ready someday.
(07:01):
Instead, it's about takingaction despite not having
everything figured out.
And it's about having courage.
Now, when I say readiness ismore about having courage,
courage doesn't mean feelingconfident.
It means giving yourselfpermission to start before you
feel ready.
So it means taking messy actionwhen you're unsure of things,
(07:22):
and it means feeling that fearof not being ready and doing it
anyway.
So I want you to stop thinkingof yourself as a researcher who
needs to learn more and startthinking of yourself as a
creator who needs to create.
Because that is what we wantanyway, right?
We want to create stories, wewant to finish our books and
share them with the world.
And just to paint you a pictureof what I mean by this,
(07:45):
researchers wait for permissionwhile creators give themselves
permission.
Researchers seek the rightanswers while creators
experiment until they find whatworks.
Researchers accumulateinformation and creators
accumulate pages.
And lastly, researchers prepareendlessly, but creators start
imperfectly.
(08:05):
Alright, so again, this isn'tabout arrogance or pretending
you know everything.
It's about recognizing afundamental truth.
You can only learn to write bywriting, not by just reading
about writing.
Think of it this way (08:17):
you can't steer a parked car, right?
You need to be moving before youcan course correct, and the same
applies to your novel.
You need to be writing beforeyou can see what your story
truly wants to be.
Now, Jenny, one of my notes tonovel students, she spent over a
decade in researcher mode.
She was constantly starting overbecause she felt like she needed
(08:37):
to know more before she couldmove forward.
But when she finally shiftedinto creator mode instead of
researcher mode and gave herselfpermission to write a messy
draft without having all theanswers, she completed her first
draft in six months.
And again, the difference wasn'tthat Jenny had more knowledge or
anything like that.
It was just that she gaveherself permission to do it
(08:58):
scared and do it messy.
And she told me later that thebiggest change she felt wasn't
to do with the fact that she hada finished manuscript.
It was actually in how she sawherself.
So she finally felt like a realwriter, and that wasn't because
she'd learned some secret towriting a book, but it was
because she'd proven to herselfthat she could do the things
she'd been afraid to try.
(09:18):
So I don't say this lightly, butwhen you make this shift, this
mindset shift, then everythingreally does change.
You stop waiting for confidenceto arrive and you start building
that confidence through action.
You stop accumulatinginformation and start
accumulating pages.
And you finally experience whatit feels like to make real,
tangible progress on the storythat you've been carrying around
(09:41):
in your head.
So how do you actually make thatshift?
Well, this is where safe to failexperiments come in.
So instead of writing theperfect first chapter, what if
you just committed to writing afirst chapter?
Not the one that's going to bein your final book, just an
experiment or a test run.
That's what I mean by a safe tofail experiment.
(10:01):
It's safe to fail or producesomething that's not totally
perfect.
So here are some other safe tofail experiments that you can
try this week.
Number one, you can write youropening scene five different
ways.
And I don't mean that you haveto write 2,000 plus words.
I just mean write a fewparagraphs and don't worry about
the quality of those paragraphs.
(10:21):
Just see what happens when youstart in a different place or
with a different approach.
Number two, you can write aconversation between your
protagonist and antagonist thatwill never appear in your book.
So set this conversationsomeplace neutral, coffee shop,
a waiting room, stuck elevator,it doesn't really matter.
And just aim for 500 words ofpure dialogue.
(10:41):
Let them talk so you can heartheir voices, see what's
motivating them, and things likethat.
And then most of all, let it befun.
Number three, you can set atimer for 15 minutes and write a
messy scene from the middle ofyour novel.
So pick any scene, maybe it'syour protagonist's first failure
or moment of doubt, or maybeit's when your protagonist
finally starts succeeding afterthey've learned some crucial
(11:03):
piece of information or gainedmore confidence.
Either way, it doesn't reallymatter, just set that timer for
15 minutes, start writing, anddon't stop writing until that
timer goes off.
Now, no matter which exerciseyou choose, if you are so brave
to choose one this week, thepoint isn't to create any kind
of usable material, although youmight surprise yourself.
The point is more about loweringthe stakes so far that your fear
(11:27):
has nowhere to hide.
And that's because wheneverything is an experiment,
then nothing is a failure,right?
You're just having fun,gathering data, and building
your writing muscles.
Now, some of you might bewondering if you're the
exception or if you really doneed more preparation before you
start drafting.
And that is a fair questionbecause here's something I wish
someone had told me early on.
(11:49):
There is a difference betweenbeing not ready because you're
scared and being not readybecause you're missing a key
piece of your story.
So how do you know which campyou're in?
Well, you can ask yourself thesequestions.
Number one, do I know thecentral problem that my
protagonist is trying to solve?
Yes or no.
Number two, do I have a generalsense of how my story ends?
(12:11):
Yes or no.
Number three, do I understandwhy the story and the central
conflict and the goal yourcharacter's after, all of that?
Do you understand why thatmatters so much to your
protagonist?
Yes or no.
Number four, do you know whatgenre you're writing in?
And do you have a general senseof what readers expect from a
book like yours?
(12:32):
Yes or no.
And finally, number five, am Iavoiding decisions because I
lack information or because I'mafraid to choose?
So am I avoiding decisionsbecause I lack information or
because I'm afraid to choose?
All right, now if you can answerthe first four of those
questions, the yes or noquestions, with even some kind
of basic clarity, then believeit or not, you have enough to
(12:55):
begin.
You don't need all of theanswers, you just need a
starting point and the courageto get going.
And if you can't answer thosefirst four questions, that's
okay too.
It just means that you need tospend some time with your
story's foundational elementsbefore you draft.
Again, this does not mean thatyou need to do endless research.
It's more like focusedexploration of your character,
(13:16):
their problem, and what's atstake.
And it definitely helps to havesome familiarity with the genre
you're writing in as well.
All right, so that is adifferent kind of work than
reading your 15th craft book,right?
And it's work that will actuallymove your novel forward and get
you ready to write.
Alright, so before I let you go,let me quickly recap the three
key points from today's episode.
(13:37):
Key point number one is thatwhen you tell yourself you're
not ready, what you usually meanis I'm scared.
And that fear often disguisesitself as endless research,
which feels productive but isreally just a way to avoid the
blank page.
Key point number two, couragedoesn't mean feeling confident.
It means giving yourselfpermission to start before you
(13:57):
feel ready.
You learn to write by writing,not by endlessly reading about
writing.
And key point number three isthat perfectionism can't survive
low stakes.
When you approach your writingas an experiment instead of a
performance that you're going tobe graded on, your inner critic
has nothing to latch on to, andyou can finally start building
that momentum that you've beenchasing.
(14:18):
Alright, so if you've heard thiswhole episode and you're still
kind of waiting for someone totell you that you're ready to
start writing, then fine, I willdo it.
You have permission to startyour novel today.
You have permission to writebadly, to not have all the
answers, to figure it out as yougo, and to be a beginner.
Because again, here's the truth: you're never going to feel (14:36):
undefined
completely ready.
Ready is a story that your feartells you to keep you safe.
And the writers who finish theirnovels, they aren't the ones who
felt ready.
They're the ones who felt thatfear or that uncertainty and
started anyway.
All right, so your story iswaiting not for you to be ready,
but for you to just begin.
(14:57):
And as always, if you want myhelp getting your story off the
ground and if you want acomplete roadmap for actually
finishing your novel, make sureyour name is on the wait list
for my notes to novel coursebecause doors are opening again
very soon.
And in that course, I teach youexactly how to brainstorm,
outline, and write your story,even if you only have 30 minutes
a day.
All right, so I'll put the linkto that in the show notes as
(15:19):
well.
You can also go to SavannahGilbo.com forward slash wait
list to get your name on thewait list for my notes to novel
course, which will be openingagain very soon.
Alright, so that's it for thisepisode of the Fiction Writing
Made Easy podcast.
Head over to SavannahGilbo.comforward slash podcast for the
complete show notes, includingthe resources I mentioned today,
(15:42):
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
somewhere in the middle of adraft, drowning in revisions, or
getting ready to publish, takemy free 30-second quiz at
savannaGilbo.com forward slashquiz.
You'll get a customized podcastplaylist that'll meet you right
(16:03):
where you're at and help you getto your next big milestone.
Last but not least, make sure tofollow this podcast in your
podcast player of choice becauseI'll be back next week with
another episode full ofactionable tips, tools, and
strategies to help you become abetter writer.
Until then, happy writing.
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