December 30, 2025 • 38 mins
The best writing advice sticks because it changes how you approach the page. In this special year-end episode, I’m counting down the top 10 most impactful writing tips from Fiction Writing Made Easy in 2025, pulled from this year's most listened-to episodes.
These are the lessons writers kept coming back to. The ones that helped them stop second-guessing, get unstuck in the middle, and finally make real progress on their drafts.
In the episode, you’ll hear me talk about things like:
[07:30] Why perfectionism during drafting slows everything down, and what to do instead so you can keep moving forward.
[15:30] Why learning to write strong, focused scenes first makes plot structure clearer and helps your novel come together faster.
[18:30] How narrative drive works, why disconnected scenes stall your story, and the simple fix that creates clear cause-and-effect momentum.
[28:00] The real reason writers struggle to finish, and why process matters just as much as craft and mindset.
[31:00] Why following one complete writing method beats trying to combine multiple approaches, and how too much advice creates paralysis.
And so much more…
So grab your notebook, settle in, and let’s celebrate the writing advice that helped so many writers move closer to finishing their novel in 2025.
🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:
⭐ 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!
Ready to stop overthinking and start writing? Join my LIVE 3-Day Writer Breakthrough Bootcamp, and you'll walk away with a realistic finish date, clarity on your story's deeper purpose, and a logline that proves your idea works. Click here to save your spot for just $27!
👉 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_02 (00:37):
Unlike real life, which is often random and
chaotic, stories need to followan internal logic that creates
meaning.
So each scene needs to grownaturally from what came before
it and plant seeds for whatcomes after it.
This deliberate type of causeand effect chain is what's going
to distinguish a story that'swell crafted from a story that's
full of just a sequence ofevents.
(01:01):
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
(01:23):
author looking to improve yourcraft, this podcast is for you.
So pick up a pen and let's getstarted.
In today's episode, we're goingto do something fun and a little
different.
Since we're nearing the end of2025, I thought it would be fun
to do a little highlight reel ofclips from the top 10 most
listened to episodes this year.
So I took the top 10 mostpopular episodes and I grabbed
(01:46):
my favorite clip from each oneto share with you today.
And trust me when I say that youare in for a treat.
You're going to hear tips onthings like how to write a great
plot twist, how to prioritizethe romantic relationship in a
romanticy, how to edit yournovel using a reverse outline,
and so much more.
And if a particular clip catchesyour ear, don't worry, I've got
you covered.
(02:06):
All the links to these fullepisodes are waiting for you in
the show notes, ready for a deepdive whenever you are.
So grab your favorite notebook,settle in, and let's kick things
off with tip number 10.
The first tip on our countdown,or tip number 10, comes from
episode number 187 called How toWrite an Unforgettable Plot
(02:27):
Twist in Your Novel withSamantha Skall.
And in this episode, we diveinto the mechanics of crafting
plot twists that are bothsurprising and satisfying.
In this clip, Samantha sharesher secrets for using red
herrings and misdirection tolead readers down the wrong path
while still playing fair.
So here's the clip.
SPEAKER_03 (02:45):
Once you figure out what your villain is doing and
why, think about what yourprotagonist will assume is going
on because assumptions ofmotivations is another way to
think about twists.
It's like I'm assuming this verylogical thing about why this
person is doing this thing, andI am wildly wrong.
And the wildly wrong reveal isyour twist, right?
So if I'm looking, you know, I'min my awesome dress and I'm in
(03:08):
this basement in prohibition eraand there's barrels of whiskey
or whatever all around, I'mgoing to assume that it's about
the whiskey.
But maybe it's not.
Maybe it's about the building,maybe it's about who this person
was.
And then, you know, you can kindof play it out like that, but
always think about the fact thatyour person who's doing bad
things is trying actively not toget caught.
And so they will be puttingthings in place to prevent your
(03:30):
protagonist from figuring outwhat's happened, which can be
red herrings, right?
So even if your villain is goingin there and being like, ooh,
look, there's this, I don'tknow, chest of gold that is
obviously the reason this ishappening.
Like, what if that was plantedthere for the sole purpose of
derailing your protagonist'sinvestigation into what
happened?
SPEAKER_02 (03:49):
Yeah, that makes sense.
And so there's things, like yousaid, the villain can do.
There's things that think aboutif you have, let's say, five
people in the room, right?
There's another person thatmight have been cheating on
their spouse.
And so they might be worriedthey're gonna be found out.
So they're also trying tomanipulate, even though they
have nothing to do with thecrime, they just don't want to
be questioned, right?
So it's like you can just thinkabout like what is everyone
(04:11):
doing, which I find really helpspopulate the plot.
SPEAKER_03 (04:15):
Absolutely.
Someone who's being shifty whenbeing questioned, the assumption
is going to be that they were apart of the crime.
But if they have a very goodreason for that shiftiness that
has nothing to do with it, allof a sudden there's a twist.
Yes.
Right.
And it's it doesn't have to belike a major twist.
It can just be, you know, maybecloser to your midpoint, maybe
like 65% or something.
It just keeps it moving.
(04:35):
So one of my favorite things todo when I get to that point is,
you know, once I kind of have alandscape of what's going on and
I have all this messy stuff, Ifigure out what I want my
climactic kind of moment to looklike and which person my
protagonist is going to face offagainst.
That doesn't always have to beyour person doing bad things
ultimately.
It does have to answer the storyquestion of like who killed the
(04:57):
person in the, you know, thebody on the first page.
Um, but you can have all kindsof stuff that happens before
then.
And so mapping out like what myprotagonist is experiencing is
what's on the page as the plot.
And it'll have like sub-bulletsof what the villain is actually
doing during all of this andwhat they're like, oh my God,
they're too close.
I'm gonna burn this buildingdown or whatever.
(05:18):
Um, and then seeing how theprotagonist reacts to that
on-screen clue, basically, oflike, oh, the building burned
down because of lightning,right?
You know, or because thischeating spouse decided they
didn't want their evidence to beuncovered, but that doesn't
actually solve my initial crime.
And so getting messy, reallygood way of saying it.
SPEAKER_02 (05:38):
All right, now tip number nine comes from episode
number 210 called Five Tips forWriting a Multi-Point of View
Novel Without Confusing YourReaders.
If you've ever struggled tojuggle multiple viewpoint
characters, or if you've everfelt worried that they all sound
the same, then this episode andthis clip is for you.
In this clip, I break downexactly how to develop
(05:59):
distinctive voices that makeeach point of view character
feel like the protagonist oftheir own story.
So let's dive right into theclip.
So once you've figured out whichpoint of view characters are
truly necessary, it's time todevelop each one fully.
And I mean fully.
Each point of view charactershould feel like the protagonist
of their own story, completewith their own arc and their own
(06:20):
distinctive voice.
And here's what I mean bydistinctive voice.
Your reader should be able totell whose perspective they're
reading from the writing alone,without needing chapter headings
or name tags.
Of course, you can include thosethings as well, but ideally,
readers should be able to tellwhose perspective they're in
just from reading the textalone.
So to come up with a distinctivevoice for each character, I want
(06:41):
you to think about how each oneof your point of view characters
uses different sentencestructures.
So for example, do they talk ina short and clipped way, or is
their way of speaking moreflowing and descriptive?
I also want you to think abouthow each point of view character
notices different details intheir environment.
So for example, a soldier mightspot exits in every room, while
(07:02):
an artist might focus on thelight and color of any given
environment.
You can also think about eachcharacter's unique vocabulary,
the metaphors they use, and thespeech patterns they have, as
well as how they each reactemotionally in ways that reflect
their personality.
Alright, so that's where I wouldstart in terms of developing
distinctive voices for each ofyour characters.
(07:23):
But voice is just one piece ofthe puzzle.
Each point of view characteralso needs their own complete
character arc.
So they should start the storywith specific goals and flaws,
face challenges that test them,grow throughout the story, and
reach some kind of resolution bythe end.
And so if you're writing a storywith multiple point of view
characters, here's what I wantyou to do.
(07:43):
I want you to create a characterworksheet for each point of view
character that includes theirunique voice characteristics,
their worldview, their goals,and a description of their art.
And then as an extra challenge,I want you to write a page from
each character describing thesame moment.
Their voices should be sodistinct that someone else could
read those pages and immediatelyknow which character is which.
(08:07):
Alright, now this next tip ortip number eight comes from
episode number 175 called FiveEasy Time Management Strategies
to Write Your Novel Faster.
This episode is packed withpractical strategies for making
the most of your writing time,but this particular tip is for
all the perfectionists outthere.
In this clip, I challenge you totake off your perfectionist hat
(08:28):
and embrace the messy firstdraft because trying to write
and edit at the same time ismost likely what's keeping you
stuck and keeping you inperfectionism.
So here is the tip.
Perfectionism can really, reallyhurt your time management
because when you're hung up oncreating the perfect sentence or
figuring out the perfect detailsor whatever you're trying to do,
(08:48):
you literally halt your forwardmomentum and most of the time
you'll stay stuck.
So if you do have that hour setaside that you're trying to
write for the day, you basicallyspend that hour just being stuck
on the same thing, and thereforeyour entire session more or less
becomes a waste of time.
So it's really, really hard tomove forward when you're in this
perfectionism state because youfeel like you have to get
(09:10):
everything right before going onahead.
But what happens to manywriters, and what I don't want
to happen to you, is that thisfeeling of perfectionism or this
desire to kind of halt progressand make sure you get things
figured out, more often thannot, that's the main reason that
writers end up giving up.
It's because they don't producesomething that's perfect or they
don't produce, you know, thefirst draft that looks like
(09:33):
other finished books.
And so they end up walking awayfrom their story altogether,
which I hate to see.
So let me share an analogy thatwill maybe help to put this in
perspective.
I want you to think about whenyou're spring cleaning or
cleaning your house at any timeof the year.
The first thing that most of usdo is we make a giant mess,
right?
So we pull everything from thecloset or the kitchen drawers or
(09:55):
whatever, and we throw it allover our counter or our bed or
on the floor.
And it really is a giant mess.
I am guilty of this as well.
Then the next thing we do ismaybe we separate it into piles,
right?
So there's stuff we want tothrow away, there's stuff we
want to keep, and there's stuffwe want to donate because we
don't need it anymore.
So we separate things intopiles, and then everything that
we keep we put away in a neatand orderly fashion.
(10:17):
So we have this fresh, cleancloset that we're super proud
of, or these fresh kitchendrawers that are all organized,
and it's a really great feeling,right?
There's no better feeling than afreshly cleaned house.
Now, what does this have to dowith writing?
Well, your first draft worksexactly the same way.
First, you need to get all thoseideas out of your head and onto
the page.
And yes, it's going to be messyand imperfect.
(10:39):
That's totally fine.
And then once you haveeverything on the page, only
then can you start organizingand polishing that mess into
something you're proud of.
Now, I know this can feel reallyuncomfortable.
The urge to edit as you go isso, so strong.
But when you try to write andedit at the same time, what
you're doing is constantlyswitching between your creative
brain and your analytical brain.
(11:00):
And every time you make thatswitch, you're breaking your
momentum and making it harder toget back into the flow of your
story.
So here's what I want you to tryinstead.
When you sit down to write, giveyourself permission to write
something that's messy.
Yes, messy, not tidy.
We are not worried about beingtidy or having everything
figured out when you sit down towrite your first draft.
(11:21):
And here's why.
Your first draft is supposed tobe a work in progress.
It's literally called a work inprogress, right?
Your only job is to get thestory out of your head and get
it onto the page so you havesomething to revise later.
Now, if you find the idea oftrying this strategy tough,
because many writers do, then Iwant you to just start small.
So try writing for just 10minutes without allowing
(11:44):
yourself to edit.
And then as you go, let's saylike each week, you can
gradually increase that time.
So week one, maybe you write for10 minutes without allowing
yourself to edit, and then thenext week you try to do it for
15 minutes without allowingyourself to edit.
I really do think you'll beamazed at how much more you can
get accomplished when you're notconsistently second-guessing or
going back to rewrite everysingle word.
(12:07):
Alright, now tip number sevencomes from episode number 182
called Writing Romanticy (12:12):
How to Balance Fantasy Elements and
Romance in Your Novel.
And with romanticity taking thepublishing world by storm,
understanding how to balancethese two elements in your story
is crucial.
So in this clip, I explain whythe romantic relationship in
your romantic novel needs to domore than just add romantic
(12:34):
tension.
It needs to fundamentally changeyour characters and help them
grow and change.
So here is the tip.
Whether you're writing fantasyromance or romantic fantasy, the
romantic relationship betweenyour characters is critical to
your story's success.
You'll want to start by fullydeveloping each character
individually before bringingthem together.
(12:55):
So for each character, you canask yourself things like, how
does this character feel aboutlove and relationships?
Do they want love or arelationship?
And if so, why?
Do they avoid or fear love inrelationships?
If so, why?
Do they feel they're deservingor undeserving of love or an
intimate relationship?
And if so, why?
And then how do these beliefschange by the end of the story?
(13:17):
Now, if you're writing fantasyromance, your story will show
how characters grow and changein their beliefs about love.
Since these are romance storiesfirst, the romantic relationship
needs to be the primary catalystfor that internal conflict and
growth.
The action and fantasy elementscan definitely contribute to the
character development, but thatromantic relationship needs to
(13:39):
be the primary catalyst for thatchange.
If you're writing romanticfantasy, on the other hand, your
story will demonstrate how lovehelps change your protagonist
and how that change either helpsor harms their survival.
And what this means is that boththe external conflict and the
romantic relationship shoulddrive your character's growth
and change.
(13:59):
And it's this dual catalyst forgrowth and change that
distinguishes romantic,particularly romantic fantasy,
from a standard fantasy novelwith a romantic subplot.
Okay, I'm gonna say that onemore time because it's really
important.
It's this dual catalyst forgrowth that distinguishes
romantic novels, particularlyromantic fantasy novels, from
(14:21):
standard fantasy books withromantic subplots.
So in a regular fantasy storylike The Name of the Wind by
Patrick Rothfuss, Kvos'relationship with Dennna isn't
the primary driver of hisgrowth.
His education, his experiences,and his confrontations with the
external conflicts and sourcesof antagonism play a much larger
(14:41):
role, challenging him andencouraging him to grow and
change.
Okay, so that's an example of aregular fantasy novel that
includes a romantic subplot.
But in true romantic novels,whether that's fantasy romance
or romantic fantasy, the loveinterest or that romantic
subplot must significantlycontribute to or cause the
protagonist's transformation.
(15:03):
Now, back to romantic fantasy.
When it comes to therelationship in your romantic
fantasy novel, remember thatreaders aren't necessarily
expecting or guaranteed ahappily ever after ending,
especially in a book series.
Your story might feature more ofa slow burn romance that
develops gradually over books,or it might even feature a
protagonist who has multipleromantic partners across a book
(15:26):
series.
So think of someone like Ailenin Throne of Glass or Tori in
Zodiac Academy, right?
Both characters have multipleromantic partners across a
series and they eventually getthere happily ever after.
Either way, what matters most isthat readers care deeply about
your characters, bothindividually and as a romantic
pairing.
In stories that have high-stakeaction and complex plots, this
(15:49):
emotional connection is reallykey.
If readers don't care about yourcharacters and their
relationships, then they're notgoing to be invested in their
survival or happiness.
So this step is reallyimportant.
You'll need to develop therelationship between your
characters, of course, startingwith their individual
development and then theirrelationships development once
you bring them together.
(16:11):
All right, now the next tip ortip number six comes from
episode number 195 called HowDeliberate Practice Can Improve
Your Fiction Writing with TimGroll.
And in this conversation, Timshares an approach from Story
Grid that flips traditionalwriting education on its head.
In this clip, he explains whystarting with scene-level
mastery instead of big pictureplotting is the key to actually
(16:34):
finishing your novel.
So here's the tip.
SPEAKER_00 (16:37):
The number one thing you have to learn how to do is
get the five commandments ofstorytelling in with a clear
object of desire.
So that means something haschanged in the scene.
And in order for something tochange, there has to be
conflict.
And so with a story withoutconflict isn't a story, it's a
list of things that happened.
Right.
And so the way that you getconflict in, and the first thing
(16:59):
to practice is two charactersthat want different things.
So if I come to you and um I'mlike, Savannah, I need to borrow
$50,000.
And you're like, I don't want tolet you borrow$50,000.
Right.
But now we have conflict, andI'm the antagonist because I
want something from you and youdon't want to do it for me.
I was the inciting incident byasking you for$50,000.
(17:21):
Right.
Now we decide, well, how far areeach of us going to go to get
our object of desire?
So why do I need$50,000?
Is it because I want a new Teslaor because my daughter was
kidnapped, and if I don't havethat money to them by 9 a.m.,
they're going to kill her.
Right.
Now, how far will I go to getthat$50,000?
Right?
SPEAKER_02 (17:41):
Yeah, which means we need that strong motivation.
SPEAKER_00 (17:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And you could see it couldbecome physical between us if
that's how bad I want that$50,000.
SPEAKER_02 (17:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (17:50):
So it's like, can you write that very simple setup
of a scene that changes to thepoint where either you didn't
give me$50,000 or you did giveme$50,000?
Somebody has to win the scene.
SPEAKER_02 (18:03):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (18:03):
And so that's where we start writers is can you
write those types of scenes?
And then you can start gettingmore nuanced.
SPEAKER_02 (18:10):
Yeah.
And I'm sure there's discussionaround like, okay, yes, you can
write it.
And I see this happen sometimeswhere they'll be like, you gave
me a budget of 1,500 words, andI just got to the inciting
incident at 1,500 words.
And so it's like, yes, you canwrite it, but it also needs to
be balanced with thedescriptions, the showing and
telling, the you know, action,things like that.
SPEAKER_00 (18:29):
Yeah, we actually start people at 800 words.
I started when I was running theworkshops at 1,500 words.
And what I found is if you can'tdo it at 800 words, you can't do
it at 1500 or 3,000 or 4,000words.
And straining it down does is itforces you to cut out all of the
fluff and get right to thepoint.
SPEAKER_02 (18:48):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (18:48):
Then what we found is once people can do that 800
words and we start loosening upthe word count, they get right
into the point and the scenesactually become better and
better and better.
Yeah.
Or if we start somebody at 2,000words and they just fill it with
fluff, it's so much harder toget through and get feedback on.
SPEAKER_02 (19:07):
All right, next up is tip number five from episode
number 192 called Five BigPicture First Draft Mistakes and
How to Fix Them.
In this clip, I talk aboutnarrative drive and I explain
what it really is and whydisconnected conflicts that
happen to your protagonistinstead of because of their
choices will lose you readersfast.
(19:27):
So here is the tip.
Narrative drive is really justwhat keeps readers turning the
pages.
It's what pushes your storyforward through clear cause and
effect relationships betweenevents.
So what does that look like?
So let's say that your currentdraft features a series of
disconnected scenes where thingsjust kind of happen to your
protagonist rather than becauseof their choices, then you're
(19:51):
likely lacking that sense ofnarrative drive.
So this might feel like thishappened in this scene, then
this happened in this scene, andthen this other thing happened
in this other scene with no realclear connection between each
scene or each event.
And this is what I like to callthe so what problem.
Readers finish a scene andinstead of being pulled into the
(20:11):
next one, they pause and theythink, well, so what?
Why should I care what happensnext?
And this is important becauseunlike real life, which is often
random and chaotic, stories needto follow an internal logic that
creates meaning.
So each scene needs to grownaturally from what came before
it and plant seeds for whatcomes after it.
(20:31):
This deliberate type of causeand effect chain is what's going
to distinguish a story that'swell crafted from.
From a story that's full of justa sequence of events.
So if you think you have thisproblem in your draft, let's
talk about how to fix it.
I want you to go through eachone of your scenes and ask
yourself (20:47):
does this scene happen because of choices made in
previous scenes?
Does it force new choices thatwill affect future scenes?
If not, then you might need tostrengthen all the connections
between scenes or reconsiderwhether a particular scene
belongs in your story at all.
This exercise is going toquickly reveal where that sense
of narrative drive in your storybreaks down and/or where it
(21:09):
needs reinforcement.
Alright, now tip number fourcomes from episode number 197
called How to Write a Novel ThatHooks Readers Through Curiosity,
Not Confusion.
And I love this tip because alot of writers think that
withholding information createstension and suspense, but it
often just creates frustratedreaders.
(21:31):
So in this clip, I break downexactly what information you
need to share up front so thatreaders can focus on the mystery
that actually matters.
So here is the clip.
The first thing you need to dois give readers the essential
context.
So before you can make readerscurious about the missing piece
of the puzzle, whatever that is,they need to understand the
(21:52):
overall picture or the biggerscope of the story.
This means establishing thingslike your story world, your
characters, and the basicconflict or situation clearly.
So your job is not to hideeverything.
Instead, it's to ground readersin the essential context so that
they can focus on the mysterythat matters.
As an example, consider how thebook Gone Girl opens.
(22:14):
Amy is one of the protagonistsand she is missing.
Nick is the husband, he's theother protagonist, and the
police are investigating whathappened.
So we're not confused about thegenre, the setting, the
timeline, or the basicsituation.
The author has given us all ofthe big picture context
immediately, and therefore we'reable to focus on the real
question, which is what reallyhappened to Amy.
(22:35):
So again, the key is to provideenough context so that readers
can properly focus on themystery and the story instead of
scrambling to understand wherethey are or what's happening.
And the key thing to rememberhere is that any information
that you do choose to withholdfrom readers should be carefully
constructed and intentional.
Readers need to understand theshape of what's missing while
(22:57):
feeling completely grounded inyour story and the bigger
context.
So again, you're not hiding thatbigger context or the foundation
of kind of where that mysterycomes from.
You're just strategicallyplacing gaps within a clear
context or a clear foundation.
All right, now tip number threecomes from episode number 209
(23:17):
called How to Revise Your NovelLike a Pro Without Losing Your
Mind with Alice Sudlow.
And if you've ever feltoverwhelmed trying to revise
your manuscript, then thisepisode is a must-listen.
In this clip, Alice shares thereverse outlining method that
helps you see your story's truestructure and identify exactly
what needs work.
So here is the clip.
SPEAKER_01 (23:38):
So the next thing to do is to come back to the
manuscript and read it withpurpose.
And the purpose at this stage,in the approach that I take, the
purpose at this stage is to makean outline of what is on the
page.
So you're not reading themanuscript with the uh uh goal
of going in to make changes.
(23:59):
Absolutely not.
That's the last thing Irecommend.
We're not trying to make anychanges to the manuscript right
now.
Uh one more time for the peoplein the back, Alice.
Do not make changes to themanuscript at this stage.
You're just going to be likeputting in energy in the least
efficient way.
You will, you know, things willbe different, but they won't be
(24:19):
holistically improving themanuscript on the whole.
Yeah.
Um, so we are not here to makechanges.
We're also not really here atthis stage to look for things to
change.
Those ideas are going to comeup.
And so I recommend keeping alist to the side where you're
writing down all of the ideasfor things that you are that are
coming to mind as you're goingthrough this, but you're not
(24:41):
even necessarily going to lookfor those things.
All we're trying to do is to gointo the manuscript and create
an outline of what is there.
And there are a few differentforms that this outline can
take.
It can be really, really briefand short.
I've made outlines ofmanuscripts that are just
reminders for me of what eachscene basically is, where I just
write down like five words todescribe the scene.
(25:02):
Um, but really at this stage,what I think is most helpful is
if you challenge yourself tosummarize what is on the page
and capture both what ishappening, like what literally
the characters are doing, andalso why that matters to the
story, how it impacts the plotand how it impacts the
characters internally.
(25:23):
And what you will do as you dothat, first off, you'll condense
the story down into a documentthat's way easier to manage.
You will no longer have to hold100,000 words in your head at a
time.
You will just have to hold 5,000words in your head.
And that's so much easier.
But also, you're going to see,oh, wait, I can't figure out why
(25:43):
this scene matters.
There's no answer to that.
And that's going to be a reallyilluminating thing with that,
will just start already sparkingideas for noticing what's
working really strong in thestory and where you've got some
weak spots.
So the next thing is, I'massuming at this point, as you
have gone through that story andnoticed, oh, this the scene with
(26:05):
the characters getting coffee isreally boring, you've probably
made note of that in your listof notes about your story.
Now, what I recommend is to it'slike go down to base principles.
I actually, so when I'm workingwith a writer, I read this
outline and then we set it asidefor a while and we use it as
reference when we need toremember, okay, what did Katniss
(26:27):
do in that scene?
But we don't actually even makeany changes to that outline at
this stage.
We go back down to baseprinciples, and I ask or I
recommend that you ask yourselfreally fundamental questions.
So that would be, in fact, letme pull up my my my guide here
that I'm building out with thelist of questions that I ask.
(26:50):
Um that would be why are youwriting this story at all?
Like, let's just start there.
What's the purpose of thisstory?
What is the point of this story?
So what is kind of the meaningthat this story is carrying
underneath it?
Every story does have a point.
So we're not trying to be superdidactic here.
(27:11):
We're just trying to acknowledgewhat what movement is happening
in this story.
Right.
Uh what is your what is yourcharacter's goal?
What are they trying toaccomplish in this story?
Uh, what are the stakes of thestory?
What changes is this, you know,are we have do we have life or
death stakes?
Do we have success or failurestakes?
What are the stakes in thisstory?
(27:33):
What are the what's the what'sthe character's arc of change?
This is kind of related to thestakes, but it's the stakes on
the inside of the character.
How are they going to bedifferent at the ends at the end
of the story than the beginningof the story?
Uh, and what is the genre of thestory?
And I ask that one last at theend of that list because all of
those other questions are goingto give you clues to the genre.
(27:53):
And so the genre is kind of likedoubling down on, okay, now that
we see all of these things, theypoint us here.
I know that you, or I think thatyou encourage your writers to go
into their first draft processwith some awareness of what
their genre is.
So some of these questions,again, because we're using the
same tools at the same differentstages, some of these questions
are going to be easier to answerbecause you've already answered
(28:14):
them.
But sometimes those answerschange, you know, over the
course of your drafting process.
Sometimes they shift, sometimesyou discover new layers to them.
So now we're going back to thesequestions and doubling down.
And then the last one in thatstage is what is the story's
point of view, which is it's Iask it at this stage, I kind of
hold it to the end becausethat's really about how we're
presenting the information tothe reader.
(28:34):
Those, all those other ones,though, they're about what
information are we trying topresent.
So those that's what I do atthis stage is we ask a ton of
fundamental questions about whatthe story is.
SPEAKER_02 (28:45):
All right, now our second to last tip comes from
episode number 177 called ThreeThings You Need to Write Your
Novel in 2025, although this canapply to any year.
Now, many writers focusexclusively on learning craft
techniques when they set out towrite a book.
And I believe this is actuallywhat leads to perfectionism and
(29:05):
procrastination.
So in this clip, I explain whycraft is just one piece of the
puzzle and how focusing on craftalone can actually keep you
stuck in writer's block.
So here is the clip.
Alright, now the third thing youneed to write your novel in 2025
or any year really is craft.
And this is what most writersfocus on exclusively.
(29:26):
So the actual writing techniquesand storytelling skills needed
to write a story that works.
And while of course craft isreally important, it's not
everything.
If you don't have a process tofollow to help you turn your
ideas into an actual full-lengthstory, it doesn't matter if you
know how to write technicallygood sentences or the most
beautiful prose.
If you don't have the rightmindset to stay in the game when
(29:49):
things get tough, it doesn'tmatter if you know how to
develop your character'sbackstory or build a story world
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 to isperfectionism and oftentimes
(30:11):
procrastination.
We know what we need to do intheory.
We see examples of stories thatwork, and then we try to write
our own stories only to feeldisappointed that the stories we
write don't live up to theexamples we see or to our
expectations, which are usuallypretty high.
I also see too many writersdiscount the importance of
mindset.
And when you're not in the rightmindset to write a book and deal
(30:34):
with the ups and downs thathappen to everybody, not just
first-time writers, this is whatmakes us spiral into self-doubt
and have those feelings ofimposter 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 (30:51):
all of these things, these feelings I
just mentioned, self-doubt,overwhelm, perfectionism, and
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 gonna say that one more timebecause it's very important.
If you're experiencing writer'sblock, it has nothing to do with
(31:12):
your capabilities or the qualityof your ideas.
It all boils down to trying towrite a book with an imbalance
of those three things (31:19):
process, mindset, and craft.
You need these three thingsworking together in tandem to be
the kind of writer that finishesand publishes their book.
And when these three things worktogether, that's when the magic
happens.
But when they're out of balance,that's when writers typically
struggle.
(31:39):
All right, moving on to our verylast clip, I saved the best one
for last, and this one comesfrom episode number 203 called
Why Writing Advice is KeepingYou Stuck and What to Do
Instead.
And this might be the mostimportant message for writers
who have been consuming advicebut struggling to finish their
novels.
In this clip, I reveal whyhaving too much information
(32:01):
creates paralysis, and I shareone question that changes
everything for stuck writers.
So here is the clip.
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
to revise it.
She'd discover a new plottingmethod and then she would start
(32:21):
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 startover.
And eventually she scrapped thewhole thing.
Sound familiar?
If you can relate to this, Iwant you to know that you're so
not alone.
But here's what's reallyhappening when you're stuck in
this research or informationgathering mode.
What's really happening is thatyou're not actually learning to
(32:43):
write.
You're learning to avoidwriting.
And that's because every newpiece of advice becomes another
reason to doubt what you'vealready written.
Every expert's quote-unquotemust-haves become another
standard that you're failing tomeet.
Every contradictory opinionbecomes another excuse to stop
and reconsider everything you'vealready done.
And I get it, I really do.
(33:04):
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
(33:24):
writers understand all thisstuff already.
Or if you just find the rightmethod, then maybe writing your
first draft will be easy.
Or maybe worst of all, you'rejust not ready yet.
But here's the truth bomb thatyou need to hear.
You are never going to feelready enough.
And I'm gonna say that one moretime because it's so important.
You are never going to feelready enough to write a novel.
(33:46):
I've worked with hundreds ofwriters and not one of them has
felt ready enough beforestarting.
But the ones that go on tofinish their books, they start
anyway.
Okay, so think about it likethis for a second.
When you're trying to write yournovel, you're already juggling
like 47 different elements,right?
Plot, character development,dialogue, pacing, world
building, theme, voice, scenestructure, and approximately 39
(34:08):
other things.
Now add to the fact that everyexpert out there has their own
terminology, their ownquote-unquote foolproof method,
and their own strong opinionsabout the quote-unquote right
way to do things.
And it starts to become 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
(34:29):
12 to 15%.
Depending on where you look, thethree-act structure might have
it at the end of act one.
And then you might find yourselfover on Story Grid'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
should just go ahead and pantsthe whole thing.
(34:51):
Some say that you must know yourending 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're feelingstuck 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
(35:12):
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, herbrain, whatever, she still
couldn't finish a first draft.
And that's because too muchinformation creates way too many
(35:33):
choices for you.
And too many choices createsthis kind of paralysis or
freezing and not being able tomove forward.
So instead of asking, what elsedo I need to learn?
I'd rather you ask somethinglike, what would happen if I
only followed one approach allthe way through to the end of my
draft?
So we're not looking for theperfect approach, we're not
looking for a combination of 17different methods, just one
(35:56):
complete system from start tofinish.
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 studentsmade this shift from thinking,
let me try to couple all thesemethods together to I'm gonna
follow one process from start tofinish.
Here's what happened.
Jenny went from 12 years offalse start to completing her
(36:18):
first draft in six months,despite being a busy mom with a
full-time job and elderlyparents to care for.
Lindsay spent six months tryingto draft on her own and only
managed to write 25,000 words,and then she committed to one
clear process from start tofinish, and she wrote 100,000
words in the next six months.
Another writer went from fiveyears of writing and rewriting
(36:39):
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.
Alright, so there you have it,some of the best clips from the
fiction writing made easypodcast in 2025.
(37:00):
If any of these clips sparkedyour attention and you haven't
checked out the full episodeyet, be sure to go back and take
a listen.
I'll have all of the episodeslinked up for you in the show
notes.
Now, before I let you go, I justwant to say thank you so much
for joining me not only today,but week after week or whenever
there's a new episode.
I am so grateful that I got toshow up for you this year and
(37:20):
share all of these writing tipsand strategies with you.
And I'm so excited to see allthe wonderful things that 2026
has in store for us.
So with that being said, have agreat holiday season and I will
talk to you in 2026.
Alright, so that's it for thisepisode of the Fiction Writing
Made Easy Podcast.
(37:40):
Head over to Savannagilbo.comforward 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
somewhere in the middle of adraft, drowning in revisions, or
getting ready to publish, takemy free 30-second quiz at
(38:03):
savannaGilbo.com forward slashquiz.
You'll get a customized podcastplaylist that'll meet you right
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.
Unlike real life, which is often random and
chaotic, stories need to followan internal logic that creates
meaning.
So each scene needs to grownaturally from what came before
it and plant seeds for whatcomes after it.
This deliberate type of causeand effect chain is what's going
to distinguish a story that'swell crafted from a story that's
full of just a sequence ofevents.
(01:01):
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
(01:23):
author looking to improve yourcraft, this podcast is for you.
So pick up a pen and let's getstarted.
In today's episode, we're goingto do something fun and a little
different.
Since we're nearing the end of2025, I thought it would be fun
to do a little highlight reel ofclips from the top 10 most
listened to episodes this year.
So I took the top 10 mostpopular episodes and I grabbed
(01:46):
my favorite clip from each oneto share with you today.
And trust me when I say that youare in for a treat.
You're going to hear tips onthings like how to write a great
plot twist, how to prioritizethe romantic relationship in a
romanticy, how to edit yournovel using a reverse outline,
and so much more.
And if a particular clip catchesyour ear, don't worry, I've got
you covered.
(02:06):
All the links to these fullepisodes are waiting for you in
the show notes, ready for a deepdive whenever you are.
So grab your favorite notebook,settle in, and let's kick things
off with tip number 10.
The first tip on our countdown,or tip number 10, comes from
episode number 187 called How toWrite an Unforgettable Plot
(02:27):
Twist in Your Novel withSamantha Skall.
And in this episode, we diveinto the mechanics of crafting
plot twists that are bothsurprising and satisfying.
In this clip, Samantha sharesher secrets for using red
herrings and misdirection tolead readers down the wrong path
while still playing fair.
So here's the clip.
SPEAKER_03 (02:45):
Once you figure out what your villain is doing and
why, think about what yourprotagonist will assume is going
on because assumptions ofmotivations is another way to
think about twists.
It's like I'm assuming this verylogical thing about why this
person is doing this thing, andI am wildly wrong.
And the wildly wrong reveal isyour twist, right?
So if I'm looking, you know, I'min my awesome dress and I'm in
(03:08):
this basement in prohibition eraand there's barrels of whiskey
or whatever all around, I'mgoing to assume that it's about
the whiskey.
But maybe it's not.
Maybe it's about the building,maybe it's about who this person
was.
And then, you know, you can kindof play it out like that, but
always think about the fact thatyour person who's doing bad
things is trying actively not toget caught.
And so they will be puttingthings in place to prevent your
(03:30):
protagonist from figuring outwhat's happened, which can be
red herrings, right?
So even if your villain is goingin there and being like, ooh,
look, there's this, I don'tknow, chest of gold that is
obviously the reason this ishappening.
Like, what if that was plantedthere for the sole purpose of
derailing your protagonist'sinvestigation into what
happened?
SPEAKER_02 (03:49):
Yeah, that makes sense.
And so there's things, like yousaid, the villain can do.
There's things that think aboutif you have, let's say, five
people in the room, right?
There's another person thatmight have been cheating on
their spouse.
And so they might be worriedthey're gonna be found out.
So they're also trying tomanipulate, even though they
have nothing to do with thecrime, they just don't want to
be questioned, right?
So it's like you can just thinkabout like what is everyone
(04:11):
doing, which I find really helpspopulate the plot.
SPEAKER_03 (04:15):
Absolutely.
Someone who's being shifty whenbeing questioned, the assumption
is going to be that they were apart of the crime.
But if they have a very goodreason for that shiftiness that
has nothing to do with it, allof a sudden there's a twist.
Yes.
Right.
And it's it doesn't have to belike a major twist.
It can just be, you know, maybecloser to your midpoint, maybe
like 65% or something.
It just keeps it moving.
(04:35):
So one of my favorite things todo when I get to that point is,
you know, once I kind of have alandscape of what's going on and
I have all this messy stuff, Ifigure out what I want my
climactic kind of moment to looklike and which person my
protagonist is going to face offagainst.
That doesn't always have to beyour person doing bad things
ultimately.
It does have to answer the storyquestion of like who killed the
(04:57):
person in the, you know, thebody on the first page.
Um, but you can have all kindsof stuff that happens before
then.
And so mapping out like what myprotagonist is experiencing is
what's on the page as the plot.
And it'll have like sub-bulletsof what the villain is actually
doing during all of this andwhat they're like, oh my God,
they're too close.
I'm gonna burn this buildingdown or whatever.
(05:18):
Um, and then seeing how theprotagonist reacts to that
on-screen clue, basically, oflike, oh, the building burned
down because of lightning,right?
You know, or because thischeating spouse decided they
didn't want their evidence to beuncovered, but that doesn't
actually solve my initial crime.
And so getting messy, reallygood way of saying it.
SPEAKER_02 (05:38):
All right, now tip number nine comes from episode
number 210 called Five Tips forWriting a Multi-Point of View
Novel Without Confusing YourReaders.
If you've ever struggled tojuggle multiple viewpoint
characters, or if you've everfelt worried that they all sound
the same, then this episode andthis clip is for you.
In this clip, I break downexactly how to develop
(05:59):
distinctive voices that makeeach point of view character
feel like the protagonist oftheir own story.
So let's dive right into theclip.
So once you've figured out whichpoint of view characters are
truly necessary, it's time todevelop each one fully.
And I mean fully.
Each point of view charactershould feel like the protagonist
of their own story, completewith their own arc and their own
(06:20):
distinctive voice.
And here's what I mean bydistinctive voice.
Your reader should be able totell whose perspective they're
reading from the writing alone,without needing chapter headings
or name tags.
Of course, you can include thosethings as well, but ideally,
readers should be able to tellwhose perspective they're in
just from reading the textalone.
So to come up with a distinctivevoice for each character, I want
(06:41):
you to think about how each oneof your point of view characters
uses different sentencestructures.
So for example, do they talk ina short and clipped way, or is
their way of speaking moreflowing and descriptive?
I also want you to think abouthow each point of view character
notices different details intheir environment.
So for example, a soldier mightspot exits in every room, while
(07:02):
an artist might focus on thelight and color of any given
environment.
You can also think about eachcharacter's unique vocabulary,
the metaphors they use, and thespeech patterns they have, as
well as how they each reactemotionally in ways that reflect
their personality.
Alright, so that's where I wouldstart in terms of developing
distinctive voices for each ofyour characters.
(07:23):
But voice is just one piece ofthe puzzle.
Each point of view characteralso needs their own complete
character arc.
So they should start the storywith specific goals and flaws,
face challenges that test them,grow throughout the story, and
reach some kind of resolution bythe end.
And so if you're writing a storywith multiple point of view
characters, here's what I wantyou to do.
(07:43):
I want you to create a characterworksheet for each point of view
character that includes theirunique voice characteristics,
their worldview, their goals,and a description of their art.
And then as an extra challenge,I want you to write a page from
each character describing thesame moment.
Their voices should be sodistinct that someone else could
read those pages and immediatelyknow which character is which.
(08:07):
Alright, now this next tip ortip number eight comes from
episode number 175 called FiveEasy Time Management Strategies
to Write Your Novel Faster.
This episode is packed withpractical strategies for making
the most of your writing time,but this particular tip is for
all the perfectionists outthere.
In this clip, I challenge you totake off your perfectionist hat
(08:28):
and embrace the messy firstdraft because trying to write
and edit at the same time ismost likely what's keeping you
stuck and keeping you inperfectionism.
So here is the tip.
Perfectionism can really, reallyhurt your time management
because when you're hung up oncreating the perfect sentence or
figuring out the perfect detailsor whatever you're trying to do,
(08:48):
you literally halt your forwardmomentum and most of the time
you'll stay stuck.
So if you do have that hour setaside that you're trying to
write for the day, you basicallyspend that hour just being stuck
on the same thing, and thereforeyour entire session more or less
becomes a waste of time.
So it's really, really hard tomove forward when you're in this
perfectionism state because youfeel like you have to get
(09:10):
everything right before going onahead.
But what happens to manywriters, and what I don't want
to happen to you, is that thisfeeling of perfectionism or this
desire to kind of halt progressand make sure you get things
figured out, more often thannot, that's the main reason that
writers end up giving up.
It's because they don't producesomething that's perfect or they
don't produce, you know, thefirst draft that looks like
(09:33):
other finished books.
And so they end up walking awayfrom their story altogether,
which I hate to see.
So let me share an analogy thatwill maybe help to put this in
perspective.
I want you to think about whenyou're spring cleaning or
cleaning your house at any timeof the year.
The first thing that most of usdo is we make a giant mess,
right?
So we pull everything from thecloset or the kitchen drawers or
(09:55):
whatever, and we throw it allover our counter or our bed or
on the floor.
And it really is a giant mess.
I am guilty of this as well.
Then the next thing we do ismaybe we separate it into piles,
right?
So there's stuff we want tothrow away, there's stuff we
want to keep, and there's stuffwe want to donate because we
don't need it anymore.
So we separate things intopiles, and then everything that
we keep we put away in a neatand orderly fashion.
(10:17):
So we have this fresh, cleancloset that we're super proud
of, or these fresh kitchendrawers that are all organized,
and it's a really great feeling,right?
There's no better feeling than afreshly cleaned house.
Now, what does this have to dowith writing?
Well, your first draft worksexactly the same way.
First, you need to get all thoseideas out of your head and onto
the page.
And yes, it's going to be messyand imperfect.
(10:39):
That's totally fine.
And then once you haveeverything on the page, only
then can you start organizingand polishing that mess into
something you're proud of.
Now, I know this can feel reallyuncomfortable.
The urge to edit as you go isso, so strong.
But when you try to write andedit at the same time, what
you're doing is constantlyswitching between your creative
brain and your analytical brain.
(11:00):
And every time you make thatswitch, you're breaking your
momentum and making it harder toget back into the flow of your
story.
So here's what I want you to tryinstead.
When you sit down to write, giveyourself permission to write
something that's messy.
Yes, messy, not tidy.
We are not worried about beingtidy or having everything
figured out when you sit down towrite your first draft.
(11:21):
And here's why.
Your first draft is supposed tobe a work in progress.
It's literally called a work inprogress, right?
Your only job is to get thestory out of your head and get
it onto the page so you havesomething to revise later.
Now, if you find the idea oftrying this strategy tough,
because many writers do, then Iwant you to just start small.
So try writing for just 10minutes without allowing
(11:44):
yourself to edit.
And then as you go, let's saylike each week, you can
gradually increase that time.
So week one, maybe you write for10 minutes without allowing
yourself to edit, and then thenext week you try to do it for
15 minutes without allowingyourself to edit.
I really do think you'll beamazed at how much more you can
get accomplished when you're notconsistently second-guessing or
going back to rewrite everysingle word.
(12:07):
Alright, now tip number sevencomes from episode number 182
called Writing Romanticy (12:12):
How to Balance Fantasy Elements and
Romance in Your Novel.
And with romanticity taking thepublishing world by storm,
understanding how to balancethese two elements in your story
is crucial.
So in this clip, I explain whythe romantic relationship in
your romantic novel needs to domore than just add romantic
(12:34):
tension.
It needs to fundamentally changeyour characters and help them
grow and change.
So here is the tip.
Whether you're writing fantasyromance or romantic fantasy, the
romantic relationship betweenyour characters is critical to
your story's success.
You'll want to start by fullydeveloping each character
individually before bringingthem together.
(12:55):
So for each character, you canask yourself things like, how
does this character feel aboutlove and relationships?
Do they want love or arelationship?
And if so, why?
Do they avoid or fear love inrelationships?
If so, why?
Do they feel they're deservingor undeserving of love or an
intimate relationship?
And if so, why?
And then how do these beliefschange by the end of the story?
(13:17):
Now, if you're writing fantasyromance, your story will show
how characters grow and changein their beliefs about love.
Since these are romance storiesfirst, the romantic relationship
needs to be the primary catalystfor that internal conflict and
growth.
The action and fantasy elementscan definitely contribute to the
character development, but thatromantic relationship needs to
(13:39):
be the primary catalyst for thatchange.
If you're writing romanticfantasy, on the other hand, your
story will demonstrate how lovehelps change your protagonist
and how that change either helpsor harms their survival.
And what this means is that boththe external conflict and the
romantic relationship shoulddrive your character's growth
and change.
(13:59):
And it's this dual catalyst forgrowth and change that
distinguishes romantic,particularly romantic fantasy,
from a standard fantasy novelwith a romantic subplot.
Okay, I'm gonna say that onemore time because it's really
important.
It's this dual catalyst forgrowth that distinguishes
romantic novels, particularlyromantic fantasy novels, from
(14:21):
standard fantasy books withromantic subplots.
So in a regular fantasy storylike The Name of the Wind by
Patrick Rothfuss, Kvos'relationship with Dennna isn't
the primary driver of hisgrowth.
His education, his experiences,and his confrontations with the
external conflicts and sourcesof antagonism play a much larger
(14:41):
role, challenging him andencouraging him to grow and
change.
Okay, so that's an example of aregular fantasy novel that
includes a romantic subplot.
But in true romantic novels,whether that's fantasy romance
or romantic fantasy, the loveinterest or that romantic
subplot must significantlycontribute to or cause the
protagonist's transformation.
(15:03):
Now, back to romantic fantasy.
When it comes to therelationship in your romantic
fantasy novel, remember thatreaders aren't necessarily
expecting or guaranteed ahappily ever after ending,
especially in a book series.
Your story might feature more ofa slow burn romance that
develops gradually over books,or it might even feature a
protagonist who has multipleromantic partners across a book
(15:26):
series.
So think of someone like Ailenin Throne of Glass or Tori in
Zodiac Academy, right?
Both characters have multipleromantic partners across a
series and they eventually getthere happily ever after.
Either way, what matters most isthat readers care deeply about
your characters, bothindividually and as a romantic
pairing.
In stories that have high-stakeaction and complex plots, this
(15:49):
emotional connection is reallykey.
If readers don't care about yourcharacters and their
relationships, then they're notgoing to be invested in their
survival or happiness.
So this step is reallyimportant.
You'll need to develop therelationship between your
characters, of course, startingwith their individual
development and then theirrelationships development once
you bring them together.
(16:11):
All right, now the next tip ortip number six comes from
episode number 195 called HowDeliberate Practice Can Improve
Your Fiction Writing with TimGroll.
And in this conversation, Timshares an approach from Story
Grid that flips traditionalwriting education on its head.
In this clip, he explains whystarting with scene-level
mastery instead of big pictureplotting is the key to actually
(16:34):
finishing your novel.
So here's the tip.
SPEAKER_00 (16:37):
The number one thing you have to learn how to do is
get the five commandments ofstorytelling in with a clear
object of desire.
So that means something haschanged in the scene.
And in order for something tochange, there has to be
conflict.
And so with a story withoutconflict isn't a story, it's a
list of things that happened.
Right.
And so the way that you getconflict in, and the first thing
(16:59):
to practice is two charactersthat want different things.
So if I come to you and um I'mlike, Savannah, I need to borrow
$50,000.
And you're like, I don't want tolet you borrow$50,000.
Right.
But now we have conflict, andI'm the antagonist because I
want something from you and youdon't want to do it for me.
I was the inciting incident byasking you for$50,000.
(17:21):
Right.
Now we decide, well, how far areeach of us going to go to get
our object of desire?
So why do I need$50,000?
Is it because I want a new Teslaor because my daughter was
kidnapped, and if I don't havethat money to them by 9 a.m.,
they're going to kill her.
Right.
Now, how far will I go to getthat$50,000?
Right?
SPEAKER_02 (17:41):
Yeah, which means we need that strong motivation.
SPEAKER_00 (17:43):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And you could see it couldbecome physical between us if
that's how bad I want that$50,000.
SPEAKER_02 (17:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (17:50):
So it's like, can you write that very simple setup
of a scene that changes to thepoint where either you didn't
give me$50,000 or you did giveme$50,000?
Somebody has to win the scene.
SPEAKER_02 (18:03):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (18:03):
And so that's where we start writers is can you
write those types of scenes?
And then you can start gettingmore nuanced.
SPEAKER_02 (18:10):
Yeah.
And I'm sure there's discussionaround like, okay, yes, you can
write it.
And I see this happen sometimeswhere they'll be like, you gave
me a budget of 1,500 words, andI just got to the inciting
incident at 1,500 words.
And so it's like, yes, you canwrite it, but it also needs to
be balanced with thedescriptions, the showing and
telling, the you know, action,things like that.
SPEAKER_00 (18:29):
Yeah, we actually start people at 800 words.
I started when I was running theworkshops at 1,500 words.
And what I found is if you can'tdo it at 800 words, you can't do
it at 1500 or 3,000 or 4,000words.
And straining it down does is itforces you to cut out all of the
fluff and get right to thepoint.
SPEAKER_02 (18:48):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (18:48):
Then what we found is once people can do that 800
words and we start loosening upthe word count, they get right
into the point and the scenesactually become better and
better and better.
Yeah.
Or if we start somebody at 2,000words and they just fill it with
fluff, it's so much harder toget through and get feedback on.
SPEAKER_02 (19:07):
All right, next up is tip number five from episode
number 192 called Five BigPicture First Draft Mistakes and
How to Fix Them.
In this clip, I talk aboutnarrative drive and I explain
what it really is and whydisconnected conflicts that
happen to your protagonistinstead of because of their
choices will lose you readersfast.
(19:27):
So here is the tip.
Narrative drive is really justwhat keeps readers turning the
pages.
It's what pushes your storyforward through clear cause and
effect relationships betweenevents.
So what does that look like?
So let's say that your currentdraft features a series of
disconnected scenes where thingsjust kind of happen to your
protagonist rather than becauseof their choices, then you're
(19:51):
likely lacking that sense ofnarrative drive.
So this might feel like thishappened in this scene, then
this happened in this scene, andthen this other thing happened
in this other scene with no realclear connection between each
scene or each event.
And this is what I like to callthe so what problem.
Readers finish a scene andinstead of being pulled into the
(20:11):
next one, they pause and theythink, well, so what?
Why should I care what happensnext?
And this is important becauseunlike real life, which is often
random and chaotic, stories needto follow an internal logic that
creates meaning.
So each scene needs to grownaturally from what came before
it and plant seeds for whatcomes after it.
(20:31):
This deliberate type of causeand effect chain is what's going
to distinguish a story that'swell crafted from.
From a story that's full of justa sequence of events.
So if you think you have thisproblem in your draft, let's
talk about how to fix it.
I want you to go through eachone of your scenes and ask
yourself (20:47):
does this scene happen because of choices made in
previous scenes?
Does it force new choices thatwill affect future scenes?
If not, then you might need tostrengthen all the connections
between scenes or reconsiderwhether a particular scene
belongs in your story at all.
This exercise is going toquickly reveal where that sense
of narrative drive in your storybreaks down and/or where it
(21:09):
needs reinforcement.
Alright, now tip number fourcomes from episode number 197
called How to Write a Novel ThatHooks Readers Through Curiosity,
Not Confusion.
And I love this tip because alot of writers think that
withholding information createstension and suspense, but it
often just creates frustratedreaders.
(21:31):
So in this clip, I break downexactly what information you
need to share up front so thatreaders can focus on the mystery
that actually matters.
So here is the clip.
The first thing you need to dois give readers the essential
context.
So before you can make readerscurious about the missing piece
of the puzzle, whatever that is,they need to understand the
(21:52):
overall picture or the biggerscope of the story.
This means establishing thingslike your story world, your
characters, and the basicconflict or situation clearly.
So your job is not to hideeverything.
Instead, it's to ground readersin the essential context so that
they can focus on the mysterythat matters.
As an example, consider how thebook Gone Girl opens.
(22:14):
Amy is one of the protagonistsand she is missing.
Nick is the husband, he's theother protagonist, and the
police are investigating whathappened.
So we're not confused about thegenre, the setting, the
timeline, or the basicsituation.
The author has given us all ofthe big picture context
immediately, and therefore we'reable to focus on the real
question, which is what reallyhappened to Amy.
(22:35):
So again, the key is to provideenough context so that readers
can properly focus on themystery and the story instead of
scrambling to understand wherethey are or what's happening.
And the key thing to rememberhere is that any information
that you do choose to withholdfrom readers should be carefully
constructed and intentional.
Readers need to understand theshape of what's missing while
(22:57):
feeling completely grounded inyour story and the bigger
context.
So again, you're not hiding thatbigger context or the foundation
of kind of where that mysterycomes from.
You're just strategicallyplacing gaps within a clear
context or a clear foundation.
All right, now tip number threecomes from episode number 209
(23:17):
called How to Revise Your NovelLike a Pro Without Losing Your
Mind with Alice Sudlow.
And if you've ever feltoverwhelmed trying to revise
your manuscript, then thisepisode is a must-listen.
In this clip, Alice shares thereverse outlining method that
helps you see your story's truestructure and identify exactly
what needs work.
So here is the clip.
SPEAKER_01 (23:38):
So the next thing to do is to come back to the
manuscript and read it withpurpose.
And the purpose at this stage,in the approach that I take, the
purpose at this stage is to makean outline of what is on the
page.
So you're not reading themanuscript with the uh uh goal
of going in to make changes.
(23:59):
Absolutely not.
That's the last thing Irecommend.
We're not trying to make anychanges to the manuscript right
now.
Uh one more time for the peoplein the back, Alice.
Do not make changes to themanuscript at this stage.
You're just going to be likeputting in energy in the least
efficient way.
You will, you know, things willbe different, but they won't be
(24:19):
holistically improving themanuscript on the whole.
Yeah.
Um, so we are not here to makechanges.
We're also not really here atthis stage to look for things to
change.
Those ideas are going to comeup.
And so I recommend keeping alist to the side where you're
writing down all of the ideasfor things that you are that are
coming to mind as you're goingthrough this, but you're not
(24:41):
even necessarily going to lookfor those things.
All we're trying to do is to gointo the manuscript and create
an outline of what is there.
And there are a few differentforms that this outline can
take.
It can be really, really briefand short.
I've made outlines ofmanuscripts that are just
reminders for me of what eachscene basically is, where I just
write down like five words todescribe the scene.
(25:02):
Um, but really at this stage,what I think is most helpful is
if you challenge yourself tosummarize what is on the page
and capture both what ishappening, like what literally
the characters are doing, andalso why that matters to the
story, how it impacts the plotand how it impacts the
characters internally.
(25:23):
And what you will do as you dothat, first off, you'll condense
the story down into a documentthat's way easier to manage.
You will no longer have to hold100,000 words in your head at a
time.
You will just have to hold 5,000words in your head.
And that's so much easier.
But also, you're going to see,oh, wait, I can't figure out why
(25:43):
this scene matters.
There's no answer to that.
And that's going to be a reallyilluminating thing with that,
will just start already sparkingideas for noticing what's
working really strong in thestory and where you've got some
weak spots.
So the next thing is, I'massuming at this point, as you
have gone through that story andnoticed, oh, this the scene with
(26:05):
the characters getting coffee isreally boring, you've probably
made note of that in your listof notes about your story.
Now, what I recommend is to it'slike go down to base principles.
I actually, so when I'm workingwith a writer, I read this
outline and then we set it asidefor a while and we use it as
reference when we need toremember, okay, what did Katniss
(26:27):
do in that scene?
But we don't actually even makeany changes to that outline at
this stage.
We go back down to baseprinciples, and I ask or I
recommend that you ask yourselfreally fundamental questions.
So that would be, in fact, letme pull up my my my guide here
that I'm building out with thelist of questions that I ask.
(26:50):
Um that would be why are youwriting this story at all?
Like, let's just start there.
What's the purpose of thisstory?
What is the point of this story?
So what is kind of the meaningthat this story is carrying
underneath it?
Every story does have a point.
So we're not trying to be superdidactic here.
(27:11):
We're just trying to acknowledgewhat what movement is happening
in this story.
Right.
Uh what is your what is yourcharacter's goal?
What are they trying toaccomplish in this story?
Uh, what are the stakes of thestory?
What changes is this, you know,are we have do we have life or
death stakes?
Do we have success or failurestakes?
What are the stakes in thisstory?
(27:33):
What are the what's the what'sthe character's arc of change?
This is kind of related to thestakes, but it's the stakes on
the inside of the character.
How are they going to bedifferent at the ends at the end
of the story than the beginningof the story?
Uh, and what is the genre of thestory?
And I ask that one last at theend of that list because all of
those other questions are goingto give you clues to the genre.
(27:53):
And so the genre is kind of likedoubling down on, okay, now that
we see all of these things, theypoint us here.
I know that you, or I think thatyou encourage your writers to go
into their first draft processwith some awareness of what
their genre is.
So some of these questions,again, because we're using the
same tools at the same differentstages, some of these questions
are going to be easier to answerbecause you've already answered
(28:14):
them.
But sometimes those answerschange, you know, over the
course of your drafting process.
Sometimes they shift, sometimesyou discover new layers to them.
So now we're going back to thesequestions and doubling down.
And then the last one in thatstage is what is the story's
point of view, which is it's Iask it at this stage, I kind of
hold it to the end becausethat's really about how we're
presenting the information tothe reader.
(28:34):
Those, all those other ones,though, they're about what
information are we trying topresent.
So those that's what I do atthis stage is we ask a ton of
fundamental questions about whatthe story is.
SPEAKER_02 (28:45):
All right, now our second to last tip comes from
episode number 177 called ThreeThings You Need to Write Your
Novel in 2025, although this canapply to any year.
Now, many writers focusexclusively on learning craft
techniques when they set out towrite a book.
And I believe this is actuallywhat leads to perfectionism and
(29:05):
procrastination.
So in this clip, I explain whycraft is just one piece of the
puzzle and how focusing on craftalone can actually keep you
stuck in writer's block.
So here is the clip.
Alright, now the third thing youneed to write your novel in 2025
or any year really is craft.
And this is what most writersfocus on exclusively.
(29:26):
So the actual writing techniquesand storytelling skills needed
to write a story that works.
And while of course craft isreally important, it's not
everything.
If you don't have a process tofollow to help you turn your
ideas into an actual full-lengthstory, it doesn't matter if you
know how to write technicallygood sentences or the most
beautiful prose.
If you don't have the rightmindset to stay in the game when
(29:49):
things get tough, it doesn'tmatter if you know how to
develop your character'sbackstory or build a story world
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 to isperfectionism and oftentimes
(30:11):
procrastination.
We know what we need to do intheory.
We see examples of stories thatwork, and then we try to write
our own stories only to feeldisappointed that the stories we
write don't live up to theexamples we see or to our
expectations, which are usuallypretty high.
I also see too many writersdiscount the importance of
mindset.
And when you're not in the rightmindset to write a book and deal
(30:34):
with the ups and downs thathappen to everybody, not just
first-time writers, this is whatmakes us spiral into self-doubt
and have those feelings ofimposter 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 (30:51):
all of these things, these feelings I
just mentioned, self-doubt,overwhelm, perfectionism, and
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 gonna say that one more timebecause it's very important.
If you're experiencing writer'sblock, it has nothing to do with
(31:12):
your capabilities or the qualityof your ideas.
It all boils down to trying towrite a book with an imbalance
of those three things (31:19):
process, mindset, and craft.
You need these three thingsworking together in tandem to be
the kind of writer that finishesand publishes their book.
And when these three things worktogether, that's when the magic
happens.
But when they're out of balance,that's when writers typically
struggle.
(31:39):
All right, moving on to our verylast clip, I saved the best one
for last, and this one comesfrom episode number 203 called
Why Writing Advice is KeepingYou Stuck and What to Do
Instead.
And this might be the mostimportant message for writers
who have been consuming advicebut struggling to finish their
novels.
In this clip, I reveal whyhaving too much information
(32:01):
creates paralysis, and I shareone question that changes
everything for stuck writers.
So here is the clip.
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
to revise it.
She'd discover a new plottingmethod and then she would start
(32:21):
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 startover.
And eventually she scrapped thewhole thing.
Sound familiar?
If you can relate to this, Iwant you to know that you're so
not alone.
But here's what's reallyhappening when you're stuck in
this research or informationgathering mode.
What's really happening is thatyou're not actually learning to
(32:43):
write.
You're learning to avoidwriting.
And that's because every newpiece of advice becomes another
reason to doubt what you'vealready written.
Every expert's quote-unquotemust-haves become another
standard that you're failing tomeet.
Every contradictory opinionbecomes another excuse to stop
and reconsider everything you'vealready done.
And I get it, I really do.
(33:04):
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
(33:24):
writers understand all thisstuff already.
Or if you just find the rightmethod, then maybe writing your
first draft will be easy.
Or maybe worst of all, you'rejust not ready yet.
But here's the truth bomb thatyou need to hear.
You are never going to feelready enough.
And I'm gonna say that one moretime because it's so important.
You are never going to feelready enough to write a novel.
(33:46):
I've worked with hundreds ofwriters and not one of them has
felt ready enough beforestarting.
But the ones that go on tofinish their books, they start
anyway.
Okay, so think about it likethis for a second.
When you're trying to write yournovel, you're already juggling
like 47 different elements,right?
Plot, character development,dialogue, pacing, world
building, theme, voice, scenestructure, and approximately 39
(34:08):
other things.
Now add to the fact that everyexpert out there has their own
terminology, their ownquote-unquote foolproof method,
and their own strong opinionsabout the quote-unquote right
way to do things.
And it starts to become 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
(34:29):
12 to 15%.
Depending on where you look, thethree-act structure might have
it at the end of act one.
And then you might find yourselfover on Story Grid'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
should just go ahead and pantsthe whole thing.
(34:51):
Some say that you must know yourending 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're feelingstuck 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
(35:12):
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, herbrain, whatever, she still
couldn't finish a first draft.
And that's because too muchinformation creates way too many
(35:33):
choices for you.
And too many choices createsthis kind of paralysis or
freezing and not being able tomove forward.
So instead of asking, what elsedo I need to learn?
I'd rather you ask somethinglike, what would happen if I
only followed one approach allthe way through to the end of my
draft?
So we're not looking for theperfect approach, we're not
looking for a combination of 17different methods, just one
(35:56):
complete system from start tofinish.
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 studentsmade this shift from thinking,
let me try to couple all thesemethods together to I'm gonna
follow one process from start tofinish.
Here's what happened.
Jenny went from 12 years offalse start to completing her
(36:18):
first draft in six months,despite being a busy mom with a
full-time job and elderlyparents to care for.
Lindsay spent six months tryingto draft on her own and only
managed to write 25,000 words,and then she committed to one
clear process from start tofinish, and she wrote 100,000
words in the next six months.
Another writer went from fiveyears of writing and rewriting
(36:39):
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.
Alright, so there you have it,some of the best clips from the
fiction writing made easypodcast in 2025.
(37:00):
If any of these clips sparkedyour attention and you haven't
checked out the full episodeyet, be sure to go back and take
a listen.
I'll have all of the episodeslinked up for you in the show
notes.
Now, before I let you go, I justwant to say thank you so much
for joining me not only today,but week after week or whenever
there's a new episode.
I am so grateful that I got toshow up for you this year and
(37:20):
share all of these writing tipsand strategies with you.
And I'm so excited to see allthe wonderful things that 2026
has in store for us.
So with that being said, have agreat holiday season and I will
talk to you in 2026.
Alright, so that's it for thisepisode of the Fiction Writing
Made Easy Podcast.
(37:40):
Head over to Savannagilbo.comforward 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
somewhere in the middle of adraft, drowning in revisions, or
getting ready to publish, takemy free 30-second quiz at
(38:03):
savannaGilbo.com forward slashquiz.
You'll get a customized podcastplaylist that'll meet you right
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.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!