#115: Student Spotlight: How Anne Mortensen Went From Inspiration to Publication (& Indie Published Her Novels)

Fiction Writing Made Easy

Savannah Gilbo

Education, Fiction, Writing Tips, Arts, Bestseller, Writing, How To, Author, Writing Community, Books, Novel, How To Write Fiction, Writing Fiction, Writer, How To Write A Book

4.9 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 7 November 2023

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“I tried to ignore it, but when inspiration strikes, sometimes the inspiration keeps striking, and it just didn't want to go.” - Anne Mortensen

In today’s episode, I’m sitting down with Anne Mortensen to talk through what it was like to write, edit, and publish not one, but two of her books. You'll also get an exclusive look at her experience working alongside a developmental editor and book coach (that's me!) to bring her stories to life. Here’s a preview of what’s included:

[02:05] Anne introduces herself, talks about her background, and lets us know what kind of books she writes.
[04:44] A quick highlight reel of Anne’s books and writing journey.
[08:34] Where the inspiration for her novel, The Arcadian Match came from.
[11:03] Working on getting to the essence of the book's characters.
[14:40] How much of the external plot changed from the first draft to after Anne met her character?
[18:21] While pressure testing the outline, does Anne remember having any moments where something clicked?
[22:09] What was it like for Anne to go back to her first book after working on her second book and hitting a roadblock?
[27:30] Is the coaching experience the best? If so, why?
[29:54] What was Anne’s relationship with feedback before coaching?
[32:20] What would Anne say to other writers who are afraid of the feedback of others?
[35:46] How long did it take to get a first draft done for “Arcadian Match”?
[37:21] Is Anne working on her third book now?
[40:24] How to deal with challenges and never give up?
[41:38] What are the things Anne sees that make the writers she works with successful and other writers not?
[43:21] Parting words of wisdom from Anne.

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Links mentioned in this episode:

Head over to savannahgilbo.com for a full transcript
Anne Mortensen's website
The Arcadian Match (out June 2023)
The Truth Effect (out October 2021)

Want to join is to chat about The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros? Our next meeting is on November611th, 2023 and we're going to be reading and deconstructing this uber popular fantasy novel to see how and why it works. Click here to join or to learn more!

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey there, Savannah here. Before we get into today's episode, I wanted to share our next book
0:05.0	pick with you because I'm super excited to dig into this book and see how and why it works.
0:10.0	Our next meeting is coming up on November 16th at 4 p.m. Pacific, 7 p.m. Eastern, and we're going to be
0:16.0	digging into the fourth wing by Rebecca Yarrows.
0:19.1	Abigail and I are so excited to deconstruct this book and these meetings are always so much fun.
0:24.1	They're interactive so in addition to our presentation on why we think this story works
0:28.8	and why we think it resonates with readers, there are also polls and lots of opportunities to chat with other
0:34.4	writers and ask us questions and you know just participate in a group discussion
0:38.8	about a really awesome book. As always our aim is to analyze a novel and translate our learnings into
0:44.8	actionable tips, tools, and strategies that you can take and implement in your own
0:48.8	writing right away. So if you want to join us or if you want to learn more about how the book club works, go to
0:54.4	Savannah Gilboe.com forward slash book dash club. One more time that's Savannah Gilboe.
0:59.4	Come forward slash book dash club. Hope to see you you there you never run out of words as a
1:04.9	writer you will never run out of words so if you need to change a scene just change
1:12.4	it your scenes will change need to change a scene, just change it.
1:13.1	Your scenes will change and be revised continuously
1:17.5	up until the thing goes live.
1:20.4	And even then, you can still change a few things.
1:24.0	So change is part of the process and you want to change.
1:28.0	Lean into that change.
1:30.0	Welcome to the fiction writing made easy podcast. My name is Savannah Gilboo and I'm here to help
1:38.1	you write a story that works. I want to prove to you that writing a novel doesn't have to be overwhelming.
	...

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