#228. Student Spotlight: How She Finished Her First Draft in 88 Days (While Working Full-Time) With Poornika Kakkanaiah

Fiction Writing Made Easy | Top Creative Writing Podcast for Fiction Writers & Writing Tips

Savannah Gilbo

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

4.9 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 8 January 2026

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Learn how a self-proclaimed perfectionist wrote a 114,000-word first draft in just 88 days—while working full-time and without finding more hours in the day. Poornika didn't have endless hours to write. She had two hours a night after work, some longer weekend sessions, and a chronic illness that sometimes forced her to step away completely. And yet, she finished her novel in 88 days—and went on to sign with her dream agent. In today's episode, I'm sitting down with Poornika Kakkanaiah, a for...

Transcript

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0:00.0	If you've been dreaming about writing your novel but don't know where to start, or if you've
0:03.8	already started writing but keep getting stuck in the same cycle of overthinking, researching,
0:09.0	and rewriting, then I have something just for you. I'm hosting a live three-day boot camp from
0:14.0	January 19th through the 21st, and if you give me just 30 minutes a day for three days,
0:19.7	you'll walk away with a realistic finish date, clarity on your story's deeper purpose, and a logline that proves your idea works.
0:27.2	It's only $27 and hundreds of writers have already signed up.
0:30.8	Head over to savannahgilbo.com forward slash boot camp to learn more and save your spot.
0:36.1	Hope to see you there.
0:37.5	Without an outline, I definitely would not have finished the book. But it's nice when the outline's
0:42.4	actually done because then it's really just doing. It's doing the actual writing and there's not
0:48.5	really any planning left to do. And without having that planning as a roadblock or, you know,
0:54.0	trying to figure out world
0:55.7	building or what do we do in this scene, where do we start here, that type of stuff, I feel like
1:01.1	it makes it so much easier to write. Like you don't, I personally didn't have as many barriers as
1:06.5	I was writing. And I never ran into writer's block when I wrote the first book.
1:13.3	Welcome to the fiction writing made easy podcast. My name is Savannah Gilbo, and I'm here to
1:18.4	help you write a story that works. I want to prove to you that writing a novel doesn't have to be
1:23.0	overwhelming. So each week, I'll bring you a brand new episode with simple, actionable, and step-by-step
1:28.8	strategies that you can implement in your writing right away.
1:32.3	So whether you're brand new to writing or more of a seasoned author looking to improve your
1:35.9	craft, this podcast is for you.
1:38.0	So pick up a pen and let's get started.
	...

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