#251. Student Spotlight: 5 Lessons Learned from Notes to Novel (Season 8)

Fiction Writing Made Easy with Savannah Gilbo | How to Write a Novel & Writing Advice

Savannah Gilbo

Story Structure, Story Development, Character Development, Arts, Plotting A Novel, Fiction, World Building, Books, Fiction Writing Tips, Education, Writing Stronger Scenes, Fiction Writing Mistakes To Avoid, How To, Editing A Novel, Writing Advice, How To Outline A Novel, Character Arcs

4.9 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 9 June 2026

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | Apple Podcasts | RSS

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Summary

What does it look like to go from feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure about your novel…to finally making real progress? In this episode, I'm sharing five clips from past Notes to Novel students who all came into the program stuck in different ways—overwhelmed by story structure, trapped in research rabbit holes, or sitting on drafts that existed on paper, but still weren't clicking. And underneath it all was the same frustrating feeling: each writer knew they had a story worth telling...

Transcript

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0:00.0	The first thing that Savannah said was, okay, let's work on the antagonist.
0:05.2	Oh, man, I had zero antagonist. I was ready to work on something that I was already a portion of the way through.
0:12.9	And so I gave in and I started building an antagonist. All of a sudden it was coming into place.
0:18.8	She had wants and needs and goals and motivations and
0:23.2	significance. And once I got her in place, that started making my protagonists come to life.
0:29.7	And now I'm on a path to getting this thing written.
0:36.1	Welcome to the Fiction Writing Made Easy podcast. My name is Savannah Gilbo, and I'm here to help you write a story that works. I want to prove to you that writing a novel doesn't have to be overwhelming. So each week, I'll bring you a brand new episode with simple, actionable, and step-by-step strategies that you can implement in your writing right away.
0:55.2	So whether you're brand new to writing or more of a seasoned author looking to improve your craft,
0:59.4	this podcast is for you. So pick up a pen and let's get started.
1:04.3	In today's episode, you're going to hear from five writers who've been through my notes to novel
1:09.1	course. And like the writers I featured in the
1:11.8	past student spotlight episodes, each of these writers came in stuck in a different way. But they all
1:17.8	found their breakthrough forward. And that's what you're going to hear about today. You're going to
1:21.7	hear from a longtime pancer who finally gave herself permission to plan, a left-brained pediatrician
1:27.3	who used to think
1:28.1	plotting and creativity couldn't coexist, an engineer-turned novelist who learned to embrace
1:33.7	the messy first draft, a writer who had to develop and redevelop her antagonist three times
1:39.3	before finally getting them to work, and a writer who realized his breakthrough wasn't about
1:44.0	craft at all.
1:45.1	It was about reconnecting with the reason he wanted to write this story in the first place.
1:49.8	Now, what I love about these stories is that they are all different, but the through line is the same.
1:54.8	For these writers, progress wasn't about working harder or being more talented.
	...

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