#39: The #1 Reason Why So Many Novels Go Unfinished

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

Savannah Gilbo

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

4.9 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 16 February 2021

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In today's episode, we’re going to talk about why so many novels go unfinished, and what to do so that you can start finishing every project that you start. Here's a preview of what's included: [03:20] The #1 reason why so many novels are never finished is because most writers expect to produce a first draft that’s perfect, or at least, really good -- and then, when it’s not perfect or really good, they give up on writing their story altogether. [04:35] Trying to be a perfect writer (or even...

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
0:04.8	club pick with you because I'm super excited to dig into this book and see how and why it works.
0:09.9	Our next meeting is coming up on November 16th at 4 p.m. Pacific, 7 p.m. Eastern, and we're going
0:15.7	to be digging into the fourth wing by Rebecca Yaros. Abigail and I are so excited to deconstruct
0:21.2	this book and these meetings are always so much fun. They're interactive, so in addition to our
0:26.2	presentation on why we think this story works and why we think it resonates with readers,
0:30.8	there are also polls and lots of opportunities to chat with other writers and ask us questions
0:36.2	and, you know, just participate in a group discussion about a really awesome book. As always,
0:41.2	our aim is to analyze a novel and translate our learnings into actionable tips, tools, and strategies
0:46.8	that you can take and implement in your own writing right away. So if you want to join us or if you
0:51.7	want to learn more about how the book club works, go to savannagilba.com forward slash book dash
0:57.2	club. One more time that savannagilba.com forward slash book dash club. Hope to see you there.
1:03.1	And that's part of why you'll never be able to write a perfect first draft. Even if you outline
1:08.3	your story in advance or follow one of the popular plotting methods like save the cat or the hero's
1:13.4	journey, there is a process of discovery that needs to happen with every story that you set out
1:19.9	to write. And that's because stories unfold and grow within us. So they change, they evolve in
1:25.7	our minds as we get to know them more. And every day that we sit down to work on our stories, we learn
1:31.2	a little bit more about our characters, the plot, the world, and what we're trying to say with our
1:36.8	story. And you can't possibly know everything there is to know about your story right out of the
1:41.7	gate. You can't know what kind of epiphanies you'll have or what your mental state will be each day
1:47.1	when you show up to write or what kind of things are going to influence your story because you
1:52.8	can't predict the future. And because of that, you can't expect perfection. Welcome to the
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