#124: Student Spotlight: 5 Lessons Learned from Notes to Novel (Season 3)

Speaker 1: 0:25

The plan is a plan and you should be going back to it and constantly kind of revising it and reassessing it and fixing it. And that was also mind-blowing to me because it meant that I could erase the deadlines like they were a line in the sand that I couldn't move.

Speaker 2: 0:42

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. So whether you're brand new to writing or more of a seasoned author looking to improve your craft, this podcast is for you. So pick up a pen and let's get started.

Speaker 2: 1:10

In today's episode, we're going to go behind the scenes of five writers' journeys as they work on their first drafts. I reached out to some of my notes to novel season three students and asked them to share the number one thing they learned about writing a first draft while actually working on their first draft. So in this episode, you're going to get to hear from real writers who are in the trenches actively working on their novels, and in many cases, these writers have finished an entire outline or they've written to the end of a draft. So I think it'll be very fun for you to hear how they did it, plus some of their biggest takeaways from the actual drafting experience and how the notes in novel course helped them get to the end. So, without further ado, let's go ahead and dive right in, and the first writer we're going to hear from is Lindsay Safara, and here's what she had to say about writing her first draft.

Speaker 3: 1:57

Hey everyone, I'm Lindsay Safara, I'm from Cleveland, ohio, and my book is a superhero fantasy with the genres of action and worldview. So my writing journey started with an outline I thought had enough details, but surprise, surprise, it totally didn't. It lacked the details that mattered and thus I had no direction on how to write this story. So I was forced to constantly stop and think about what would happen next, and that just kept me from writing in the end. So this was a massive struggle that I had for about six months of trying to draft on my own, and at the end of those six months, when I decided to sign up for notes to novel, that was just a massive, massive game changer. I cannot rave enough about how amazing the coaching calls and community are, but what really struck me in the course was the work behind, discovering the why behind your writing and book, as well as the focus on your antagonists' development and their goals. So, starting with the why, going through that work and discovering my why behind my book, was the biggest aha moment in discovering not just the theme for that book but the themes for my dual protagonists too, and that already was a huge boost in adding depth to my writing and the scenes on a smaller scale. On top of that, developing my antagonist and their goals was what helped push the story forward. If I didn't know what kind of event should happen next in the story or how my characters would want to move forward, I reminded myself of their goals, but especially what my antagonists want and what their goals were, what they wanted and their actions to getting what they wanted was what pushed my protagonists to react and then push the story on their end. So in the end, there was this really cool cause and effect cycle created by they did this, so now they react this way, et cetera, et cetera, and that just creates flow for your story versus dumping story events in an outline that don't relate to each other. You want the flow and that. The antagonist really helped me get to that. So with those key things of why end antagonist, they made it so much easier to add more detail in direction to my outline as I revamped it. Throughout the course, I used those key things to fill out key scenes and character arcs, as well as, on a smaller scale, the five commandments for each scene, and everything was just starting to fall into place after that.

Speaker 3: 4:41

If I had questions. The weekly coaching calls were perfect. If I had new ideas to add for parts that I already drafted. The revision tracker was such a lifesaver so that I didn't have to go back and edit and could just keep writing so that I Ambush starts coming forward. So, um, as I said, I tried to write a draft on my own for six months and that process was difficult to say as an understatement.

Speaker 3: 5:06

I only hit about 25,000 words during those first six months and I also quote unquote failed that year's Nono Rhymo, since it fell in that time frame.

Speaker 3: 5:15

But the six months after that, when I signed up for Notes to Novel, not only did I go through the next six months with the course content and revamping my outline, but my draft also reached 100,000 words and since Nono Rhymo came back, I was able to knock it out of the park this time.

Speaker 3: 5:34

That's more than doubling my original writing pace, but in the same time frame. So from 25K in the first six months to 100K in the second set of six months, and it's thanks to that course. I feel also way more confident and excited about my story. I'm way more organized with my details, despite all of the moving parts I have, from world building to subplots, and I now have a drafting routine that possesses an alive and organic flow for developing a story, and that's all from Notes to Novel. So for anyone who has the desire to become a published author, notes to Novel is just a must have investment, in my opinion, as the best way to get you started from zero to finishing your draft. I recommend this now to anyone who wants to write a novel, because everyone's story is worth telling and deserves to be published out there to the world, and that includes your story. So thank you, savannah and Notes to Novel, for everything and for helping my desire and dream to start becoming a reality. And for you, here's to your story also getting out there.

Speaker 2: 6:47

Lindsay, I love this so much. Thank you for sharing all of your amazing insights. I feel like listeners are going to take away some really good nuggets from everything you just said and implement it in their writing right away, which is super cool. But the thing I want to highlight about what Lindsay just said for everyone listening is that in the beginning she said that she was working on her story with no real direction and she found herself constantly stopping to think about what would happen next or where the big picture story was going, and I know that many listeners will be able to relate to this. It's kind of like going on a drive and you might know where you're going, but you have no plans for how you're going to get there, why you're going there in the first place, where you're going to stay along the way or who you're going to visit. Now, I'm a planner by nature, so that thought stresses me out a lot. But that's kind of what it reminds me of and, to use the driving metaphor a little more, it's like pulling over every 100 miles or so to look at the map, figure out where you are and then what to do next. It's just really hard to move forward that way right. So I love that.

Speaker 2: 7:48

Lindsay highlighted a few things that really changed the game for her. First, it was finding her deeper motivation for why she wanted to write this book in particular. Second, it was getting to the heart of who her antagonist is and what they want and why. And then, third, it was her willingness to keep moving forward even though she knew the scenes that she already had written would need some editing. So I think that's really awesome, lindsay, and I'm so thankful to you for sharing your experience with us today. And if you want to get in touch with Lindsay or follow along on her writing journey, I'm going to put all of her links in the show notes for you, so go check them out Now. The next writer we're going to hear from is named Leah Gray, and here's what she had to say about writing her first draft while in the Notes Novel Course.

Speaker 4: 8:30

Hey there, fellow writers. I'm aspiring author to Leah Michelle penned a Leah Gray. I live in New Jersey and I'm also a wedding photographer and soon to be wedding planner. I love young adult fiction, especially action in the sci-fi, fantasy, commercial genre. Let me just say that I've been writing this young adult series since 2015. I always got a few chapters in and then just stopped. I couldn't figure out what wasn't working.

Speaker 4: 8:52

In the earlier part of 2023, I discovered Savannah's podcast, which led me to her Notes to Novel Course. This course unlocked a whole new side of my story. I had not realized that scenes and chapters were different. Understanding that part of story structure was one of the biggest reasons why what I had been writing before didn't work. After going through the course, digging deeper to my whys, character development and plot, I discovered that I can tell the story I want and make it make sense. You should have seen what I plotted out before I took the course.

Speaker 4: 9:21

It was a train wreck. There was just action for action's sake and it didn't distinguish between the external and internal genre. I didn't have a middle either. I had a beginning and an end and after notes to novel, I have finally bridged the gap to tell the most important parts of the story I never see. What I had before was not great, and I say that with confidence. For example, I had six main characters right out the gate in the first chapter. It was a lot and the characters didn't really have their own goals. I wasn't thinking about that. Now, instead of having six main characters, I have my one main character, her group of close friends and some others spread out across the journey of the first book. There is flow and pacing that really changed the shape of my story.

Speaker 4: 10:01

Another amazing thing about this course is the community. I have these new friends that are in the same place that I am in and they have the same Savannah Gilboe education. We all share the same passion and we all want to write stories that work. I have some people that I talk to on a regular basis across the globe that I can depend on for feedback, ideas and support. Savannah has built a really safe and wonderful virtual world for us all and it's so great to have those connections. I am currently plotting my novel, or should I say replotting?

Speaker 4: 10:28

I veered from the course to try my very first NaNoWriMo. It wasn't successful for me in the way that I thought, but I did learn a lot about my story. My plot wasn't finished before I started, so now I am reworking and finishing that so I can get my messy draft done. Speaking of a messy draft, there was one very, very important thing that any perfectionist just like me needs to know.

Speaker 4: 10:49

My writing is the most vulnerable part of me. Something that always held me back from finishing my novel was the fear of a bad first draft. Let me tell you, while that won't go away 100%, the Noh's De Novel course taught me how to write a messy draft that isn't so messy. I know that my first official draft will be miles better than it would have been without the course. Savannah walks you through key pieces of storytelling that make you feel more confident and less anxious about finally getting that discovery draft done. It's okay to have an okay or even bad first draft. Having that idea reinforced was crucial to me. I used to be scared to tell people I was writing a book and what it was about. Noh's De Novel changed everything for me. I've told my friends and family and there are people cheering me on, and I don't feel like such an imposter anymore. I know that I can take my passion for storytelling and writing and make it something worth reading. I owe that all to Savannah.

Speaker 2: 11:39

First of all, leah, thank you so much for those kind words and I'm so glad that you highlighted what it was like to work through the course as a perfectionist. Leah and I talked about that a lot because I, too, am a perfectionist and it's super, super hard to take that first step into messy draft territory. It's actually something that prevents a lot of people from even starting to write their book, so I'm glad Leah was able to push past that and make progress. I also love that she highlighted the community aspect, because I think that's something that makes Noh's De Novel special right from the get-go. Right from the get-go, we talk about the messiness of writing a novel, and my team and I work really hard to make sure the space inside of our Facebook group remains safe for everybody.

Speaker 2: 12:21

We have all kinds of writers in Noh's De Novel, and I love seeing people like Leah open up and share their messy ideas, because that's when the magic and the creativity happens and it also inspires other people to raise their hand and ask questions as well.

Speaker 2: 12:34

It's actually really funny, because sometimes writers will ask questions during our live Q&As and just the act of them asking the question out loud gives them an idea or tells them how to solve their problems, so it's really fun to see. But anyway, leah, thank you so much for sharing your experience and your insights, and if you're listening to this and you're a perfectionist, I hope Leah's words helped unlock something in you or at least gave you a smidge of courage to take messy action, however big or small. If you want to get in touch with Leah and follow along on her writing journey, I will put all of her links in the show notes for you as well. Now, next up, we're going to hear from another writer named Amy Blackford, aka Amy B, and here's what she had to say about her experience in the Noh's De Novel course and working on her first draft.

Speaker 5: 13:19

Hello fellow writers. My name is Amy Blackford, aka Amy B. I live in Atlanta, georgia, and write young adult science fiction and fantasy. When I started to outline novel number eight, I had this intuitive feeling there were still some missing pieces to the novel puzzle and, before being published, I really wanted to know the nuts and bolts of how to write a solid novel that didn't take eight years to edit before finally giving up and moving on to the next one. I'm sure some of you can relate to this. When I came across Noh's De Novel, I knew this was the course and I wish I had more than five minutes. But believe me when I say Savannah Gilbo gives you the keys to the novel kingdom and I want to give you just a taste of some of my biggest aha takeaways.

Speaker 5: 14:06

Number one theme Did you know there are 10 universal themes for stories Before Noh's De Novel? I didn't. I've never even heard anyone discuss this before, and figuring your theme out is the basis for everything that will follow. So it's the most essential question you need to ask yourself before writing a book why am I writing this book and what am I trying to say? Your novel's theme is what dictates your protagonist's main character arc. So, whatever your theme is at the beginning of your novel, your protagonist should believe the opposite of what your overall message is and, through the plot and interaction with other characters, come into alignment with the theme by the end of the book.

Speaker 5: 14:49

Number two content genre versus commercial genre. Commercial genre is where your book sits on a shelf, while content genre determines the emotional journey your reader expects when they pick up your book. So you may be writing a YA fantasy, but that doesn't tell the reader what kind of story to expect. Is it a thriller, a romance, action or a mystery? Every content genre has key scenes that must be included within your story for your reader to truly feel satisfied. So being able to know what those key scenes are, once you've decided your content genre, allows you to make certain they're present, which meets your reader's expectations. Our job as writers is to do this and, of course, do it in a new and unique way.

Speaker 5: 15:38

Number three how to write a well-structured scene. There should be some sort of a mini arc of change leading back to your protagonist. Do you need to understand your protagonist's goal for that scene? Every scene should be around 1500 to 2500 words and has what Savannah calls the five commandments. You should have an inciting incident, a turning point, crisis, climax and resolution In the end of every chapter. It should be set up because this happened. Now this is what comes next.

Speaker 5: 16:12

And number four fast first draft and magical edits. Oh, this one really is a dozer and, believe you me, I see now why it takes so long to write a novel. I love to edit every chapter, sometimes for weeks, before moving on to the next With magical editing tricks. Savannah explains why it's so important to allow that first draft to be messy and get the words on the page. Don't go backwards, move forward. It makes no sense to paint and decorate a house if you haven't built a solid frame. Let that sink in for a minute.

Speaker 5: 16:49

Before taking this course, I understood character arcs but still had a hard time with understanding the difference between showing versus telling, when to add backstory and how important interiority is, having that balance between external dialogue, action and internal thoughts that give readers the emotional journey they're looking for when they pick up a book. I feel confident after taking this course I'm going to write many novels of all genres and understand before I draft that first line. I'm in the power seat because I'll know what I want to say and why, and that will give me the ability to provide my readers with the emotional satisfaction and entertainment they want when they pick up one of my books. So if you've been hacking away getting conflicting feedback and critique groups and want to know how to craft a powerful story in any genre of your choosing with precision, I highly suggest you take notes to novel. It's truly the best gift you can give yourself as a writer.

Speaker 2: 17:53

Amy. I couldn't have said any of this better myself, so thank you so much for sharing your takeaways from the notes to novel course. You really pulled out some good ones there, and oh how I wish I could take credit for some of these tools, like the five commandments or those five elements that each scene needs to have, but they are not my own creation. So if you've been listening to this podcast for a while now, you've probably heard me talk about Robert McKee's work. Those five key elements were first identified by him, as far as I know, and then I believe they were adapted into the story grid methodology by Sean Coyne after that. So have to give credit where credit is due.

Speaker 2: 18:27

But I do want to highlight something Amy said towards the end. She said before I draft the first line of any book, I know I'm in the power seat, I know what I want to say and why, and that gives me the ability to provide my readers with the emotional satisfaction and entertainment they want when they pick up one of my books. And if you're listening right now, can you imagine how good that must feel. When I heard Amy say that, I was thinking yes, go, amy. The confidence that comes from having a high-level understanding of what you need to do to write a novel and then from having the tools to actually write it. That is huge. So thanks again for sharing that with us, amy, and if anybody wants to get in touch with Amy or follow along on her writing journey, we will have her links in the show notes for you as well. Now, next up, we're going to hear from Tanya Fab-Sitz, and here's what she had to say about her experience in the notes and novel course and writing her first draft.

Speaker 6: 19:19

Hi, I'm Tanya. I'm a medical writer and I'm based in Austria. I write in German and my first novel has been published a few years ago. It's a funny story about depression. For all ages, though, it has been marketed as middle grade. My biggest ah-ha moment during Savannah's Notes to Novel course was probably related to scene structure, but my favourite takeaway is definitely the overall feeling of relaxing into the process of outlining. I've always been struggling with working out quote-unquote perfect outlines and, having completed the Notes to Novel course, I now see that outlining is more of an organic process. It contains certain steps and, most importantly, it doesn't have to take forever. So this means that now I feel much more comfortable outlining and I can even imagine enjoying it one day. So thank you very much, Savannah.

Speaker 2: 20:14

Tanya. I love this so much and I love that she differentiated between her biggest ah-ha moment and her favourite takeaway. That is such a fun way of looking at it. I agree with what she said about how good it can feel to relax into an outline and to trust the process. I do understand that some people are panzers by nature, and that is totally fine. It's important to do what works for you, for sure.

Speaker 2: 20:36

But if you're listening to this as someone who identifies as a panzer but maybe hasn't finished a draft yet, I want to encourage you to give outlining a try and, more importantly, to find some kind of outlining process that works for you, because the real point of an outline is twofold. Yes, it's to provide you with a roadmap to write from, but it's also to help you get your story out of your head and onto the page so that you can organize your ideas, and it can be a really fun and organic process if you go into it with that mindset. So just my two cents, and I'm glad that Tanya highlighted that as one of her favourite parts of the course, because it's one of my favourite parts of the course as well. Now, if anybody wants to get in touch with Tanya or follow along on her writing journey. I will have all of her links in the show notes. Next up we're going to hear from Morgan Schrock. So here's what Morgan had to say about working through the notes and novel course and writing her first draft.

Speaker 1: 21:28

Hi everyone. My name is Morgan. I'm a 39-year-old wife, mother two. I live in Central Ohio. I work as a veterinarian at a shelter here in Central Ohio. I also did academic research for 10 years.

Speaker 1: 21:40

So I come to this desire to write a fiction book from 10 years' experience of writing scientific publications for journals and grades, and so those things actually aren't that helpful in writing a fiction novel. So about a year ago I decided I wanted to write this book. The commercial genre is probably women's fiction, and then the content genre is worldview with a splash of crime and love. And I had been listening to the podcast for a year. I've listened to every single one and I found them very actionable and helpful, and so that's why I decided to kind of spring for the notes and novel course and I say that because it is a chunk of money. I considered it an investment. My daughters are seven and 10, and so they're little, and so my time is valuable, like all of your time is valuable, and so it wasn't just an investment in my writing, it was an investment in my time that I feel that over the past year I've learned a lot and I'm probably 80% done with the first draft of the book. I know that I'm kind of taking a circuitous route because I could be doing things more officially and that's kind of what I wanted to come to the course for is kind of what is the right way to do this. And my biggest aha moment was I knew that my problem was that my story was kind of boring in the middle and I knew the feelings that I wanted to elicit and I knew what my theme was. You know, my main character is a new vet and she essentially needs to learn to have a healthy work life balance and so I knew I needed to get there. But everything in the middle was just kind of boring. And what I found was that as I went through the course I identified the problem. So the issue was that my character didn't have enough agency, and I think I identified that maybe module three or four, but I didn't figure out how to fix it until module five. And that's because Savannah went over.

Speaker 1: 23:28

The outlining technique of every scene should have a goal, a conflict, decision and feeling. So you know, for instance, my main character has to have a goal that begins the scene, a conflict arises where she makes a decisive moment, where she kind of shows her character and if she's learning her lesson or she's not, and then what is the feeling after that? And that I mean maybe you guys are already doing that, but for me that was a huge, and no one else in the course seemed to think that that was really mind-blowing, but it just was really where my story needed help, because once I figured that out, it automatically gave my character agency. We could kind of very clearly see in a lot of the scenes where she was in figuring out the work-life balance, like she's still making the same mistakes or not. The other thing that it did for me is it created a really nice cause-and-effect flow in the middle saggy part of my story. The decision that was made, you know, let's say scene 10, the decision that's made in scene 10 kind of creates an effect that is the springboard for scene 11. And so that kind of just kept the story a lot more interesting. That was my biggest aha moment.

Speaker 1: 24:38

Another aha moment I had was in creating a realistic writing plan. I found that and this is why the course is good, because different things pinged for different people and a lot of the authors would say you know, I'm having a hard time finding time to write and that actually I am the opposite of that. I will make sure I get my writing time in, even if I'm staying up till 2 or 3 in the morning, and I think that's probably a holdover of doing academic research with my intense deadlines. But I actually found that what she says is that she kind of breaks everything down for you. This is how you come up with your plan. But she says you know, the plan is a plan and you should be going back to it and constantly kind of revising it and reassessing it and fixing it. And that was also mind-blowing to me because it meant that I could erase the deadlines Like they were a line in the sand that I could move, because it's not like I have an agent or a publisher that you know.

Speaker 1: 25:27

These are really firm deadlines. Those are two really big takeaways for me. I think that it's really wonderful that the class is broken up into on your own time lessons with the live interactive portion. I loved hearing everybody else's questions and I know that mythe takeaways that I've learned from my AHA moment have made writing the rest of my outline for this. You know I'm 80% done, so I've finished outlining the rest of the 20% and it has just made suchI mean, I think that you can very dramatically see the difference of when I started taking the course and had my AHA moment before and after. That's how much my writing has improved, but not just the writing, it's the ease. You know, it's not a struggle when I sit down in front of the laptop to write this stuff. Everything just seems a lot easier.

Speaker 2: 26:13

That's so good, right? I love that Morgan's takeaway was both similar and different to what everybody else shared, and she's spot on with what she said about each writer taking something different from the course. You can definitely see that in this episode, right? But there is a clear theme to the experiences that the writers have shared here today, and it's that learning how to write a well-structured scene is huge in terms of one's ability to write a solid first draft, and it made me smile when Morgan was like am I the only one that didn't know a scene needed to have a goal, conflict and a decision? I'll tell you from experience, morgan you are not the only one. This is definitely a big AHA moment for a lot of people, and it's something that I recommend all writers study. Even if you don't resonate with the scene structure that I teach on this podcast, I do encourage you to find one that works for you, because it will make a huge difference. I also like how Morgan shared that, although she was able to make time to write, she still reached a sticking point where she didn't know why the middle of her story wasn't working, which kudos to you for recognizing that, morgan. I know that's not easy to realize. But she didn't give up. She went out and found the tools to help her make the dream of writing a novel possible, and I think that is really cool. So thank you so much, morgan, for sharing your experience with us today. And if you want to get in touch with Morgan or follow along on her writing journey, we will put all of her links in the show notes.

Speaker 2: 27:34

Now, before I let you go, I just want to say another big thank you to Amy, lindsay, leah, morgan and Tanya for coming on this episode and sharing your biggest takeaways learned while writing your first drafts and from going through the Notes to Novel course. I truly appreciate you For those listening. If you enjoyed this episode, go check out the social media or the websites of all the different authors we had on the show today. Say hello and give them a high five for being brave and sharing their stories and their struggles with us on the episode. And if you want to join me inside the next round of the Notes to Novel course, doors are opening very soon, on January 17th.

Speaker 2: 28:11

If this sounds like the right next step for you and you want to be the first to know when doors open, go sign up for my free training, the Confident Writer's Roadmap Five Steps to Writing a Novel Without Letting Perfectionism or Procrastination Get in the Way. The training is about an hour long and it's totally free, and at the very end you'll hear all about the Notes to Novel course and how you can enroll. To sign up for that free training, go to savannahgilbocom forward slash finish. One more time that's savannahgilbocom forward slash finish, and we will make sure to put that link in the show notes for you as well. So that's it for today's episode.

Speaker 2: 28:47

As always, thank you so much for tuning in and for showing your support. If you want to check out any of the links I mentioned in this episode, you can find them in the show notes listed in the description of each episode inside your podcast player or at savannahgilbocom forward slash podcast. If you're an Apple user, I'd really appreciate it if you took a few seconds to leave a rating and a review. Your ratings and reviews tell Apple that this is a podcast that's worth listening to and in turn, your reviews will help this podcast get in front of more fiction writers just like you. And while you're there, go ahead and hit that follow button, because there's going to be another brand new episode next week full of actionable tips, tools and strategies to help you become a better writer. So I'll see you next week and until then, happy writing.