Speaker 1: 0:55

So here's what writers who resist structure don't realize they're sacrificing. They're sacrificing the joy of forward momentum, and what I mean by this is that when you don't know where you're going, every writing session becomes a struggle. You spend more time thinking than writing, more time doubting than creating, and none of that is very fun, right? They're also sacrificing the satisfaction of completion. So those drawers full of unfinished manuscripts well, they're monuments to the myth that structure kills creativity, when, in reality, lack of structure is what really killed those stories.

Speaker 1: 1:32

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 1: 2:02

In today's episode, we're talking about how story structure can free your creativity and help you finish your novel, and I want to start this episode by saying that, if the word outlining or the word plotting makes you want to close your laptop and walk away. You are not alone. Maybe you're someone who's tried plotting your novel and you feel like you're filling out a tax form instead of creating art. Or maybe you've heard about story structure so the three-act structure, the plot points, whatever it is and you've thought something like well, that's not how real writers work. Real writers just write. Or maybe you're someone who believes that planning your story will kill your creativity, turn your unique vision into a formulaic mess or suck all the joy out of writing. Either way, I will tell you again you are not alone. But what if I told you that story structure doesn't have to be your enemy? What if the very thing you've been avoiding is actually the key to unlocking your creativity and finally finishing your novel?

Speaker 1: 2:56

Now there's this romantic image we have of writers sitting at a typewriter or maybe a coffee shop, channeling pure inspiration directly onto the page. There's no outlining, there's no planning, it's just raw creativity flowing from their minds to their manuscripts. But it's also a lie, and here's what actually happens when most writers try to quote-unquote just write. They sit down, they write the first chapter and it feels magical. You're discovering your characters, exploring your world, laying down gorgeous prose. Then by around chapter three, chapter four, things start to get a little murky. But you push through Chapter five, chapter six, the wheels start coming off. Your plot has wandered into territory you didn't expect. Your protagonist feels inconsistent that brilliant ending that you were envisioning. Well, now you have no idea how to get there anymore. So what tends to happen is you go back to chapter one. Maybe if you just get that beginning a little more perfect, then the rest will flow naturally. Then we flash forward to six months later and you've rewritten that opening 10, 12, 15, 17 times and you're no closer to chapter 10 than you were when you started. If you can relate again, you are not alone. I see this pattern constantly.

Speaker 1: 4:12

Writers who believe structure will limit them end up trapped in an even smaller box, and that box is the prison of their own opening chapters. Now the resistance to outlining usually sounds something like this I want to discover the story as I write it. If I know what happens, I'll be bored while I write it. Outlining feels mechanical. I'm an artist, not an engineer. My favorite author says in their book that they never outline, so why should I? I get the idea of structure, but I don't want to make my story predictable. And all of these concerns make sense on the surface, right? Who wants to turn their creative passion into a paint-by-numbers exercise? Not many of us do. But here's what this kind of thinking misses Structure isn't about predetermining every detail of your story.

Speaker 1: 4:56

It's about understanding the emotional journey that your reader needs and wants to experience. And I want you to think about music for a second. So every song has some kind of structure. There's verses, choruses, bridges but does knowing that that structure exists make all the songs in the world sound the same? Does it prevent musicians from creating something original and moving? Of course not. And that structure is invisible to the listener, right? All we experience as consumers of music is the emotion, the journey and the artistry, and the same is true for novels.

Speaker 1: 5:29

Now here's something that sounds contradictory, but is absolutely true the more constraints you have, the more creative you will become. Give someone a blank canvas and infinite options, and they'll often create nothing, right? That's very overwhelming. Here's a blank canvas. You have an unlimited amount of options. Go ahead and make something. A lot of us would freeze up at that, right. But when you give someone specific parameters for example, write a story using only 100 words, or paint only using shades of blue, or compose something using only five notes, then suddenly creativity explodes. And that's because these kind of creative constraints force you to think differently, so they force you to push past what's obvious and they force you to innovate.

Speaker 1: 6:11

And story structure works the exact same way. When you know your story needs a moment where everything falls apart for your protagonist, you stop asking what happens next and you start asking the far more interesting question what's the most devastating way things could fall apart for this specific character in this specific story? And that's where true creativity lives. It's not in the absence of structure, but in how you fulfill structural needs in new and unexpected ways. So let me clear up the biggest misconception about story structure and outlining right now. Neither of these things tells you what your characters should say. They don't tell you what events need to happen in every single scene of your plot. They don't tell you what your story needs to mean to yourself or to readers. They don't tell you how to write your sentences and they don't tell you what your story needs to mean to yourself or to readers. They don't tell you how to write your sentences and they don't tell you what makes your own story unique. Instead, structure and outlining and planning however you want to think about it helps you understand the rhythm of storytelling, so it reveals why certain moments hit harder at certain times, it shows you how to build tension that keeps pages turning and it ensures that your ending satisfies rather than disappoints.

Speaker 1: 7:17

One of my notes to novel students spent years as a self-proclaimed pantser, riding by the seat of her pants, with no outline or no plan. She had drawers full of unfinished manuscripts, each one abandoned when the plot tangled beyond repair. And then, when she finally learned story structure, something clicked in her brain. She didn't lose her ability to discover and explore and be creative. Instead, she gained the ability to discover stories that actually worked. And then, within six months of that discovery, when everything clicked, she completed her first full manuscript. So it wasn't because she'd become a different writer. It was because she had finally found a framework for her creativity.

Speaker 1: 7:56

So here's what writers who resist structure don't realize they're sacrificing. They're sacrificing the joy of forward momentum, and what I mean by this is that when you don't know where you're going, every writing session becomes a struggle. You spend more time thinking than writing, more time doubting than creating, and none of that is very fun, right? They're also sacrificing the satisfaction of completion. So those drawers full of unfinished manuscripts Well, they're monuments to the myth that structure kills creativity, when in reality, lack of structure is what really killed those stories. They're also sacrificing the ability to write fearlessly, and that's because when you have a roadmap, you can take more creative risks because you know you won't get permanently lost. You can explore interesting tangents because you know how to get back to the main path. They're also sacrificing the confidence that comes from craft. So understanding story structure and what I mean by this is that understanding story structure can really transform you from someone who hopes their story is going to work to someone who knows how to make any idea or any story work. And then, lastly, they're sacrificing time they could spend actually writing. So, without structure, you're bound to waste countless hours wandering in circles, writing and rewriting the same chapters and second-guessing every creative decision. All of this time that you're going in circles and rewriting and second-guessing, that's all time you could have spent moving your story forward if you had that structure in place.

Speaker 1: 9:23

All right, so let me give you a different way to think about structure and story planning. What if, instead of seeing an outline as a rigid set of rules, you saw it as more of a safety net for your creativity? And the way I like to think about this is by imagining a tightrope walker. So the net below them doesn't tell them how to walk or what tricks to perform right, it simply makes sure that if they fall, they can get back up and try again. So it gives them the confidence to attempt those more daring moves, and your story outline or the structure you apply to your work can work the same way. It's not there to restrict your creative choices. It's there to ensure those choices lead somewhere meaningful.

Speaker 1: 10:02

Now, some writers really need detailed outlines that map out every scene For them. That's their process and it works. Other writers just need a handful of major plot points to guide them through their draft. Some writers like visual story maps, others prefer lists of things. The specific method of how you outline, how you plan, how you add structure to your work that doesn't matter nearly as much as having some kind of framework that keeps you moving forward instead of in circles. So this shift in perspective from seeing structure as limiting to seeing it as more of something that's liberating. That's what separates writers who finish their novels from those who don't.

Speaker 1: 10:40

And that brings me to something that you might not want to hear, but I'm going to say it anyway. If you've been writing seriously for more than a year and you haven't finished a draft, it's not because you need more inspiration or visits from the magical muse. It's not because you haven't found your voice or because you haven't set up the perfect writing environment. It's not because you need 25 plus hours a week to dedicate to your writing. It's because you're trying to navigate without a map. Think about it like this you would not expect an architect to design a skyscraper through pure intuition, right. You wouldn't expect a filmmaker to shoot a movie without a script, but somehow we've convinced ourselves that, as novelists, we should be able to craft 80,000 words of compelling story through instinct alone, which makes no sense, right? And here's what I really want you to know.

Speaker 1: 11:26

The writers who finish their novels understand something that the eternal beginners don't Creativity and craft work together, not against each other. So these writers they use structure as a tool to channel their creativity, not to cage it. They know that understanding story structure doesn't make them less artistic. It actually makes them more capable of creating a story that actually reaches readers. So, to summarize structure doesn't diminish creativity. It gives it shape, purpose and power.

Speaker 1: 11:55

Now, this kind of transformation happens when you stop seeing structure as the enemy of creativity and start seeing it as creativity's best tool. So instead of asking is outlining going to kill my spontaneity and my creativity, I'd rather you ask how can structure help me discover my story more effectively? Instead of thinking real writers don't need outlines, remember that real writers do whatever helps them finish their books. Instead of fearing that plot structure will make your story predictable, realize that readers don't experience structure. They experience the story. When structure is done well, it's actually invisible to readers.

Speaker 1: 12:32

Alright, now, if you can relate to what we've talked about in this episode so far, and if you're like I am this exact person you're talking about, then your novel exists in the space between imagination and reality. You can see it, you can feel it, you can almost taste it, but you can't seem to build the bridge that will carry it from your mind to the page. Not rigid creativity, killing rules, not a paint by numbers formula that produces cookie cutter stories, but a flexible, supportive framework that channels your creativity into a story that works, a story that moves readers, a story that satisfies, a story that actually gets finished. And I want you to remember that your creative writing process doesn't have to be this struggle between art and craft, because when you understand how to outline your novel in a way that supports rather than stifles your creativity, you unlock the ability to write stories that are both imaginative and structurally sound. Alright, so what I really want you to know is that your creativity isn't the problem, your story isn't the problem, your ideas aren't the problem. The only problem is the myth that's keeping you from the tools that would set your creativity free Alright. So if you're ready to stop fearing structure and start using it, if you want to channel your creative energy into a complete novel instead of endless chapter ones, if you're tired of watching other writers succeed while you struggle with the same opening pages, then it's time for you to learn how structure and creativity work together, not against each other.

Speaker 1: 14:01

As you might have heard by now, my Notes to Novel course is opening for enrollment very soon, and this is my proven step-by-step process that will help you take your ideas and turn them into a finished draft. We just opened up the waitlist, and if you want to be first in line when doors open. Go to savannahgilbocom forward slash waitlist. Put your name on the waitlist now. So one more time that's savannahgilbocom forward slash waitlist to put your name on the notes to novel waitlist and be the first to know when doors open.

Speaker 1: 14:29

Head over to savannahgilbocom forward slash podcast for the complete show notes, including the resources I mentioned today, as well as bonus materials to help you implement what you've learned. And if you're ready to get more personalized guidance for your specific writing stage whether you're just starting out, stuck somewhere in the middle of a draft drowning in revisions, or getting ready to publish, take my free 30-second quiz at savannahgilbocom forward slash quiz. You'll get a customized podcast playlist that'll meet you right where you're at and help you get to your next big milestone. Last but not least, make sure to follow this podcast in your podcast player of choice, because I'll be back next week with another episode full of actionable tips, tools and strategies to help you become a better writer. Until then, happy writing.