Speaker 1: 0:55

By slowing down to check in with my scenes and the outline I was creating, I ended up with the cleanest zero draft I've ever written. Instead of one year to edit those 50,000 words and then abandoning it out of frustration, it took me only two months to do a developmental edit on the 72,000 words. For anyone who likes math, this means I went from around 2,300 words per daily writing session to 800. I eliminated nine months of painful developmental edits while also writing less each day. I slowed down to speed up and, for someone who loves efficiency, that was my biggest and happiest aha moment of the entire course my biggest and happiest aha moment of the entire course.

Speaker 2: 1:45

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: 2:10

In today's episode, we're tackling one of the most stubborn myths in the writing world, and that is that plotting and structure kill your creativity. If you're a discovery writer who's been told that you need to outline but you're convinced it will ruin your process, or if you've been pantsing your way through multiple manuscripts without ever reaching the end, then this episode is for you. You'll hear from three committed pantsers who thought outlining was creative. Death Catherine, a discovery writer who could easily write 50,000 words in three weeks, but then who would spend a year trying to edit manuscripts she'd eventually abandon. Bree, who identified as a pantser for a decade, editing and re-editing the same 25 pages for years and years, while following the advice that you only need to see as far as your headlights in the dark, and Casey who kept getting stuck when her stories would just die in the middle with no idea how to move forward.

Speaker 2: 3:00

Now here's what I love about these stories. Each writer discovered that the right kind of structure actually amplified their creativity instead of stifling it. They found ways to maintain the discovery and the creativity and the spontaneity that they loved, while giving themselves the roadmap they needed to reach the end. So if you've been resisting outlining or creating some kind of roadmap for your story because you think it means rigid paint-by-numbers storytelling, then these writers are about to change your mind. Completely. Is my signature eight-week program designed to help you confidently write a story you're proud of, without the self-doubt, frustration or overwhelm that stops most writers in their tracks? So if you've been wanting to work with me on your novel and follow a step-by-step framework to turn your ideas into a finished draft, then this is your chance. I'll be sharing more details soon, but if you want to be the first to know when doors open and snag a few extra goodies in the meantime, make sure you're on the waitlist at savannahgilbocom forward slash waitlist. Let's go ahead and dive right into the first clip.

Speaker 1: 4:11

Hi, I'm Katherine Varley. I write speculative fiction that explores what it means to be human in technologically advanced worlds. My stories are inspired by societal issues and scientific progress Think Black Mirror for optimists. I'm a discovery writer through and through. I have wasted years attempting to be a plotter or someone who outlines before I write. It just isn't how my brain works. I need to build the story as I write it, and I'm sharing that because I feel my experience with Notes to Novel will differ from others who can see their story before writing it, and I want to offer some insight to those like me who might wonder how a course like Notes to Novel could help them. I'm a quick drafter. I can write a zero draft in three weeks without a problem. What I can't do is edit that zero draft into what I call my functional first draft that has no story level issues or plot holes.

Speaker 1: 5:04

I signed up for Nosta Novel specifically for help at the story level editing stage. Spoiler, the course did help me with editing, but it wasn't in the way I thought it would be. Before Nosta Novel, I gave up on seven manuscripts would be. Before Nostanovel, I gave up on seven manuscripts, all in the developmental editing stage. I would sprint to the end of my zero draft and then stall out while editing. But after going through the course, I made one change to my drafting process. It isn't exciting, but it was oh so effective for me. I checked in with my scenes.

Speaker 1: 5:38

Savannah urged us to write a few scenes and then go back and check our outlines to see what needed to be tweaked. Because I didn't have an outline already, I had to create one. As I wrote, I printed off the flexible outline worksheet that she provided and after every writing session I would write two to three sentences about the scenes I had just drafted one sentence about the external plot and one to two sentences about the internal arc of change. If you were like me and don't write chronologically, don't worry, scenes tend to move around in editing. Just put the scene where you feel it might belong and keep moving forward.

Speaker 1: 6:11

After filling in my outline worksheet for the day, I would ask myself a couple questions. Were my scenes moving the plot forward while providing an internal arc of change through the classic goal, motivation and conflict, and was it a key scene or leading to one? I would also check my genre cheat sheets, also provided by Savannah, to keep it clear in my mind what readers were expecting of my story. I didn't write down the answers to these questions, I just thought about them. If I felt that the scene wasn't doing what I wanted it to do, I made a color-coded note at the start of the scene of what I would improve and then moved on. But because I was considering these questions daily, they began to subconsciously change how I wrote.

Speaker 1: 6:54

My drafting speed slowed to what felt like a crawl and while I was frustrated that it was taking longer, I knew personally that, and through feedback from critique partners, that the story I was writing was much stronger than it would have been otherwise. My scenes deepened and my characters became more vivid, all while the story remained complex. Without becoming confused. By slowing down to check in with my scenes and the outline I was creating, I ended up with the cleanest zero draft I've ever written Not only the cleanest, but the longest.

Speaker 1: 7:28

I'm an underwriter, so this was a big win for me. Instead of three weeks to draft 50,000 words, it took me three months to draft 72,000. Instead of one year to edit those 50,000 words and then abandoning it out of frustration, it took me only two months to do a developmental edit on the 72,000 words. For anyone who likes math, this means I went from around 2,300 words per daily writing session to 800. I eliminated nine months of painful developmental edits, while also writing less each day. I slowed down to speed up and, for someone who loves efficiency, that was my biggest and happiest aha moment of the entire course.

Speaker 3: 8:19

Hi, I'm Brie Cox, coming to you from the wonderful Midwestern city of Wichita, kansas, and I write young adult sci-fi. I grew up poor, so my parents said if I wanted to write as a profession, I needed to at least major in something that made money and they didn't say how much money, which I think they maybe should have been more specific. So that's how I landed in journalism, and there's not a lot of money there, but I guess you know it met the criteria of some. My first dream was always fiction, and I joke that my second grade teacher ruined my life by telling me I should be a creative writer when I grow up. So I guess if I finish this book at 45, then maybe I'm finally a grownup. I guess that's probably debatable, and luckily I'm writing for teens though, which is really my level of maturity. So it works out. After 10 years of struggling to write this novel, savannah's notes to novel class changed everything and got me to the end Not once, but multiple times, which really is the goal right. Every time you make it all the way to the end. You add in that dimension and complexity you really want to see in your writing. That beautiful prose will always be there. You have to trust that. I didn't trust that and that's really for the last run through and you just have to trust that you're a good writer and when that time comes, those beautiful words will show up.

Speaker 3: 9:35

I identified as a pantser when I started and I followed the advice that you only need to see as far as your car's headlights in the dark to keep moving forward. But it turns out I was personally driving in circles for like a decade, so that advice was complete crap, at least for me. I was editing and re-editing the first 25 pages for years, much of which I ended up having to throw out anyway. Of the million aha moments that Savannah's brilliant, useful and practical notes to novel course gave me, I'll talk about just two, and they sort of flow into one another. So one invest in the flexible outline and two write in scenes. So, even though I identified as a pantser, the outlining process not only helped me make sure each scene moved my character and plot forward, meaning it wasn't boring to my reader. It is a fun and creative process. So I was surprised by that and I could play with it. Pressure test ideas like what if this happens? Or oh, what if this twist comes in, then what? How does that affect the rest of my story? And I could see how plot threads interacted and get an executive overview of my story so I could get control of the moving parts. So I moved from being an employee of my writing to the president. It freed me up to be even more creative with words and imagery. Actually, when I sat down to write, because I knew where I was headed and I identified my internal and external genres, layered those in, allowed me to see the shape of my story and how it rises and falls, and then I could layer in my subplots and those key scenes. And before I knew it I had a blueprint to write a really plot rich story that knows where it's going and why. And if that all sounds really daunting, don't worry. No novel walks you through how to do it step by step, and it's actually easy once you break it down, and Savannah helps you to do that.

Speaker 3: 11:18

The second big thing for me is writing in scenes and making sure each scene had the five components needed to drive the narrative forward.

Speaker 3: 11:24

I actually posted the five parts of the scenes over my computer. I am looking at it right now and I reference it every like 1500 words I write. Does it have an inciting incident, a turning point, a crisis, a climax and a resolution? And if those five components are unclear, nose to Novel breaks it down for you, so it's super easy. Then I make sure each scene links to the plot or the character arc and that it solves part of the puzzle and challenges my character's worldview. So those were my two big takeaways Make a flexible outline and write in scenes, and those helped me get from the endless spiraling to moving all the way to the end, and I highly recommend notes to novels so you can get a handle on those concepts and many more. It really takes examples and practice for you to develop your own unique writing method that works for you, and Savannah gives you the roadmap to do that. Good luck out there. I know you can do it.

Speaker 4: 12:15

Hi, my name is Casey Gillette. I am from Fort Worth Texas, but I have lived in Asia for the past 10 plus years, half of it in China and half of it in Thailand. I write fantasy and romance books. That feels very powerful to say that because I haven't actually finished my book yet, but that's where I'm going in life. I think if I could like mash the words together, I would call the genre romanticy, but pretty much fantasy and romance.

Speaker 4: 12:47

My biggest takeaway from the notes to novel course was really the like major key scenes and how those are structured within a plot and broken down in the acts. My previous writing endeavors I had always had these stories, ideas, and I would write, write, write, and then I would get so incredibly stuck and I guess it's writer's block it felt more like the story had just died and I had no idea where it could go from here. It's like I don't even understand how to get from this point to a next point and it seemed to really elude me, like how that process worked. How do authors get from point A to point B and onward? And so when I went through the course and we learned about the key scenes and the different genres and how there's like an inner genre and an outer genre, a commercial genre, and how they interact with each other, and then how you can layer the plots with their own genres and key scenes within it. It just made so much more sense.

Speaker 4: 13:41

I have built out, I've spent a lot of time on an outline, I have my key scenes in place and so currently in my writing journey, I am in the writing process and so, while I won't say I'm a full-on planner, I think a lot of things I'm doing is still would be described as a pantser. I am now quote unquote pantsing with a direction, and so that is really helpful because I have a full outline with scenes. I guess if I say I'm a pantser, it's because I don't have a lot of my side characters decided on, fleshed out or anything, so who's going to join the party as we go? But the key scenes have made a world of difference in how I conceptualize the story, how I've planned this outline, and it's helped my writing process so far. When I get stuck for a day on one scene, it's great. I move to a next scene. I don't have to like think about oh, where does it go from here? I already know. So I really enjoy having that kind of outline and roadmap that I got from Notes to Novel.

Speaker 2: 14:37

All right.

Speaker 2: 14:37

So I hope hearing from Catherine, brie and Casey completely shifted how you think about structure and creativity. Whether it was Catherine's revelation about slowing down to speed up Brie's transformation from employee to president of her writing, or Casey's discovery of pantsing with direction, these stories prove that the right framework doesn't have to live at your creativity. In fact, it can unleash it. Now here's the key takeaway from today's episode Outlining isn't about controlling every single detail of your story. It's about giving yourself enough structure to stay oriented while still leaving room for all the magical discoveries that happen during the writing process. Now, if the stories in today's episode inspired you to finally try a flexible approach to outlining, I have some exciting news. Notes to Novel. My signature eight-week live program is opening for enrollment on August 19th. This is the same program that gave Katherine, bree and Casey and hundreds of other busy writers the roadmap they needed to finish their novels without adding more stress to their already packed lives. But here's the thing I want you to be prepared when doors open, because this live round always fills up fast, and that's why I've created a VIP waitlist that gives you early access before the public launch, plus some really fun and incredible bonuses while you wait, head over to savannahgilbocom forward slash waitlist to get on the VIP waitlist and to get early access when doors to Notes to Novel open. And if you're listening to this after August 19th, don't worry, you can still join the waitlist to be the first to know when Notes to Novel opens for enrollment again.

Speaker 2: 16:10

All right, so that's it for this episode of the Fiction Writing Made Easy podcast. Writing Made Easy podcast. 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.