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Fiction Writing Made Easy with Savannah Gilbo | How to Write a Novel & Writing Advice
Do you have a story you can't stop thinking about? Maybe it's still just an idea. Maybe it's half a draft you haven't opened in months, or a finished manuscript that doesn't quite work yet. Wherever you are, it can be hard to know what your story needs next.
Fiction Writing Made Easy is a podcast for aspiring fiction authors who want clear, practical guidance on what to do next with their novels. Hosted by developmental editor and book coach Savannah Gilbo, the show breaks down complicated writing concepts into simple, actionable lessons. Savannah explains why storytelling techniques work, how the different elements of a story fit together, and what that means for your own writing—often using examples from familiar books and movies.
Topics include developing your story idea, outlining a novel, creating characters readers care about, writing scenes that move your story forward, and figuring out what to fix when your draft isn't working. You'll also find genre deep dives on romance, fantasy, thrillers, and horror, mindset tips for difficult writing days, and advice on querying agents and self-publishing.
You'll also hear from editors and industry experts, as well as writers Savannah has taught who share how they finished—and often published—their books. With hundreds of episodes and over 3.8 million downloads, there's plenty to explore wherever you are with your book.
Hit follow for new episodes every week—and take the next step toward a novel you're proud of.
Fiction Writing Made Easy with Savannah Gilbo | How to Write a Novel & Writing Advice
#42: 10 Reasons Why Novels Get Rejected
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In today's episode, I'm going to walk you through 10 common reasons why manuscripts are rejected by publishers. Here's a preview of what's included:
[02:05] After a rejection, you don't have to wait before making your next move. You can get to work right away and figure out what’s wrong with your draft so that you can fix it and resubmit your story.
[02:25] Reason #1: The category or genre isn’t the right fit for the agent or the publisher. Usually, this means the author didn't do their research.
[03:40] Reason #2: The submission materials are full of bad mechanics (aka poor grammar and spelling) and lackluster writing.
[05:15] Reason #3: The author doesn’t know who their target audience is or, even worse, they say their story is for everyone.
[07:15] Reason #4: The story world isn’t pulling its weight, or it doesn't feel organic.
[08:300] Reason #5: The high-level story summaries are weak or all over the place.
[10:15] Reason #6: The characters aren't unique or interesting. They don't pull readers in and get them invested in the story.
[11:30] Reason #7: The author lacks a strong voice.
[12:25] Reason #8: The plot of the story is predictable or cliche. Usually, this is because your characters are flat or predictable.
[14:20] Reason #9: The theme of the story is overbearing and it reads like a lecture.
[15:40] Reason #10: The story fails to deliver a powerdul emotional experience to readers.
[17:30] Key points and episode recap.
Subscribe & Review in Apple Podcasts
Are you subscribed to my podcast? If not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode! Especially because I’m adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the mix and if you’re not subscribed there’s a good chance you’ll miss out on those. So, click here to subscribe to the show in Apple Podcasts!
If you're already a subscriber, and if you enjoy the show, I would be really grateful if you left a review over on Apple Podcasts, too. Those reviews help other writers find my podcast and they’re also super fun for me to go in and read. Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the show is. Thanks in advance!
Links Mentioned in This Episode:
- How to Identify Your Story's Ideal Reader (article and podcast)
- How to Test an Idea Before Writing a Draft (article)
- How to Create Memorable Characters Using Hooks (article and podcast)
- 5 Questions to Help You Write Better Characters (article and podcast)
- How to Write a Well-Structured Scene (article and podcast)
- How to Uncover the Theme of Your Story (article and podcast)
👋 FREE TRAINING: Why You Keep Getting Stuck & How to Finally Finish Your Novel - Give me 60 minutes and I'll show you how to turn your ideas into a complete first draft—without getting stuck in the middle, constantly second-guessing, or spending years rewriting instead of finishing. Click here to save your seat!
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