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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
#44: Performance Genre Conventions
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In today's episode, I'm going to walk you through the conventions of the performance genre. I'm also going to show you how these conventions show up in the movie The Mighty Ducks. Here's a preview of what's included:
[01:15] Performance stories center around a character who wants to achieve something specific in order to prove their worth to the world. For example, they might want to win a certain award, climb Mount Everest, be the best in their field, or be famous.
[01:55] Readers choose performance novels because they are extremely relatable. Every day we deal with the pressure to perform on the world’s stage, and we are constantly faced with decisions that could result in success or failure.
[02:55] Genre conventions are the character roles, settings, and events that are specific to a genre. They’re what help us writers write a story that works AND evoke emotional reactions in our readers.
[04:45] #1 - There is an underdog protagonist who usually has some kind of special gift.
[05:30] #2 - There's a MacGuffin or a specific thing the protagonist wants to get or achieve.
[06:30] #3 - There's a mentor figure with a little bit of baggage.
[07:45] #4 - There's a team of people who support the protagonist.
[08:40] #5 - There are trials or training sequences that help get the protagonist ready for the big event.
[09:55] #6 - The protagonist faces social problems or moral challenges (like bullying or social class divides).
[10:55] #7 - The protagonist faces a worthy opponent.
[11:30] #8 - There's a monkey wrench that gets thrown into the mix just when it seems like victory is in sight.
[12:30] #9 - There's an internal change within the protagonist.
[13:25] #10 - There's usually a bittersweet ending.
[15:10] Key points and episode recap.
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Links mentioned in this episode:
- Episode Freebie: Performance Genre Key Scenes PDF Cheat Sheet
- Performance Conventions: The 10 Things Every Performance Story Needs (article)
- Performance Obligatory Scenes: The 6 Scenes Every Performance Story Needs (article)
- Conventions vs. tropes: What's the difference? (podcast and article)
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