Fiction Writing Made Easy with Savannah Gilbo | How to Write a Novel & Writing Advice

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1. #267. Ask Savannah: How Do I Fix a Plot Hole in My Story? (Plus Balancing Writing With Life & Hiding Plot Twists)

   27 oktober 2026 · 27 min

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   How do you fix a plot hole in your novel? What if your beta readers figure out your big plot twist too early? And how are you supposed to find time to write when life keeps getting in the way? Lees meer

   In today's episode, I'm doing something a little different! Five listeners sent in questions about challenges they're facing with their novels, and I'm answering each one as if we were working together in a coaching session.

   Here's what we cover:

   [02:07] How to fix plot holes in your novel by getting clear on your story's foundation, identifying what's causing the gap in logic, and addressing the underlying problem.

   [05:41] How to know if you've written too much or too little in a scene or chapter, why I recommend writing in scenes instead of chapters, and how to decide which details your readers actually need.

   [11:12] What to do when beta readers guess your mystery novel's killer too early—and how to use red herrings, suspect motives, and reader attention to keep your plot twists surprising without hiding important clues.

   [13:38] How to balance an action-packed plot with your protagonist's internal character arc so you can explore their emotions, grief, and moral struggles without slowing down your story's pacing.

   [18:37] How to make time for writing when life gets busy, why knowing exactly what to work on matters, and how to break the novel-writing process into manageable steps so you can make progress in smaller pockets of time.

   Whether you're outlining, drafting, or revising your novel, there's something in this episode for you!

   🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

   FREE TRAINING: Why You Keep Getting Stuck & How to Finally Finish Your Novel

   Ep. #235 - Scene Structure Made Easy: The 5 Essential Elements Every Scene Needs

   Send Savannah Your Question

   ⭐ Follow & Review

   If you loved this episode, please take a moment to follow the show and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your review will help other writers find this podcast and get the insights they need to finis…

2. #266. How to Get Back Into Writing Your Novel After a Long Break

   20 oktober 2026 · 17 min

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   If you’ve stepped away from your novel for a few weeks, or even a few months, getting back into writing can feel a lot harder than it should. Lees meer

   Maybe you open your draft, scroll through a few pages, and wonder where you were even going with the story. Maybe you feel like you need to reread your entire manuscript before you can write a single new word. Or maybe you keep doing the math on all the writing time you missed, and now you feel pressured to catch up.

   Here’s what I want you to know: you don’t need to make up for lost time or remember every detail of your story before you start writing again. You just need to make your return feel manageable.

   In this episode, I’m walking you through five steps to help you get back into writing your novel after a break, from the moment you open your draft again to the next time life pulls you away.

   This is what I talk about:

   [02:47] Why catch-up plans (like a 10,000-word weekend sprint) usually backfire, and why asking “where did I leave off?” works better than asking “how far behind am I?”

   [05:26] How to reconnect with your story without rereading every page, so you can pick up where you left off without getting pulled into editing.

   [07:02] Why your first session back should have one small, specific job, and how a quick note can keep you from staring at the blinking cursor.

   [10:00] How to stack short writing sessions to rebuild your writing momentum, even if you only have 20 minutes at a time.

   [12:30] How to plan ahead for the next break so your next return to the page is easier than this one.

   If you’ve been away from your writing for a while, go easy on yourself. Your story is still there, and getting back to it can start with one small, doable step.

   🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

   FREE TRAINING: Why You Keep Getting Stuck & How to Finally Finish Your Novel

   Get on the Notes to Novel waitlist

   ⭐ Follow & Review

   If you loved this episode, please take a moment to follow the show and leave a review on Apple Podcas…

3. #265. What Is Cozy Fiction? 10 Characteristics Cozy Writers Need to Know

   29 september 2026 · 26 min

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   Learn what makes cozy fiction work—and how to balance warmth, tension, character growth, and community to create the hopeful reading experience cozy readers expect. Lees meer

   You know the feeling a cozy book gives you—warm, safe, like a world you don't want to leave. But when you sit down to write one, "just make it cozy" can be maddeningly hard to pin down. Is it the setting? The pacing? The lower stakes?

   In this episode, I'm breaking down the 10 characteristics of cozy fiction and how each one contributes to the reader's experience—because cozy is rarely just one thing. It's several craft elements working together, and once you can name them, you can build them on purpose.

   You'll hear me talk about things like:

   [01:34] What qualifies a book as cozy fiction, and why some stories with plenty of cozy elements still don't fit the category.

   [06:13] How to make cozy fiction feel immersive through sensory detail and specificity, rather than relying on beautiful or poetic prose to create the atmosphere.

   [08:06] Why slow, everyday scenes—a shared meal, a morning routine—aren't filler, and can, in fact, deepen characters, relationships, and the cozy world itself.

   [13:55] Why character growth works differently in cozy fiction, where community and belonging become the driving forces behind the protagonist's emotional arc.

   [18:33] How to create meaningful conflict in cozy fiction that disrupts the characters' world and raises real tension, but never turns into sustained dread.

   Whether you're writing a cozy mystery, a cozy fantasy, or a story that happens to carry cozy elements, this episode will help you figure out what to aim for—because cozy is far more intentional than it looks from the outside.

   🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

   Join the Notes to Novel Waitlist

   FREE GUIDE: How to Write Scenes That Work

   ⭐ Follow & Review

   If you loved this episode, please take a moment to follow the show and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your review will help other writers find this…

4. #264. First Draft Mistakes: Jessica Brody & Savannah Gilbo Compare Notes

   22 september 2026 · 30 min

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   What are the most common first-draft mistakes writers make—and which ones actually need your attention while you’re drafting? Lees meer

   In this episode, I’m joined by Jessica Brody, author of Save the Cat! Writes a Novel and Page One to Done, to compare the mistakes we see writers make when writing a first draft. The fun part? We each brought our own list and didn’t compare notes before hitting record.

   From underdeveloped antagonists and vague character goals to revision spirals and focusing on chapters too early, we’re breaking down what can make a first draft harder than it needs to be—and which problems can safely wait until revision.

   Here’s what we talk about:

   [06:35] Why an underdeveloped antagonist can leave your novel without enough meaningful conflict—especially in the messy middle.

   [09:30] Why a protagonist can have a clear story goal and still leave you wondering what they should actually do from scene to scene.

   [12:15] What happens when you keep researching, brainstorming, or outlining because you don’t feel “ready” to start writing your first draft.

   [16:00] Why revising while you draft can feel productive—even when it’s keeping you from reaching The End.

   [22:40] Why focusing on chapter length, openings, and cliffhangers too early can distract you from the more important job of writing strong scenes.

   If you’re writing your first novel—or you’re stuck somewhere in the middle of a messy first draft—this episode will help you recognize what might be slowing you down, what can wait until revision, and how to keep moving forward without expecting your first draft to be perfect.

   🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

   Jessica Brody Website

   Writing Master Academy

   Join the Notes to Novel Waitlist

   ⭐ Follow & Review

   If you loved this episode, please take a moment to follow the show and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your review will help other writers find this podcast and get the insights they need to finish their books. Thanks for tuning in to The Fiction Wri…

5. #263. How Emily Henry Hooks Readers in Chapter One of Book Lovers

   15 september 2026 · 23 min

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   Your first chapter needs to hook the reader—but that doesn’t mean you need a huge plot twist, dramatic action, or a flashy meet-cute on page one. Lees meer

   The first chapter of Emily Henry’s Book Lovers is mostly two sisters walking through New York and talking. There’s plenty of banter, interiority, description, and backstory—but the big plot development doesn’t arrive until fairly late in the chapter.

   So how does Emily Henry make an opening chapter like this feel so engaging and full of momentum—and what can writers learn from the scene structure underneath it? That’s what we’re going to look at in this episode.

   In the episode, you’ll hear us talk about things like:

   [05:05] How many scenes actually exist within this first chapter (the answer might surprise you!)—and what the structure looks like once we break it down

   [06:55] How EmHen wrote an engaging opening chapter where two sisters are walking and talking (and why this is such a great example of a ‘quiet’ scene goal that still generates forward momentum)

   [08:10] What makes the protagonist’s sister, Libby, the scene antagonist—even though she isn’t a “bad” character and has good intentions

   [09:50] How the conflict escalates on both an external and emotional level (plus, how the stakes work in a quieter, more relational scene like this one)

   [16:55] How this opening gives us a sense of who Nora is, what her life looks like now, and where the larger story is headed without info dumping or boring readers with too much backstory

   Whether you’re writing romance or another genre, tune in for a look at how this bestselling author keeps readers engaged while doing all the important setup work a first chapter needs to do.

   🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

   FREE GUIDE: How to Write Scenes That Work

   3 Reasons You Should Write in Scenes vs. Chapters

   Scene Structure Made Easy: The 5 Elements Every Scene Needs

   Book Lovers by Emily Henry

   ⭐ Follow & Review

   If you loved this episode, please take a moment to follow the show…

6. Bonus: How 3 Writers Found a Clear Path Through All the Writing Advice

   1 september 2026 · 18 min

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   If you’ve read the craft books, listened to hundreds of podcast episodes, and studied all kinds of writing advice—but still sit down at your desk wondering, okay, what am I actually supposed to work on today?—this episode is for you. Lees meer

   Because at some point, learning more about writing stops being the missing piece. You need a process that helps you figure out what your specific story needs, what to work on next, and how all the pieces fit together.

   In this bonus episode, you’ll hear from three writers who had spent a lot of time learning about writing, but still struggled to turn everything they’d learned into a clear path forward.

   You’ll hear from Josie, a self-described chronic over-learner who had studied every major plotting method but kept running into dead ends while trying to outline her novel. Emily, who wrote 35,000 words of her romantic fantasy before getting stuck in a middle she couldn’t see clearly. And Nefer, who spent five years caught in a cycle of line editing when she knew her manuscript needed much bigger changes.

   Three writers, stuck in three completely different ways.

   But what got all of them moving forward again was the same thing—and it wasn't more craft advice. It was having a process that helped them figure out what their specific story needed, what to work on next, and how all the pieces fit together.

   In this episode, you'll hear:

   [03:29] How one writer went from cobbling together different plotting methods and running into dead ends to creating a detailed scene-by-scene outline she could confidently write from.

   [08:02] How one writer who stalled at 35,000 words finally gained clarity on the entire shape of her story—including the middle that had felt impossibly murky.

   [12:33] What happened when one writer zoomed out of her line-by-line prose to focus on the big picture of her story first—and how doing so gave her the clarity to move forward.

   If you've spent months, or even years, learning about the craft but still feel unsure wha…

7. #262. 10 Tips to Make Your Enemies to Lovers Romance Feel Believable

   25 augustus 2026 · 29 min

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   If you're writing an enemies to lovers romance, getting your characters from “I can't stand you” to “I love you” takes more than chemistry. Here’s how to write enemies to lovers in a way that makes that turn feel convincing. Lees meer

   The enemies to lovers trope is popular for a reason. The tension, banter, forced proximity, and slow shift from conflict to attraction can make for an incredibly satisfying romance.

   But it's harder to pull off than it looks, because readers have to believe two things at once: that these two characters genuinely are enemies, and that these same two characters could genuinely fall in love.

   That's why in this episode, I'm walking you through 10 tips for building an enemies to lovers romance that feels believable, while still keeping all the tension and friction that makes this trope so much fun.

   You'll hear me talk about things like:

   [03:49] What determines how much page space your romance gets, where its big turning points belong, and how tightly it ties to your plot.

   [08:07] Why forced proximity needs to do more than keep your characters together if you want the shift in their relationship to feel believable.

   [10:25] How falling in love with the other person can force your characters to confront beliefs and fears they might otherwise never question.

   [15:02] What creates that delicious tension when the reader can see the romantic possibility long before the characters are ready to admit it.

   [19:38] The test that can prove whether your enemies to lovers relationship has actually evolved—or if your characters are about to fall back into their old patterns.

   Whether enemies to lovers is your main romance or a romantic subplot in another genre, this episode will help you build the progression from conflict to love that makes readers believe these two unlikely characters belong together.

   🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

   Learn About Notes to Novel

   Understanding the 5 Dimensions of Genre

   How to Develop Your Character’s Backstory

   How to C…

8. #261. 5 Mistakes Writers Make Using the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet

   18 augustus 2026 · 23 min

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   If you’re using the Save the Cat! beat sheet to outline your novel but your story still feels flat, disconnected, or hard to draft, one of these five common mistakes may be the reason why. Lees meer

   The Save the Cat! beat sheet is a popular story structure framework because it gives fiction writers fifteen clear landmarks to plot toward. But filling in all fifteen beats doesn’t automatically give you a story that works.

   In this episode, I’m breaking down five mistakes writers make when using the Save the Cat! beat sheet—and what to think about instead so you can build a stronger, more connected novel outline.

   You’ll hear me talk about things like:

   [03:10] Why jumping straight into the Save the Cat! beat sheet can leave you with plot points that technically fit the framework but don’t feel rooted in your story.

   [05:35] Why having the “right” story beats in the “right” places isn’t enough—and what keeps a novel from feeling like a series of disconnected events.

   [10:00] Why fifteen beats do not equal fifteen scenes, and how misunderstanding the difference between a beat sheet and a scene-by-scene outline can distort your story.

   [12:50] The Fun and Games mistake that can leave you stuck in the middle, scrambling to figure out what should happen next.

   [16:30] The often-missed internal side of Bad Guys Close In (and how it can give your All Is Lost moment much more emotional weight).

   If you use Save the Cat! Writes a Novel for plotting or outlining, this episode will help you understand what the framework is actually designed to do—so you can use it to support your story instead of forcing your story into fifteen boxes.

   🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

   Learn more about Notes to Novel

   Ep. 47 - Save the Cat! The Beginning Beats

   Ep. 48 - Save the Cat! The Middle Beats (Part One)

   Ep. 49 - Save the Cat! The Middle Beats (Part Two)

   Ep. 50 - Save the Cat! The Ending Beats

   Grab your free Save the Cat! Plotting Guide

   ⭐ Follow & Review

   If you loved this episode, please t…

9. #260. Student Spotlight: From Stuck at 25k Words to a Finished Draft With Lindsay Sfara

   11 augustus 2026 · 40 min

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   After stalling out on a draft she'd already outlined chapter by chapter, Lindsay Sfara discovered the story development work that has to come before an outline—and turned that stuck manuscript into a published debut novel. Lees meer

   Today I'm chatting with Lindsay Sfara, superhero fantasy author of Aero Knights: Origins and a Notes to Novel graduate, about how developing her story before outlining it finally helped her finish the book she'd been trying to write for years.

   In this episode, you'll hear us talk about things like:

   [07:15] Why her outline looked complete but left her with no idea what to write next (and the plotting advice that made it worse)

   [09:45] The relief of finally knowing what her book was really about underneath the plot—and how it shaped the character development for all three of her leads

   [15:07] How she turned a list of disconnected events into an outline where each scene set up the next

   [17:41] The simple question Lindsay kept asking about her antagonist that helped her come up with ideas for conflict in the messy middle

   [23:04] What happened when she sent her draft to beta readers before hiring a developmental editor (and what she'd do differently next time)

   If you're currently stuck in an outline or a first draft, Lindsay's story proves the problem probably isn't your talent, your motivation, or your idea. Press play to hear what her outline was missing—and how to build the same foundation under yours.

   🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

   Aero Knights: Origins by Lindsay Sfara

   Lindsay Sfara's website

   Follow Lindsay on Instagram

   Join Lindsay's writing streams on Twitch

   Join the Notes to Novel waitlist

   ⭐ Follow & Review

   If you loved this episode, please take a moment to follow the show and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your review will help other writers find this podcast and get the insights they need to finish their books. Thanks for tuning in to The Fiction Writing Made Easy Podcast! See you next week!

   Send Savannah Your Questio…

10. #259. How to Finish a Novel With Kids at Home & Limited Writing Time

    4 augustus 2026 · 25 min

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    You don't need a perfect writing schedule (or a quiet house) to finish your novel. Here are five ways to keep making real progress on your book with kids at home and barely any free time. Lees meer

    If you've been telling yourself you'll write the book "when things settle down," I've got some news: when you're raising kids, things rarely settle down on command.

    And if finishing your novel depends on reaching a season when no one needs you, it could stay unwritten for years. The good news is you don't actually need more time. You just need a way of writing that fits the life you already have.

    In this episode, I'm walking you through five shifts that help you use small pockets of time, find your way back after interruptions, and let imperfect progress count—so you can finish your novel without waiting until the kids are grown.

    You'll hear me talk about things like:

    [03:26] The one thing to figure out before you sit down, so a short window goes toward writing instead of remembering where you left off.

    [06:53] Why waiting for a long, uninterrupted session is quietly keeping your book unwritten—and what you can actually get done in 15 minutes.

    [10:39] Why "consistency" doesn't mean a daily streak (and the definition that survives sick days, school breaks, and hard months).

    [14:20] How to let messy, imperfect pages count so perfectionism stops eating your limited writing time.

    [18:20] The permission most writing parents are quietly waiting for—and why you don't have to earn it before you write.

    After more than a decade of coaching fiction writers, I've watched people finish books in the margins of full, busy lives—raising young kids, working demanding jobs, moving through hard seasons. They didn't find more hours in the day; they changed the way they write—and you can too.

    🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

    Get on the Notes to Novel waitlist.

    From Zero Drafts to Dream Agent While Raising 4 Kids With Madi Unruh

    How J.J. Henley Finished Her First Draft in 8 Months (With…

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