Everyone tells you to just start writing. Nobody tells you when. And if you keep starting your novel and stalling out a few chapters in, that missing piece might be exactly why.

“Just start writing” is one of the most common pieces of writing advice out there, and for some writers, it's exactly what they need to hear. But if you're a brand-new writer who's still figuring out your story, following this advice too soon can leave you stuck, overwhelmed, and wondering why your first draft keeps falling apart.

In this episode, I'm breaking down why "just start writing" isn't bad advice—it's just incomplete. You'll learn when this advice helps, when it hurts, and how to tell if your story foundation is strong enough to draft with confidence rather than guesswork.

You'll hear me talk about things like:

[01:20] Why "just start writing" works for some writers but quietly sabotages others before they ever finish a first draft.

[02:19] The two very different ways new writers get stuck and how to tell which one sounds most like you.

[05:01] The difference between productive story development and fear disguised as endless preparation.

[06:20] The foundational story elements you need before drafting, so every writing session feels purposeful rather than overwhelming.

[09:42] How to know when you've planned enough and it's finally time to stop preparing and start writing.

Whether you've been rewriting the same opening chapter, abandoning more drafts than you can count, or "getting ready" to write for months, this episode will help you understand how to build enough story clarity to draft with direction instead of confusion. Because the goal isn't to choose between planning forever and drafting blindly—it's knowing when you've built the foundation your story needs so you can finally finish your novel. 

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

• Get on the Notes to Novel Waitlist
• Ep. 203 - Why Writing Advice Is Keeping You Stuck (And What to Do Instead)
• Ep. 225 - Madi: From Zero Drafts to Dream Agent While Raising 4 Kids 
• Ep. 228 - How Poornika Finished Her First Draft in 88 Days 
• Ep. 239 - How J.J. Henley Finished Her First Draft in 8 Months

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Can a lifelong discovery writer write faster and embrace structure without losing the magic? Bestselling author Grace Draven wrote 62,000 words in 21 days and says absolutely.

In this episode, Grace shares how the tools and mindset shifts she picked up from The Fiction Writing Made Easy podcast helped her write faster, avoid massive rewrites, and finish one of her strongest books, The Moon Raven—drafting 62,000 words in just 21 days to hit a tight preorder deadline—and why that experience convinced her to join Notes to Novel. 

After publishing more than 20 books and hitting the USA Today bestseller list five times, Grace explains why even experienced authors benefit from refining their process, and why structure isn't the creativity killer so many writers fear it is.

Whether you're a proud pantser, a frustrated discovery writer, or someone looking for a faster, more reliable way to finish your novel, this conversation shows what's possible when you pair your natural creative process with the right story structure tools that I teach in Notes to Novel. 

Here's what we talk about:

[08:00] Why thinking in scenes instead of chapters completely changed Grace's writing process and helped her write more efficiently without sacrificing creativity.

[12:55] How Grace fast drafted 62,000 words in just 21 days, met a high-pressure preorder deadline, and still delivered a solid book.

[18:41] How structure became a safety net that let Grace write around interruptions and a demanding home life without losing her place (or her creativity). 

[23:30] What happened when Grace her antagonist first (before fleshing out her protagonist)—and how this helped raise the stakes and eliminate unnecessary rewrites.

[29:38] How the tools from Notes to Novel gave Grace the confidence to commit to a delivery schedule with her new multi-book publishing deal.

If you've ever worried that outlining will make your writing feel formulaic or that your discovery writing process slows you down, this episode will show you how to write faster and build a process that leaves room for the magic instead of squeezing it out.

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

• Get on the Notes To Novel Waitlist 
• The Moon Raven by Grace Draven
• Grace Draven’s Website
• Ep. 182 - Writing Romantasy: How to Balance Fantasy Elements and Romance in Your Novel
• Ep. 224 - The Truth About Writing Faster: It's Not What You Think

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Learn how to outline your novel using the Hero’s Journey—without mistaking this classic framework for a complete story blueprint.

The Hero’s Journey is one of the most widely recognized story frameworks out there. But knowing the twelve stages—like the Ordinary World, the Call to Adventure, the Ordeal, and the Return with the Elixir—isn’t the same as knowing where those stages belong in a full-length novel.

In this episode, I’m walking you through how to outline your novel with the Hero’s Journey framework, including how to divide your word count into acts, break those acts into scenes, and map the twelve stages across a novel-length manuscript.

You’ll also learn what the Hero’s Journey can and can’t do on its own—because while it’s a powerful way to track your protagonist’s external adventure and internal transformation, it’s not a substitute for developing your genre, premise, character, conflict, theme, and stakes.

You'll hear me talk about things like:

[02:40] What the Hero’s Journey is and how to use its three acts and twelve stages as a tool for outlining a novel

[05:15] How to split your word count across the three acts (and the percentage breakdown that tells you how long each one should be). 

[07:45] A complete walkthrough of all twelve stages of the Hero's Journey, and the job each stage does for your plot and your character. 

[14:00] The death-and-rebirth moment at the center of the Hero's Journey, and why it's one of the most powerful ideas in storytelling.

[17:45] Why your draft loses steam even when all twelve stages are in place, and the foundation that's usually missing underneath them.

And so much more…

If you've been curious about using the Hero's Journey to plan your novel, or if you've tried it before and felt like something was missing, this episode will help you understand both the strengths and limitations of this classic framework.

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

• Get on The Notes to Novel Waitlist
• Take Author Success Quiz (FREE)
• Ep. 30 - Novel Length: How Long Should Your Book Be?
• Ep. 244 - How to Create Characters Readers Will Love
• How to Outline Your Novel with Save the Cat!
• The Writer's Journey by Christopher Vogler

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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!

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If your protagonist feels vivid in your head but flat on the page, this episode will help you diagnose what’s missing—and fix the specific piece of character development that will make readers care.

You know your main character. Their backstory, their childhood, the exact way they take their coffee. You could talk about them for an hour. So why do they still feel flat on the page?

When this happens, most writers assume they need to know more—a deeper backstory, more personality details, another character questionnaire. So they add more. Or they go the other way and try to make the character more likeable.

But here's the thing: knowing a lot about your character isn't the same as developing the specific pieces that make them work in a story. And making a character likeable isn't the same as making them compelling. When a protagonist feels flat, the fix usually is more character development—just not the kind most writers reach for.

And that's what I'm talking about in this episode. The five most common mistakes that make characters feel flat, and the specific pieces to strengthen so your protagonist feels compelling, active, and worth following.

You'll hear me talk about things like:

[01:55] Why a vague story goal is the reason your draft stalls out, and the small shift that makes your protagonist's goal specific enough to write forward with ease.

[05:25] Why your story may have huge, world-ending stakes but still feel like nothing is actually threatening what your protagonist stands to lose.

[09:30] The reason a frictionless protagonist feels thin on the page even when the goal is clear, the plot is moving, and the stakes are personal.

[13:40] Why a protagonist the plot keeps happening to—instead of one whose choices drive what happens next—keeps readers at a distance, and how to put them back in the driver's seat.

[17:05] The simple scene-level test that shows whether your protagonist is filtering the story through a distinct worldview, or just reporting what happened.

If you've got a folder full of drafts that stalled because your characters kept reading thin on the page, this episode will help you see the pattern differently. Once you know which of these five pieces is missing, you can fix it, build a character strong enough to carry the whole story, and finally understand how to make readers care about your characters.

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

• Get on The Notes to Novel Waitlist
• Take Author Success Quiz (FREE)
• Ep. 244 - How to Create Characters Readers Will Love (5 Essential Elements)
• Ep. 240 - 10 Writing Mistakes That Make Readers Put Down Your Novel
• Ep. How to Reveal Your Character’s Inner Life on the Page

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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!

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If you’ve got a scene that feels flat and you can’t figure out why, this episode will help you diagnose what’s really going on—so you know whether the scene is working, needs strengthening, or may not belong in your story at all.

You know that feeling when a scene just isn’t quite working, but you can’t put your finger on why? The sentences are clean. The dialogue sounds right. Line by line, it reads fine… and yet the scene just sits there.

Here’s the thing: a lot of the time, the problem isn’t your prose. It’s that nothing meaningful changes in the scene—or the change that does happen doesn’t affect the larger story. And once you can see that, the problem becomes much easier to fix.

In this episode, I’m breaking down one of the most common reasons a scene falls flat: the missing or weak value shift. I’ll explain what a value shift is, why every scene needs one, and how to tell the difference between a change that matters to your story and one that simply fills space.

In the episode, you’ll hear me talk about:

[02:25] What a “value shift” actually is, and why a scene without one will feel flat no matter how good the writing is

[04:25] Why a scene can technically have an arc of change and still fall flat

[07:00] The three questions I ask to find the value shift in any scene—and the one that matters most

[00:00] The value shift mistake that quietly muddies your scenes (and the simple fix to get instant clarity) 

[15:50] Why a scene packed with action can still feel thin, and what to look for underneath the surface

You’ll walk away with a simple three-question check you can run on any scene to see what changed, why it matters, and where to revise first if the scene still isn’t working.

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

• Take Author Success Quiz (FREE)
• Free Guide: How to Write Scenes That Work
• Ep. 118 - How To Find The Major Dramatic Question Of Your Story
• Ep. 153 - Scene Analysis: Chapter 5 "Diagon Alley" From Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

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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!

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What does it look like to go from feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure about your novel…to finally making real progress?

In this episode, I'm sharing five clips from past Notes to Novel students who all came into the program stuck in different ways—overwhelmed by story structure, trapped in research rabbit holes, or sitting on drafts that existed on paper, but still weren't clicking. 

And underneath it all was the same frustrating feeling: each writer knew they had a story worth telling; they just couldn't figure out how to get it out of their head and onto the page in a way they felt good about.

You'll hear what shifted for these writers once they stopped piecing things together on their own and started working from a clear, proven framework they could trust.

If you've been second-guessing yourself, rewriting the same chapters, or quietly wondering whether you're capable of finishing your novel, there's a good chance you'll recognize yourself somewhere in this episode.

Here's what we cover:

[03:09] How Sheila (a longtime pantser) went from avoiding structure completely to discovering that outlining actually made drafting feel more creative, not less.

[07:17] How Liz (a perfectionist) realized endless research was keeping her stuck, and the simple "put a pin in it" mindset shift that kept her draft moving forward.

[12:28] Why Hanna's draft started flowing faster once she gave herself permission to write messy scenes instead of trying to get every scene right the first time.

[19:15] What Nikki learned from rebuilding her antagonist three times before her protagonist, conflict, and story finally started working together. 

[24:24] What changed when Brady reconnected with the deeper reason he wanted to write a novel—and how it silenced his inner imposter for good.

Ready to finish your novel without second-guessing every word, sentence, or scene? Join Sheila, Liz, Hanna, Nikki, Brady, and hundreds of other writers inside Notes to Novel who've discovered that drafting doesn't have to feel hard. You just need the right roadmap.

Get on the waitlist for the next round of Notes to Novel and get my complete, step-by-step framework to turn your ideas into a finished, easy-to-edit first draft you love. The link is below. 

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

• Get on The Notes to Novel Waitlist
• Take Author Success Quiz (FREE)
• Ep. 176 - 5 Lessons Learned from Notes to Novel (Season 5)
• Ep. 208 - 5 Lessons Learned from Notes to Novel (Season 6)
• Ep. 230 - 5 Lessons Learned from Notes to Novel (Season 7) 

⭐ 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!

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A book coach who's written 15 novels pulls back the curtain on what's really happening when your messy first draft disappoints you. 

Ever finished a chapter, read it back, and realized the words on the page don't match the story in your head? There's a name for that. It's called the “taste gap,” and it often shows up among serious, lifelong readers. 

In this episode, I sit down with book coach and publishing strategist Gala Russ (who's written 15 novels) to talk about the taste gap, what a first draft is supposed to look like, and why messy writing is the whole point.

This one's for you if you've studied writing for years but still struggle to finish your first draft. Because the taste gap closes when you practice writing more than researching it.

Here’s what we talk about:

[04:41] Why no number of finished pages ever makes you feel like a real writer, and the loaded questions non-writers often ask that get inside your head. 

[13:55] What a real first draft actually looks like behind the scenes and why a scrappy, hodgepodge, messy manuscript is usually a good sign.[19:04] The taste gap explained: why being an avid reader who knows what ‘good’ is can make your own draft feel like the worst thing you've ever read.

[23:52] How to know when a book needs more revision, when it’s okay to walk away, and the sunk cost fallacy trap that keeps writers rewriting forever. 

[38:37] Why more craft books won't fix a stuck draft, the hidden blocks keeping writers frozen, and Gala's creative workaround for finding writing time in a busy life.

Here's what I want you to take away from this episode. The fact that you can read a great book, feel moved by it, then look at your own draft and feel like it's not measuring up, that is not a sign you're not meant to be a writer. It's a sign your taste has developed faster than your skills. And skills are built by writing, not by reading one more craft book.

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

• Gala Russ Website 
• Gala Russ Instagram 
• Take Author Success Quiz (FREE)
• Sign Up For Notes To Novel 

⭐ 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!

Discover why your first draft never matches the book in your head, what a messy draft is actually supposed to look like, and how to close the taste-skill gap by writing more instead of studying more, so you can overcome imposter syndrome and finally finish your draft. 

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Most fiction writers are making at least one of these point of view mistakes. Find out which one could be hiding in your draft.

You know that feeling when a scene isn't quite working, but you can't put your finger on why? Your pacing, dialogue, and structure all seem fine. And yet something is still off. Nine times out of ten, the culprit is POV.

In this episode, I'm walking you through the five most common point of view mistakes, what each one looks like on the page, why it pulls readers out of your story, and what to do if a POV mistake is hiding in your draft. 

The good news? It has nothing to do with your talent as a writer. I see these mistakes in the strongest of manuscripts. And every single one is fixable.

This is what I talk about: 

[02:27] Why head-hopping feels so disorienting to readers, and the simple scene-level rule that instantly creates cleaner, stronger POV. 

[07:11] The subtle "omniscience leak" that happens when your POV character knows things they realistically couldn't know in the moment.

[11:42] Why a POV character who only reports action—with no thought, reaction, or internal stakes—leaves readers feeling disconnected.

[17:13] How info-dumping and backstory disguised as thoughts can make scenes feel unnatural instead of emotionally immersive.

[22:00] The subtle voice drift that makes your POV character slowly stop sounding like themselves, and why this is the hardest mistake to catch.

These mistakes are fixable. Every single one. And once you know what to look for, you can write fiction so immersive that readers forget the real world exists until they reach the final page of your book. If that's the kind of story you want to write, this episode is for you. 

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

• Take Author Success Quiz (FREE)
• Get on the Notes to Novel Waitlist
• Ep. 90 - How to Choose the Best Point of View for Your Story
• Ep. 94 - How to Reveal Your Character's Inner Life on the Page
• Ep. 210 - 5 Tips To Write Multiple POV Novels Without Confusing Your Readers

⭐ 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!

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Learn how to write the lead-up and reaction scenes between your key romance plot points so your story flows naturally from meet-cute to HEA without stalling in the middle.

You know what your meet-cute looks like. You know there's a breakup coming. You can already feel the happily ever after. So why does everything in between feel impossible to write? 

That's exactly what we're digging into today. I'm joined by Kristina Stanley, CEO of Fictionary and author of the brand new Secrets to Writing Romance, for a masterclass on the lead-up and reaction scenes that hold every romance together. 

Kristina breaks down what to write before and after each key plot point, how your external plot does more work than you think, and how to give your characters real agency in the messy middle of Act 2. If you've been winging it between your big scenes and hoping for the best, this one's for you.

What You'll Learn:

[03:57] The 5 key scenes every romance novel is built around and the one non-negotiable rule that sets romance apart from every other genre.

[10:55] Why every key scene needs a lead-up and a reaction, and how those surrounding scenes are where your character's flaw, motivation, and growth actually live.

[21:42] When your meet-cute should actually happen in your romance novel and what the lead-up scene needs to do before your characters ever cross paths.

[29:30] How to give your characters real agency in the Messy Middle of Act 2 (even when your story doesn't have a strong external plot driving it forward).

[38:03] What to do after the climax, why the reaction to the HEA is trickier than it looks, and how epilogues can save you from cutting your ending too short.

And so much more…

Whether you're plotting your first romance novel or you're stuck somewhere in the middle of a draft, wondering why your story isn't clicking, this episode will give you a clear framework for what every scene between your key moments actually needs to do. 

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

• Kristina Stanley's Book | Secrets to Writing Romance
• Kristina Stanley Website
• Article | The 6 Key Scenes Every Romance Needs
• Take Author Success Quiz (FREE)

⭐ 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!

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Learn the five craft secrets to writing young adult fiction that actually feels like YA—so when you sit down to write your own, you know exactly what to aim for.

You know what YA feels like when a book is doing it right. The voice pulls you in. The protagonist's world feels enormous and immediate. You finish the book before you remember to put it down. The hard part is being able to do that yourself—on the page, on purpose.

In this episode, I'm walking you through the five secrets that make YA fiction actually feel like YA—the specific craft moves you can use to write the kind of YA novel you love to read.

After ten years as a developmental editor and book coach—and over 1,000 writers through my Notes to Novel course alone—these five secrets are the patterns I find myself teaching over and over again. They're not vibes or instincts—they're learnable craft skills you can use on purpose in your own writing.

What You'll Learn:

• [02:06] What it actually takes to write a YA voice that feels like a teenager living an experience in real time—not an adult character looking back on it with hindsight.
• [07:11] Why peer relationships—not parents or mentors—are the engine of every YA novel that lands, and how to check whether you've accidentally given your adults too much of the wheel.
• [10:12] Why YA stakes feel huge even when the events look ordinary—and how to scale the emotional reality on the page to match what your teen protagonist is actually experiencing.
• [12:57] How to handle the big themes YA is known for—identity, grief, mental health, family—through scenes and character interiority instead of monologues and moralizing.
• [16:24] Why the best YA protagonists hold two contradictory things at once—and why resolving that contradiction too early in the book is what kills the engine of your story.

Whether you're sitting on a YA idea you haven't started yet, or you have a draft that's nearly there but doesn't quite feel right, this episode will give you the craft moves you need to write the kind of YA novel you love to read.

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

• 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!

Support the show