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

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.
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
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FREE TRAINING: Why You Keep Getting Stuck & How to Finally Finish Your Novel - Join me LIVE to learn 3 secrets for turning your ideas into a complete first draft—without getting stuck in the middle, constantly second-guessing, or spending years rewriting instead of finishing. Save your seat here.

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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.
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!
FREE TRAINING: Why You Keep Getting Stuck & How to Finally Finish Your Novel - Join me LIVE to learn 3 secrets for turning your ideas into a complete first draft—without getting stuck in the middle, constantly second-guessing, or spending years rewriting instead of finishing. Save your seat here.

FREE QUIZ: Take this 30-second quiz to get a custom action plan that'll help you move from stuck writer to published author!
Support the show

FREE TRAINING: Why You Keep Getting Stuck & How to Finally Finish Your Novel - Join me LIVE to learn 3 secrets for turning your ideas into a complete first draft—without getting stuck in the middle, constantly second-guessing, or spending years rewriting instead of finishing. Save your seat here.

FREE QUIZ: Take this 30-second quiz to get a custom action plan that'll help you move from stuck writer to published author!
Support the show

If you keep working on your novel but never seem to get closer to “The End,” these five novel writing myths may explain why—and show you what to do differently.
If you've been working on the same novel for months (or years), you've probably wondered why you still can't seem to finish it. Maybe you've blamed your schedule, your motivation, or your talent. Or maybe you've started to wonder if you're just not cut out for this. But what if the real reason you're stuck is none of those things?
In this episode, I'm walking through the five most common novel writing myths I see holding writers back, and what's actually true instead. You'll see why getting stuck usually isn't a time, talent, or idea problem, it's a process problem, and why that's genuinely good news.
You'll hear me talk about things like:
[02:00] Why more time, motivation, and discipline almost never fix the real problem, and the one thing that actually makes the time you have useful.
[04:39] The difference between learning that moves your story forward and learning that's quietly become a way of avoiding the page. 
[07:57] Why beautiful writing and good storytelling aren't the same thing, and which one actually gets a first draft finished. 
[11:14] The trap of trying to get every part of your story right on the first pass, and how to build a novel in layers instead. 
[15:13] What getting stuck is actually telling you, and why it's information you can use, not a verdict on you or your idea.
Whether you've been blaming your schedule, buying another craft book, or quietly wondering if you're cut out for this, this episode will help you see your stuck points differently, as something you can actually solve, one decision at a time.
🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:
Get on the Notes to Novel waitlist.
Ep. 203 - Why Writing Advice Is Keeping You Stuck (& What to Do Instead)
Ep. 207 - What Agents & Readers Want: How to Write a Story That Works
⭐ 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!
FREE TRAINING: Why You Keep Getting Stuck & How to Finally Finish Your Novel - Join me LIVE to learn 3 secrets for turning your ideas into a complete first draft—without getting stuck in the middle, constantly second-guessing, or spending years rewriting instead of finishing. Save your seat here.

FREE QUIZ: Take this 30-second quiz to get a custom action plan that'll help you move from stuck writer to published author!
Support the show

Stuck writing your novel? Wherever your draft stalls out—chapter one, 20,000 words, the messy middle—that spot isn't random. It's a clue that tells you exactly what your story is missing.
Almost every writer who gets stuck while drafting a novel assumes the same thing: that hitting a wall means something about them. That they're not disciplined enough, they're not a "real" writer, or they simply don't have what it takes to finish a book.
But getting stuck isn't a verdict on you as a writer. In fact, it's valuable information you can use to your advantage. Because the exact place where you lose momentum may just reveal the missing piece in your story's foundation. And the good news is that those gaps are fixable.
In this episode, I'm breaking down the three most common places writers get stuck while drafting a novel, what each one reveals about your story, and how to fix the underlying issue so you can move forward without anything holding you back. 
You'll hear me talk about things like:
[00:54] Why getting stuck doesn't mean you're a bad writer (and how your stall gives you valuable information about your story).
[02:27] Why writers get stuck in chapter one and how to tell when you have a situation instead of a fully developed story.
[05:16] The real reason many writers hit a wall around 20,000 words (and the missing piece that keeps Act 1 from moving into Act 2).
[08:32] Why the messy middle feels impossible to write when your antagonist isn't creating enough pressure and conflict.
[13:42] How Stefanie, Cheryl, and Gina found the missing pieces in their stories, broke through their sticking points, and went on to finish and publish their novels.
Getting stuck isn't proof that you're not meant to write your book. It's a sign that your story is asking you to strengthen something underneath the surface. And when you know what's missing, you can go back, build the foundation, and move forward with a story that can actually support a full-length novel.
🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:
Get on the Notes To Novel Waitlist 
Ep. 206 - Student Spotlight: How Gina Elizabeth Went From Stuck to Publishing Two Books in Just One Year
Ep. 189 - Student Spotlight: From First Draft to Published Novel at 72 With Cheryl Arko
Ep. 71 - Student Spotlight: How She Wrote a Novel in 6 Months (and Landed an Agent 10 Months Later) with Stefanie Medrek
⭐ 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!
FREE TRAINING: Why You Keep Getting Stuck & How to Finally Finish Your Novel - Join me LIVE to learn 3 secrets for turning your ideas into a complete first draft—without getting stuck in the middle, constantly second-guessing, or spending years rewriting instead of finishing. Save your seat here.

FREE QUIZ: Take this 30-second quiz to get a custom action plan that'll help you move from stuck writer to published author!
Support the show