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

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

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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.

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

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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.

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 what your novel needs from you next, there's a good chance you'll recognize yourself in at least one of these stories.

And if this episode makes you realize a clear process might be the thing you’ve been missing, Notes to Novel is open for enrollment through September 4th.

It's the same process Josie, Emily, and Nefer used to make the progress you'll hear about today. Inside, I'll help you develop your story's foundation, create your cast of characters, and map your plot into a scene-by-scene outline so you can write your draft with clarity and confidence.

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

• Josephine Noble’s Website
• Emily’s Instagram
• Nefer Doane’s Website
• Learn more about 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!

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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.

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 Craft Romantic Chemistry & Tension
• 3 Ways to Figure Out the Theme of Your Story
• 5 Steps To Start Planning Your Book Series

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

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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.

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

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

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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.

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 Two Kids and In 15 Minutes at a Time)
• Why She Ditched Her Agent And Self-Published Her Debut Novel 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 QUIZ: Take this 30-second quiz to get a custom action plan that'll help you move from stuck writer to published author!

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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 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