Fiction Writing Tips: How To Write A Novel | Savannah Gilbo

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—a...

If you've landed on this post, you're probably a big fan of the enemies to lovers trope. The tension, the banter, the I absolutely cannot stand you, so why am I thinking about you all the time? of it all. But writing the trope well is sometimes harder than it looks.

On the surface, the formula seems simple: put two characters in conflict, add some ch...

The Save the Cat! beat sheet is one of the most popular story-structure frameworks for a reason. Originally created by Blake Snyder, it gives writers fifteen clear landmarks to aim for and makes the enormous task of plotting a novel feel much more manageable.

But here’s the tricky part: you can fill in all fifteen beats and still end up with an outline that feels...