Student Spotlight: 5 Lessons Learned from Notes to Novel (Season 6)

Writing a novel can feel like an impossible mountain to climb. Maybe you’ve rewritten the same chapter so many times you’ve lost count. Or maybe you’re stuck in a loop of editing and second-guessing, unsure how to move forward. If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone—and you’re definitely not stuck forever.

In this post, I’m sharing stories from real writers who were exactly where you are now. They were overwhelmed, frustrated, and doubting whether they’d ever finish their books. But they found their way through—and the best part? It wasn’t about working harder or being more talented. It was about having the right framework and tools to guide them.

Take Jennifer Landers, for example. She’s a fantasy romance writer who spent years starting and abandoning manuscripts. Every time she hit the 15,000-word mark, she’d get overwhelmed and leave the project behind. Outlining felt intimidating—like it had to be perfect and rigid, which didn’t fit her creative style. 

But when she joined Notes to Novel, she learned how to create an outline that worked with her process instead of against it. She started seeing her outline as a flexible map—something that could guide her while still leaving room for discovery. That shift changed everything. After three years of struggling, Jennifer finally finished her first draft, and she’s now confident about tackling future projects.

Then there’s Nefer Doane, a dark fantasy writer who spent five years stuck in what she calls the “line-editing loop.” She kept polishing sentences and tweaking paragraphs, even though deep down, she knew the foundation of her story wasn’t solid. 

Her breakthrough came when she shifted her focus to story structure. By aligning her external and internal genres and understanding how to craft impactful crisis points, she finally broke free from the endless editing cycle. Now, she approaches her revisions with clarity and confidence, and she’s making real progress on her book.

Tiara Ito’s story is a little different. She was comfortable writing short stories but felt completely overwhelmed by the idea of tackling an 80,000-word novel. The sheer size of the project made her freeze up. 

What helped her was breaking the process down into manageable pieces. She embraced the idea of iteration—letting go of perfectionism and focusing on just getting something down on the page. With a clear framework to follow, Tiara found her rhythm and started enjoying the writing process again. Now, she’s well on her way to finishing her first novel.

And then there’s Jennifer Wagner, who spent years rewriting the first chapter of her YA fantasy novel. She didn’t have formal training or an MFA, and she doubted whether she was “qualified” to write a book. 

But through Notes to Novel, she learned how to break her story into smaller, actionable steps. Instead of staring at the mountain of her novel, she focused on one scene at a time. Within 90 days, she had a complete first draft. It wasn’t perfect—she joked about changing her villain’s name three times—but it was done. And that, she said, was the best feeling in the world.

Finally, Sheila Holmes shared how she used genre frameworks to tackle her complex dystopian novel. She had all the pieces of her story in her head, but didn’t know how to put them together. 

Learning how to map out key scenes and subplots gave her the scaffolding she needed to build a story that actually worked. Now, she’s drafting her novel with confidence, blending big themes like medicine, ethics, and feminism into a cohesive narrative.

What all these writers have in common is that they found a process that worked for them. They stopped trying to figure it out alone and leaned into a framework that gave them clarity, structure, and confidence. And the results speak for themselves: finished drafts, renewed excitement for writing, and the belief that they can do this.

If you’re feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure how to move forward, I hope these stories inspire you. Finishing your novel isn’t about being perfect or having all the answers upfront. It’s about taking one step at a time, trusting the process, and giving yourself permission to write messy first drafts.

Ready to make your own breakthrough? My Notes to Novel course provides you with a step-by-step framework and support to help you finish your book. You don’t need an MFA or years of experience—you just need a plan and the courage to start. Learn more and enroll here.