Student Spotlight: 5 Lessons Learned from Notes to Novel (Season 7) - Part 1

Five writers. Five different starting points. One thing in common: they were all feeling stuck.

Some had been buried in craft books for months. Others had finished entire drafts but struggled to explain what their stories were about. A few were rewriting the same scenes over and over, spinning their wheels without seeing the progress they wanted.

What changed wasn't that they suddenly became better writers overnight. They were already brilliant writers (like you). What they needed was clarity and a clear framework they could trust.

Today, I'm sharing real stories from five Notes to Novel students who came from very different genres. Different life circumstances. Different writing stages. But the transformation was the same across the board.

Once these writers could see their stories clearly, everything else started to click into place. If you've been feeling stuck or overwhelmed, there's a good chance you'll see yourself reflected in one of these stories.

Carolyn: From Structural Chaos to Clear Scene-by-Scene Planning

Carolyn had spent four years writing her first novel—a contemporary women's fiction story that she'd pantsed her way through. She spent the last year revising it, moving scenes around, and removing entire sections. Exhausting work.

But when she went to query agents, things didn't work the way she hoped. Carolyn could tell the structure, theme, character arcs, and stakes weren't quite landing yet.

That's when she found Notes to Novel.

In eight weeks, Carolyn went from feeling discouraged and unsure what to do next to confidently plotting out all 40 scenes of her thriller. She learned to be a plotter rather than a pantser and discovered tools she could apply across different genres. 

One of her biggest takeaways was forward progress, not perfection. She learned how to hold off trying to fix everything right away. Instead, she trusted the process and kept moving forward.

Today, Carolyn is working on her craft in The Story Lab (my membership that writers can join after Notes To Novel). She’s feeling confident that her dream of becoming a published author is actually possible.

Hazel: From Information Overload to a Completed Outline

Hazel is what she calls a Classic Lifelong Learner. Someone who genuinely loves learning, but sometimes gets stuck in preparation mode. More common than we think, right? 

When she decided to write her first romance novel, she went down a rabbit hole of information. She consumed content about various writing methods, started and stopped her outline multiple times, and felt like she was spinning in circles.

She knew she was a plotter, but she kept getting stuck. She had scenes with characters, but was missing the conflict she needed to make it work, and she couldn't see how to link her scenes together.

What changed everything was understanding how to approach scenes differently. In other words, focusing on a character's goal, the conflict they face, and the decision they make in each scene to create a domino effect that carries over into the next scene.

She also finally got clear on the theme of her story. With that foundation, she started her outlining process from scratch.

Hazel went from feeling overwhelmed with information and sitting on an unfinished outline to having a completed outline with a clear path forward. Now she's pressure-testing her outline before continuing her draft, working alongside other writers from the course who've become accountability partners and friends.

Josephine: From Chronic Over-Learning to Fast Drafting

Josephine spent an entire year in what she calls the "brainstorming phase." She was learning a lot, but struggled to transition that learning into drafting.

As a self-described chronic over-learner (coming from her academic background), she read all the craft books, took tens of thousands of words worth of notes, learned all the major plotting methods, and tried to cobble everything together DIY-style.

This led to frustration, dead ends, and challenges when layering plot and character arcs.

When Josephine joined Notes to Novel, lightbulb moments—actually, firework moments—went off in her brain. Finally, she had a clear path forward.

She did work in eight weeks that she hadn't done in her entire year of learning. She fleshed out her antagonist before her protagonist. She worked from the theme rather than the plot. She learned how to seamlessly weave all the layers of her story together.

This resulted in a detailed outline for every scene of her book.

Now Josephine is fast drafting her novel. She just finished Act One and feels confident with the path ahead. Whenever she runs into an issue, she comes back to her key scenes and theme, solves it from the ground up, and moves forward. She's still learning to embrace the mess as a recovering perfectionist, but she's having fun writing now.

Warren: Self-Published Author Discovers Missing Craft Foundations

Warren had already self-published multiple books before taking Notes to Novel. He'd been delaying enrollment, wondering if it would be worth it for someone who'd already published.

Turns out, he had nothing to worry about.

Warren realized his antagonists were missing from many scenes, and his protagonist’s goals weren’t as clear or strong as they needed to be. He’d always thought of theme as something that didn’t apply to the kind of stories he wanted to tell. But looking more critically at what he'd written, he discovered there was a common theme after all. He just didn't know it.

His favorite part? The scene and outlining strategy.

Before Notes to Novel, Warren's outlines concentrated only on the external plot. He wasn’t aware of the importance of key scenes. His first book took seven years to write and ended up at 400,000 words because it kept expanding without a clear end in sight. He had to split it into a trilogy, leaving him with three stories that felt disconnected and hard to balance.

After learning how to set up key scenes with clear expectations, Warren can see his next book taking shape without this problem. His biggest eye-opening moment was learning about pinch points—those crucial moments that keep things moving between key scenes. That's when his other books tended to slow down and lose reader interest.

Warren's story proves Notes to Novel isn't just for new writers. Even experienced authors can have major breakthroughs.

Rachel: From 130,000 Words to a Clear, Pitchable 85,000-Word Story

Rachel came to Notes to Novel having already written a complete first draft. When she says complete, she means 130,000 words.

She'd fast-drafted the whole thing over four months during a big life transition. Her oldest is heading to college and caring for aging parents. Writing felt like the only thing keeping her sane.

When she typed "The End," she felt this huge rush of accomplishment. But then she read it back, and deep down, she knew something wasn't working. The story wasn't quite landing. 

Rachel felt like she had a draft, but no story. Part of her wondered if she was too far along for Notes to Novel.

Turns out, Notes To Novel was exactly what she needed. 

Going through the course, Rachel finally slowed down to ask questions she'd been avoiding. What genre was she writing? What's the central question driving this story? What does her protagonist really want?

She thought she knew the answers, but when she tried to articulate them clearly, she realized how fuzzy some of the core pieces still were.

Getting feedback was like someone turning the lights on in a room she'd been stumbling around in for months. She could see where the character arc was unclear, where the midpoint wasn't working, where the climax didn't land.

She didn't have to throw the whole draft away. She just had to understand what she actually had.

That 130,000-word draft is now a tighter 85,000 words. More importantly, Rachel can finally explain what her book is about in one clear sentence.

Ready to Get Unstuck and Start Making Real Progress?

What do these five writers have in common now? They're all moving forward with confidence. They know where their stories are going. They trust the process. And they're actually enjoying writing again.

That's what happens when you finally have a framework you can trust. One that meets you exactly where you are and guides you forward, step by step.

If any of these stories resonated with you, that's your sign. You don't have to keep figuring this out alone.

Notes to Novel is my signature eight-week live program where I walk you through everything you need to build a strong foundation for your story—developing your characters, identifying your genre, uncovering your theme, and mapping out your plot scene by scene.

You'll learn how to brainstorm, outline, and start writing your draft with confidence alongside other writers just like you. And I'll be there with you for eight weeks, holding your hand through the entire process.

Join the waitlist here to be the first to know when doors open and get early access. Don't spend another year feeling stuck. Get the clarity you need to finally finish your novel.