Student Spotlight: How Kara Kentley Turned a Messy Draft Into a Published Romance (and How You Can Too)
LISTEN ON APPLE PODCAST | LISTEN ON SPOTIFY | LISTEN ON YOUTUBE
If you've ever felt lost in your own manuscript, unsure how to fix what's broken or even how to finish what you started, Kara Kentley's story will show you the way forward.
Kara had written a 95,000-word first draft in just 4-5 weeks. The story had lived in her head for months, pouring out quickly onto the page. But despite having a complete draft, she knew something was fundamentally wrong.
Her manuscript jumped between two timelines—a romance from 10 years ago and the present day—with a sagging middle that killed the story's momentum. When her daughter read it, she confirmed Kara's worst fears: "I love this book up to the halfway point. And then it just loses steam for me."
When Passion Isn't Enough to Finish
Kara tried to fix her manuscript on her own. She switched scenes around and rewrote sections, but nothing solved the sagging middle, and something still felt off.
She'd read successful dual timeline novels before, but something wasn't working with her dual timeline story. The past and present sections felt disconnected, and early readers kept getting lost at the transition point between timelines.
After months of failed attempts to fix it herself, stuck on her manuscript with no clear path forward, Kara finally realized she needed help.
The Framework That Changed Everything
When Kara enrolled in Notes to Novel in July 2022, she discovered what her story was missing: structure. These 3 specific breakthroughs helped Kara transform her manuscript from confusing to compelling:
- Romance novels follow specific story beats. Kara learned that all successful romance novels follow a specific structure. The couple meets in the beginning, falls in love during the middle, and gets their 'Happily Ever After' at the end. "For me, it was kind of a relief to know that I need to have these particular scenes in this book," she shared. No more guessing—she finally had a clear roadmap.
- Sticking to one timeline simplified her plot. Instead of juggling past and present simultaneously, Kara focused on the present-day story and wove the backstory in through flashbacks. This was the perfect choice since she wanted readers to feel the angst of her characters reuniting after 10 years apart. And those pages she cut? They weren't wasted—they gave her deep character insights that strengthened the final version.
- Dual point-of-view fixed the head-hopping. Rather than randomly jumping between characters' thoughts, Kara rewrote her story using deliberate dual POV. This gave readers both perspectives in a structured way that deepened their emotional connection to each character, while helping Kara avoid one of fiction's deadly sins: head-hopping.
With these changes in place, Kara finally had the framework she'd been craving. Her rewrite transformed the messy manuscript into a cohesive story. The hard work paid off.
From Messy Draft to Daily Sales
That confused dual-timeline manuscript became Another Summer, a book that now sells copies every day.
Despite launching without reviews or a marketing plan, her book hit #1 in Second Chance Romance on IngramSpark and stayed there for about two weeks. Local bookstores took notice and ordered stock for their shelves. Readers she's never met promoted her book on social media. And Another Summer was even featured in a curated ‘beach reads’ collection.
The daily sales still surprise her. Kara said, "I went away for a week to Maine to photograph birds, and when I got off the island, I saw that I’d been selling books every day!" How cool is that? This success happened because she finally had the framework to bring her story to life in the way she’d always imagined.
For writers struggling with messy drafts, Kara's advice is refreshingly direct: "If you're wondering if you can do this, go find out."
Ready to Turn Your Messy Draft Into Your Finished Novel?
If your manuscript isn't quite working, whether it's timeline confusion, character problems, or that dreaded saggy middle, you don't have to figure it out alone. Join the waitlist for my Notes to Novel course and discover the exact framework that helped Kara transform her messy draft into a romance novel that sells every day. Enrollment opens soon, and if this resonates with you, I'd love to have you join us!
👉 Want more help right now? Check out these free resources:
- Listen to the Fiction Writing Made Easy Podcast for weekly writing guidance
- Take the Author Success Blueprint Quiz to get personalized next steps for your writing, editing, and publishing journey
- Grab my free guide to see how real writers (like you!) pushed past these roadblocks to finish their novels: 5 Writing Roadblocks Keeping You Stuck & How to Break Through
