The first encounter between your would-be lovers is not about instant chemistry or love at first sight. It’s where the emotional logic of your entire love story gets set.

In this episode, we explore why admiration from afar creates fantasy but not connection, and why real engagement, even brief, awkward, or tense, is what makes two characters matter to each other.

You’ll learn the three essential elements every strong first meeting needs and four practical approaches to writing first encounters that create tension, contrast, and forward pull.

If your lovers’ first meeting feels flat, generic, or overly dependent on physical attraction, this episode will help you build a moment that feels charged, meaningful, and inevitable, without relying on tired romance shortcuts.

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10 Questions First Time Novelists Ask, and Encouraging, Practical Answers to Help You Finish Your Book

Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

Writers face blocks that feel insurmountable but aren't. Discover the 5 story barriers keeping you stuck - outlining traps, getting lost in the middle, perfectionism, comparison, and rejection - and how to cross to the other side. Confidence doesn't come before you cross the barrier. It comes from crossing it.

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10 Questions First Time Novelists Ask, and Encouraging, Practical Answers to Help You Finish Your Book

Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

Can't finish your first draft? Perfecting your outline for months? Staring at a blank page afraid you'll write something bad? These look like different problems, but they're all the same issue: you're focused on outcomes instead of process. This episode reveals why you're stuck, shows you how to convert paralyzing questions into productive ones, and gives you a concrete action plan to get unstuck. You don't need more courage or discipline. You need to ask different questions.

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10 Questions First Time Novelists Ask, and Encouraging, Practical Answers to Help You Finish Your Book

Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

You have material - notes, scenes, a rough draft. But you can't quite see the story yet. In this episode, I'll show you four simple questions to help you find the story that's already trying to emerge from your scattered material. No outlining, no complicated organizational systems - just an intuitive way to see what your story is trying to become.

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10 Questions First Time Novelists Ask, and Encouraging, Practical Answers to Help You Finish Your Book

Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

You've revised your opening five times. Cut hundreds of words. Tightened every sentence. But readers still lose interest before they finish Chapter One. The problem isn't your writing—it's pacing. Discover the 3 biggest pacing mistakes that kill your opening and what to do instead.

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10 Questions First Time Novelists Ask, and Encouraging, Practical Answers to Help You Finish Your Book

Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

When life ramps up, writing is usually the first thing to slip through the cracks. Deadlines, family demands, celebrations, travel, and the general December swirl can leave you wondering if you should push harder, press pause, or feel guilty either way.

In this episode, we look at what it really means to stay connected to your story when time is scarce, and why your writing practice doesn’t have to fall apart just because your schedule does.

You’ll learn 3 simple shifts that keeps your creative mind alive, even when you’re nowhere near your desk, and a few small practices that make it easier to return to your manuscript with more clarity instead of less. If you’ve ever worried about losing momentum during busy seasons, this one will steady you.

Episode Web Page

10 Questions First Time Novelists Ask, and Encouraging, Practical Answers to Help You Finish Your Book

Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

Feeling like your work-in-progress is spiraling out of control? You're not alone. This episode tackles that overwhelming moment when your story feels too big, too messy, and too complicated to wrangle. Learn why overwhelm hits at predictable points (spoiler: it's not about your talent), and get four practical strategies to regain your footing without abandoning your draft. The solution isn't seeing the whole path—it's finding your next foothold.

Episode Web Page

10 Questions First Time Novelists Ask, and Encouraging, Practical Answers to Help You Finish Your Book

Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.

Your first read-through of a first draft can feel like stepping into unknown territory. You’re excited to see what you made, but you’re also bracing for the messy parts you know are coming. In this episode, I walk you through exactly how to handle that first pass without falling into editing mode or judging every page.

You’ll learn what actually matters at this stage, what to ignore for now, how to take clear notes without derailing your momentum, and how to figure out the story you truly wrote. By the end, you’ll have a simple plan that makes this first read-through honest, grounded, and a lot less overwhelming.

Episode Web Page

10 Questions First Time Novelists Ask, and Encouraging, Practical Answers to Help You Finish Your Book

Want to join a community of like-minded writers? Need inspiration and support? Join us in our private Writer Unleashed Community Facebook Group. It's totally free to join.