You Don’t Need a Structure. You Need a Spark.

Permission to Ditch What You Think You Know About Writing a Novel

You’ve got a story idea. Maybe even a full folder of brainstorms, character sketches, and “cool scene” fragments, plus dialogue snippets you overheard at your favorite cafe from the table next door. You’re excited about it… but you can’t seem to get going.

You sit down to write and immediately wonder:

• Should I outline first?
• Should I know how this thing is even going to end?
• Should I know where this should even start?

You open a new doc, type a few lines, delete them. Open another. Rewrite Chapter One. Again. 

That’s when the doubt creeps in.

“Maybe I’m not a real writer.”
“Maybe this isn’t a real story.”

“Maybe I need to take another novel-writing course before I get into this.”

If this is you, take a deep breath.

The problem isn’t you, nor is it your idea (which is probably brilliant, by the way!)

The problem is that you’ve been taught to structure your story before you’ve truly found it’s soul, it’s purpose, it’s meaning. You haven’t yet connected with it.

And that approach? Starting with structure? It shuts down your momentum before it even has a chance to ramp up.

Of course you know there’s a better way. One that starts with connection.

👓 Your vision.

✨ Your spark. 

🧐 Your curiosity.

In this post, I’ll share three connection-centric strategies (plus a bonus!) to help you stop spinning and finally start writing with clarity, confidence, and joy. 

These strategies aren’t about writing faster or cramming your story into a template. They’re about cutting through the noise, quieting the second-guessing, and actually getting traction on the story you’ve been carrying around in your head. Whether you’re stuck on page one, lost in a swirl of disconnected scenes, or avoiding your project entirely because it just feels too overwhelming—this is where you begin to move forward. Not with pressure. With purpose.

Let’s get into it!

🧠Strategy #1: Reset Your Mind and Let Go of the “Right Way”

Let’s call it like it is: you maybe probably haven’t really heard about connecting with your idea before. You’ve been taught all about different structures and ways to plot or outline your book. 

Three-act structure. Hero’s Journey. Save the Cat. The Snowflake Method.
These tools can be helpful, sure. But (big but 🍑), not when they become a prison that doesn’t allow your story to grow freely.

At the start of a story, rigid structure isn’t your friend. It puts pressure on something that’s still forming. What your story needs right now is space to breathe and grow.

So here’s your permission slip to let it all go.

Yeah, seriously! Throw out the rulebooks. Unlearn what you were taught about how a novel must be written. Unwrite the rules you were taught throughout your entire creative writing education!

Your story doesn’t need a framework. It needs you.

Your vision. Your curiosity. Your heart!

Consider this your permission to forget it all and start afresh like a newborn baby duckling who needs to imprint on their mother. Only you’re the duckling, and your story is your mother… or something… 🦆

Fun fact! In the Story Compass, we start by creating that spacious reset. The opening exercises help you connect with your idea in a way that feels instinctual and exciting, not overwhelming or boxed in. The structure? It comes later. 

Right now, we build trust in your creative instincts and trust in your story idea first. Before ever mentioning “structure.”

✨ Strategy #2: Reconnect With the Spark

The reason starting with structure kills momentum is because it forces you to ask, “What happens in my story?” before you even really know if your connection to this idea is strong enough to stick with for 300+ pages.

Instead of asking, “What happens in my story?” try this:

• “Where did this idea even come from?”

Every idea has an origin story.

Was it a dream? A headline? A weird flash of inspiration while doing the dishes or delivering a breech calf? *moo*

Maybe you can’t remember the exact moment, and that’s okay! But you must remember the feeling it gave you (or else you wouldn’t be here learning how to unlearn what you know😏). 

You may have gasped as the idea jolted into your head and started to tug at your writerly heartstrings. A whisper (or shout depending on your muse) of, “Yes, this. This is the book I want to write!”

That spark is everything. It’s one of the most important emotional touchstones that will return you to what made this idea yours and yours alone, especially when things get muddy and showing up to write becomes a chore (because it will at some point).

So ask yourself these questions and see what comes up:

• What excited me about this idea at first?
• What questions popped into my head when it came to me?
• What feeling do I get when I think about this story now?

This isn’t fluff or another excuse to not write.

(I’m almost always on the train to Procrastination Station myself–unless I’m elbows deem in hyperfocus… you thought I was going to say delivering a breech calf, didn’t you?).

It’s fuel for the flames of your writerly passion! 

That initial spark is the key to building a real connection with your story. And when you have that? The gates of your creativity open up and the idea begins to grow.

In the Story Compass, I walk you through how to find and document that spark, so you can keep it alive all the way through your draft.

🌀Strategy #3: Dump Everything Out (Then Organize the Chaos) 

Now that your brain is clear and your heart’s reconnected to that moment when your story idea struck you upside the head and wormed its way into your consciousness, it’s time to do the always helpful, always messy, brain dump.

Pull open a document or grab a notebook (I prefer analog tools for this activity). Then write down everything that’s been rattling around in your brain:

• Random scenes
• Bits of dialogue (the stuff you heard at the cafe that was sooo juicy you couldn’t even make it up)
• Weird little character quirks
• That dramatic ending you saw in your head that one time

Get it all out. No judgment. No order. Just empty. Your. Beautiful little brain. 

Then–and this is important–look at all those fragments through the lens of your spark.

What connects back to that initial feeling? What lights you up? What feels like your story? What feels like it belongs in your story?

This is the part where chaos starts turning into clarity.

This is the start of real momentum.

🐿️ Secret Squirrel Strategy: Start Somewhere Else (Yes, Even If You’re Sure You know exactly where your book is supposed to start)

You think you know the precise location in your story timeline where your book should start. You’ve glommed onto that scene and held on so tight it has caused you to never even consider another starting point.

Are you sure your book is starting in the right place?

This is one of the key exercises that I don’t teach anywhere else (except with 1:1 clients who are stuck). I’ve used it recently with one of my manuscript evaluation clients who decided to keep working with me beyond that first point of contact. If you’re stuck writing, rewriting, revising, rewriting, and writing your opening scene over and over and can’t move forward, it’s not because your idea doesn’t have anywhere to go. It could just be, you’re starting in the wrong spot!

Let go of your co-dependent attachment to what you think is your opening scene, and try this little simple yet powerful exercise!

Write your opening from three different points in time in your story.

Three different openings. Three different places in your story. Three completely different opening chapters.

And I mean really different. Not just “five minutes earlier” or “with a different character’s POV”—but three totally distinct points in time.

• One could be the “logical” beginning you’ve been working with.
• One could be a moment from deep in the story (maybe a scene you’re actually excited to write).
• And one? Go wild. Pick something unexpected. A weird flash-forward. A scene that raises a ton of questions. The moment after the climax, even.

The point of this is to liberate your idea from the cage of what you think the beginning is supposed to be.

👻 Case Study: Legacy of Lies (aka Me, Doing This Very Thing)

I did this myself with my current work in progress , Legacy of Lies. Originally, I thought the story needed to start by explaining why my main character, Alex, had been living in his car for the past three days. 

Logical, right? Ground the reader in his pain, give context, slowly build up to the mystery?

WRONG.

And I know this, because every time I started there, I was trapped in what I thought the story was supposed to be, too. When I took a step back and decided to start on chapter five–the scene where Alex learns he’s just met the conditions of an old trust set up by his estranged uncle? What!–everything became so much clearer and clicked into place. I was able to release all of the old energy (a little woo woo, but stick with me) of the previous tries. The story felt fresh again. Like the idea that I was excited about (the spark!) woke up from a sleepy hibernation and was like, “Yes… that’s how this should be written!”

This new beginning opened with tension, mystery, and a fish-out-of-water family dynamic that made Alex instantly sympathetic and relatable. Even better? I was actually excited to write it.

That scene had energy. Questions. Voice. And that excitement carried me forward right past the spot where I used to stall out.

The other thing to remember with openings? Don’t stress about getting it right. By the time you reach The End, the opening is going to change.

So if your story feels flat at the start, or if you just can’t get into the groove, try this:

Write three different opening scenes.
Even if you only write a few paragraphs for each.
Let yourself see what changes when you let go of what you think is the right beginning and explore the one that actually clicks.

You might be surprised at what unlocks.

🚀 You’ve Got This.

To recap, here are the three (plus one!) connection-first strategies to wrangle your story idea into something novel-worthy:

🧠 Reset your mind and release the pressure to get it “right.”

✨ Reconnect with the spark that made you fall in love with your idea in the first place.

🌀 Dump everything out and organize the chaos.

🐿️ Bonus: Start somewhere else. (Your “beginning” might be what’s holding you back.)

When you do this, things will begin to click. That mess of ideas starts to take shape. You feel the momentum build. 

You’re not just thinking about your book anymore. You’re writing it.

And that, my friend, is how you start your novel from a place of connection.

📣 The Spark is Just the Beginning!

If you’re feeling that flicker of “this could be something,” don’t let it fizzle.

The Story Compass is a story revival experience where we ditch the rules! We’ll dig into your idea, uncover the heart of what makes it powerful, and build a creative foundation that actually fires you up to start writing.

You don’t have to figure this out alone.
💛 Your story is worth it – and so are you.