#195. How Deliberate Practice Can Improve Your Fiction Writing (With Tim Grahl)

Master the fundamental building block of fiction writing with this one exercise that's helped writers break through years of stalled progress in just weeks.

Ever wonder why some writers seem to improve rapidly while others stay stuck for years, despite writing every single day? 🤔

The difference isn't talent or luck—it's deliberate practice.

Most aspiring novelists think that accumulating word count is the path to improvement. But here's the truth: without targeted practice and expert feedback, you might be reinforcing bad habits rather than developing good ones.

Tim Grahl is the CEO of Story Grid, author of six books, and has analyzed over 2,000 scenes from aspiring writers. What he's discovered about skill development might completely change how you approach your writing journey.

In this episode, you'll hear us talk about things like:

• [24:45] Why most writers don't improve even when they write every day—and the missing piece that separates writers who progress from those who stay stuck
• [02:11] The surprising shift Story Grid made from teaching big-picture structure to focusing on scene-level fundamentals instead
• [10:02] The 3-step framework for creating a deliberate writing practice that builds real skills instead of just word count
• [15:16] The three most common scene-writing mistakes that kill narrative momentum—and how to avoid them
• [24:27] Why getting expert feedback (not just writing in isolation) is the crucial element most writers miss

Whether you're staring at your first blank page or you've got a drawer full of unfinished manuscripts, this episode will show you exactly how to break the cycle of starting and stopping and finally make meaningful progress on your writing!

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

• Story Grid’s Scene Checklist (Free Resource)

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