It’s Not Your Idea—It’s Your Structure: The Fix Most Creators Miss - Susan Lovett

Your content isn’t the problem—your structure is. Learn the fix most creators miss and use it to get your offer from idea to reality.

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Ideas are like bunnies. They hop around, capturing our attention and multiply as we watch. We chase one, then another, then three more show up. Writers call them plot bunnies, and they're exciting. The shiny new ideas that pop into our heads and have us running around till we're dizzy with possibilities. But they can also lead us into a warren of half built projects and tangled drafts. And for digital product creators, presenters plot bunnies become scattered lead magnets, incomplete courses, and beautifully branded notion pages that never quite turn into offers. Our job is to learn how to grab the right ideas and then shape them into something that actually works.

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But here's the truth. It's rarely the idea that's the problem. It's what you do next. A few years ago, I had a client who had a brilliant idea for a program. The hook was catchy, she was excited, so she sat down to outline it, and it immediately unraveled. The lessons didn't build, the content felt repetitive, and worst of all, she couldn't figure out how to get people from point A to point B. So she kept tweaking the copy, adding slides, reworking the intro. But none of it helped because the idea wasn't broken.

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It just didn't have a structure. She didn't need more research. She needed a roadmap. Hi, I'm Susan Lovett, writer, story strategist, and the person people call when they have too many ideas and no idea how to shape them. Let's start with a simple question. Have you ever had an idea that felt amazing, like really solid, until you sat down to actually build the thing and then it all fell apart? That disconnect happens too often, and you are not alone. In fact, I hear this all the time from my clients. People who've taken all the courses, watched all the webinars, filled all the notebooks, and still feel stuck.

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They start thinking their ideas aren't good enough. But after 30 years specializing in story structure, narrative design, and strategy, I can tell you it's not your idea. It's your structure. And today, I'm going to show you why. Fixing that one thing can change everything. Here's what most people don't realize. Ideas don't fail because they're bad. They fail because they're vague, too big or too small or too scattered to stick.

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And when there's no structure, no clear bones underneath, the whole product feels heavy, confusing, like it takes more energy than it's worth. Your audience doesn't finish it, and you don't want to promote it. Suddenly, you're second Guessing the entire idea. Sound familiar? And the fix isn't more content, it's less noise, more spine. Structure turns chaos into clarity. I once worked with a client who had 10 unfinished offers. 10 all good ideas, but. But none of them had a shape.

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No arc, no flow, no logic. She was treating each offer like a treasure chest, just throwing content in and hoping the value would shine. But a pile of treasure isn't a map. It's noise. And that's what structure fixes. Structure turns chaos into clarity. It's what makes your idea easy to build and your content easy to finish. One of the simplest tools I teach is something I call the offer skeleton.

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A one page structure that gives your product a spine or a shape, a way to stand up. Think of it like a posture check for your offer. Here's the quick version promise. What's the transformation? This is your compass. The one sentence your entire product revolves around. What will they walk away with? Your audience needs to know where you're taking them. And you need to know so you don't wander path. What's the route? These are your stepping stones.

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Are you teaching in phases, steps or themes? If your offer is the house, this is the hallway, the flow that keeps them moving. We call this the through line. This is where a lot of creators get lost. A through line isn't just the outline, it's the connective thread, the idea that each step sets up the next. It's what gives your product momentum and meaning. When you have a strong through line, your content builds like a story, not a pile of tips. And your audience keeps going because they can feel it all fitting together. Pacing, how will it feel? How is this going to be delivered? Are you planning weekly releases? A self paced binge? What kind of energy and attention do your audience have? Busy coaches need breathing room.

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Writers want immersion. Presenters want clarity. Match your pacing to your audience's energy. Pull through what keeps them moving. This is your momentum. This could be progress trackers, story moments, reflection prompts, anything that encourages forward momentum. Because just like a good book, your audience needs a reason to keep reading. That's the skeleton.

Susan Lovett [00:06:19]:
Four core layers. Enough to give your idea shape without locking you into a rigid formula. And that's just the start. But before we break down story logic, I want to give you something diagnostic. Something you can use right now to check the structure of your content or future offer. Because even with a great idea, even with great content, a weak structure can quietly undo all your hard work. So let's talk about the four most common structural mistakes I See in digital products, courses, speeches, scripts, and just about every other type of project you can imagine. These show up all the time in my clients work, but once you know what to look for, you'll be able to spot them in your own drafts.

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Mistake number one, no clear transformation. This often happens when your offer tries to do too much or isn't tied to a single visible outcome. This could sound something like, you'll learn how to clarify, organize and scale your business using mindset, messaging and marketing, which is way too much for one transformation. Or we cover everything from confidence to tech to branding to content creation. Which might be true, but the transformation is mushy, not a solid effect. When the transformation isn't specific, the structure gets wobbly. It's like trying to build a sandcastle without water. You can fix this issue by asking, what is the one shift they will feel, see or name by the end, your structure flows from the answer to that question.

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Mistake number two, no story logic. What this means is that there's no internal logic structure beneath the ideas being presented. This can tank a project faster than anything else. Story logic relies on critical thinking, common sense and and a rational approach. I know it doesn't sound terribly creative when you put it like that, but trust me, it is. In screenwriting, we approach story logic in a visual way. Everything we show needs to be the result of what came before. That's why screenwriters write scenes that create sequences that combine to become the film.

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Each scene falls into one of two categories. It's either an action scene where something happens to drive the story forward, or it's a reaction scene where the characters are reeling from what just happened and forging a new course. Everything in each scene and sequence builds toward the end. It's the same in nonfiction and business writing. Every element needs to build to the next. It has to make sense in a logical way. When. When it doesn't happen? Well, that's when you find yourself screaming at the television or throwing a book across the room.

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Why did she do that? How could that happen? What is happening? Our brains do not like it when things don't line up. That's because our brains anticipate what's going to happen. It's also why plot twists make us so happy. We don't see the twist coming, but the best ones, the makes so much sense. We love that we didn't anticipate it, but we can see why it happened. Your offers need to impose the same kind of sequential logic flow to your information. It needs to build in a logical way. Step by step, without taking too much time or getting bogged down in erroneous details.

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Fixing this logic flow issue is my favorite kind of project. Whether it's taking hours and hours of footage and trying to find the thread underneath it to tell a story, or organizing research and facts into a coherent structure designed to inform, teach, and inspire, this is the biggest issue most writers and creators face. You can fix it by asking, what is the main idea? What is the most logical way I can lay out the information for someone else to understand? What comes first, and then next, and then after that, and so on? Mistake number three no Momentum between Modules okay, this one's a little bit weird. You might have amazing content, but each part feels like a standalone thing. There's no natural pull to keep your audience going from one to the next. It's like reading a list of loosely related tips instead of a book. Here's the problem with the brain wants narrative logic, cause and effect, not just bullet points. When our brains don't get it, we check out.

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Your audience might nod along, but they're not going to finish and they won't remember it. You can fix this by asking, what question does this module raise and how does the next one answer or build on it? Add that connection and the structure clicks. Mistake number four Mismatch between pacing and audience energy. This is when your product moves either too fast and overwhelms, or too slow and loses engagement. Maybe you start too deep before your audience is ready, or you give long theory before they've even seen a quick win. Structure isn't just what's inside, it's also how it's spaced. You can fix this by asking, where will they feel motivated? Where will they need a win? Where do I need to pause? Think like a story. Every great narrative has cadence and rhythm.

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Times when you slow down and times when you speed up modulation of pitch and tone. Your offer needs cadence and rhythm too. Now for the wrap up. If you recognized yourself in one of the top four mistakes, that's great because that's a start. You don't need to overhaul everything. Structure doesn't need to be rigid, it just needs to serve the story you're telling. And you're always telling a story. And once you learn how to spot these mistakes early in the process, you'll save time, energy, and maybe even a full rewrite.

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So do a quick self check. Is your transformation clear? Does your content build naturally from point to point to point? Are you matching your pacing to your people? If you said yes to all three, you're ahead of most people already. If you said no, don't worry. That's what the offer skeleton is for. Now here's where it gets interesting. Structure isn't just a productivity tool. It's a cognitive tool. The human brain is wired for sequence and consequence, anticipation and release, setup and payoff.

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We understand through story. We remember because of story. That's why a product with a clear narrative logic, flow, works better, lands deeper, and feels good. Structure isn't just about organization. It's about momentum. And one of the best ways to create momentum is by borrowing from story. Think about it. The best stories follow a rhythm, a sequence of cause and effect that keeps us turning the page.

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In storytelling, this is called the story spine, a pattern of movement that creates emotional momentum. This happened, so that happened, and then this. It's a logic that builds one piece after the other. Your course doesn't have to be fiction to use narrative design. But if you use a logical, engaging spine, your audience will follow you. Each step will lead naturally to the next. Each lesson will earn its place. And by the end, your audience will feel like they've gone on a journey, not just clicked next on a module.

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Let's zoom out. Most digital products fail in two places. Either they don't connect or they don't get completed. And structure solves both of those problems. Structure creates connection. Structure helps people trust you. It shows them the way. It signals that there's a plan and and that they're in expert hands.

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When you lead with structure, your audience isn't just consuming, they're experiencing. They're moving forward and making meaning along the way. Structure increases completion. Here's what we know from neuroscience. The brain loves closure. The brain craves patterns. The brain will skip a step if the sequence doesn't make sense. Structure helps reduce friction.

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It gives people clarity at the decision points where they might otherwise drop off. This is why my clients say their audiences finally finish their programs. Because the skeleton makes them stick. Now, I didn't come into this story stuff from a traditional funnel building background. I've spent the past 30 years writing for the ear and the page, working with broadcasters, filmmakers, corporations, entrepreneurs and coaches to build scripts, books, courses, speeches and strategies rooted in narrative, logic and neuroscience. These days I specialize in helping people turn brilliant, messy ideas into story driven products that work. Whether it's a full course, a live workshop, a book, or a short form digital guide, I help people build offers with flow, clarity, and power. Before we wrap, here are three things you can do today.

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Even if your product still feels fuzzy. Write your promise in one sentence. Just one. List three steps your clients have to take to get there. Ask yourself, where will they get stuck? This is where pacing and pull through begin. You don't need a full course plan. You just need a skeleton and a through line. So if you've been wondering why your idea feels harder than it should, if you've been second guessing your concept or rewriting the same section for the fourth time, let this be your moment of clarity.

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It's not your idea, it's your structure. And structure is fixable. In fact, it's often one page away. If you want help mapping your next offer, whether it's a course, a workshop, or even a lead magnet, I've got a one page tool for you. It's called the Offer Skeleton and it's your freebie. It will take that brilliant, messy idea of yours and give it a spine so you can build something that works. Thanks so much for listening. And whatever you're building, remember, it doesn't have to be perfect, but it does need a structure.