Keeping a Notebook

In the third installment of this Watch Over Me-themed season, Nina talks about darkness in her work. She shares a source of inspiration, reads an excerpt from Watch Over Me, and discusses what's gained by letting darkness into your work.

Nina talks about a project that didn't feel right and how she chose to let it go. She reads an excerpt from her new novel, Watch Over Me. She talks to Doubt (and Doubt listens).

In the third episode of Keeping a Notebook's special season, Nina talks about an object that she missed when her family was uprooted, and how she felt when she got it back. She invites her listeners to choose anchors of their own for this week's writing prompt.

In this special bonus episode of Keeping a Notebook, Nina is sharing an interview from the Shelter in Place podcast, hosted by her good friend Laura Joyce Davis. Laura asks Nina about her writing and teaching, and her hopes and fears during this time of sheltering in place.

No description provided.

It’s no small feat to make a reader feel what your character is feeling. Here is Nina's best advice for you--in the form of a story and then an exercise. Also, special announcement: The Slow Novel Lab, Nina's online writing class, is now open for enrollment!

In the first episode of this mini-season, Nina gives actionable advice on mindset and productivity and practice for listeners to fulfill their creative intentions for the new year. She offers five ways to shift our thinking to best serve our work, such as prioritizing writing time, setting goals we have complete control over, and making progress visible.

A call for experimentation in our work, including what Nina is currently trying and tips and goals from listeners.

You can’t write a good novel without trusting yourself to write it. On the first episode of the second season, Nina talks about the pressures writers feel at all stages of their journey and offers advice on how to get back to a place where inspiration sparks creation. She shares her experience of writing the story she thought she was supposed to write instead of the one she wanted to tell, and how releasing that pressure resulted in her finding her career and her voice. She discusses surrendering to uncertainty, what we can and can’t control within the publishing industry and how to reframe the pressure that cannot be lifted. The Slow Novel Lab Sign up for Nina’s newsletter!

Nina answers a listener's question on writing a novel based on real events and explores ideas of truth and expansiveness in fiction.

In Episode 5, Nina turns to three people who inspire her for the stories of how they started their own endeavors. In Part One, we hear from a shop owner and a bread baker.

We all have trouble getting started sometimes. This episode is for when you're stuck in a major way with your writing, or when you simply need a way back into your story. It's full of questions and strategies to help you start writing.