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The Past Six+ Months: Overcommitment Central!!
Hey hey!! I've returned from...wherever I was? Honestly, I feel like I blinked and it was May, and the last time I've been on here was...

Nicole M. Tota
May 24, 20243 min read
19 views
October: Into the Trenches!
Hey all! I had this as a calendar event since mid-October and then exciting writerly things started to happen, and my health took a...

Nicole M. Tota
Nov 7, 20235 min read
5 views
Not Yet Over the Finish Line: September's Theme
Hello! I'm going to probably make this short and sweet this month because honestly? I've been doing a lot of things, but most of them...

Nicole M. Tota
Sep 30, 20233 min read
5 views


Pitch Contests and New WIPs: A Theme for August
Every time I write one of these, I say I've returned from the dead. But I usually don't mean dead dead. Like, there's typically some...

Nicole M. Tota
Aug 18, 20235 min read
2 views


Caffeine-Fueled Sprints: The Past Month in Review
I've returned from the dead, as promised. Mainly because I put this on my calendar as an event so that I wouldn't forget to write. I'm...

Nicole M. Tota
Jul 19, 20234 min read
5 views


Adventures in Starting a Pitch Contest (Plus Other Things)
Hi, it's me again, making promises to post more regularly and then noping out for three whole months. This time, I think I'll actually be...

Nicole M. Tota
Jun 19, 20234 min read
11 views


Updates from the Past Month + Chapter Revisions
I've returned from the dead, AKA Twitter, where I've actually been...enjoying myself?? And getting 550 followers?? I'm still baffled. But...

Nicole M. Tota
Mar 29, 20236 min read
6 views


Small Victories + Baby's First Twitter Pitch Contest
Obligatory weekly blog post is not nearly so "obligatory" this week, because I did a thing, and I didn't expect to do the thing, but...

Nicole M. Tota
Jan 25, 20235 min read
3 views


Characters Behaving Badly: A Study in What to do When Your Characters Just Don't Wanna
I've been debating for almost an entire week about what I want to post about, whether I actually want to post or not, and what I could...

Nicole M. Tota
Jan 20, 20238 min read
3 views


The Art of a Good Query, and a Journey Through Cringe-Land
Hey fam! So, you know how last week I said "please be kind to yourself if you can't produce work?" Well, it turns out I can't really take...

Nicole M. Tota
Dec 28, 202210 min read
3 views


To Prologue or Not to Prologue...Among Other Questions
Hey fam, just a quick life check-in around the holidays and a reminder to please be kind to yourself if you can't produce the amount of...

Nicole M. Tota
Dec 21, 20229 min read
4 views


Do I Need to Edit...or Revise? Notes on the Process
Buckle up, folks: this one's going to be a bit of a ramble. But first, some updates. I am exactly where I was last week, which means I...

Nicole M. Tota
Dec 13, 20228 min read
4 views


How to Know This Draft is The One
Okay, I'm going to start off with just a brief little aside: It's been a hell of a week and my creative energies are not where I thought...

Nicole M. Tota
Dec 5, 20225 min read
4 views


My Hamster Wheel (Notes on Getting Back on Track)
Alright, y'all. Real talk here: I have been on the struggle bus. I've been having difficulty balancing my mental health with my...

Nicole M. Tota
Nov 28, 20224 min read
3 views


Trash to Treasure: A First Chapter Journey
Hot take, right out the gate, because I'm feeling a little spicy today. I think every writer in the history of creation can benefit from...

Nicole M. Tota
Nov 21, 202212 min read
4 views


An Unofficial Guide to Finding Your Voice
This is going to be a post about voice, I promise. But first, absolutely none of it will make sense without some... Updates: Manuscript 1...

Nicole M. Tota
Nov 7, 20228 min read
3 views


Why I've Created a Writing Twitter
Originally, I ended this to be a ramble about how I've decided to do NaNoWriMo this year, because I am slowly going stir-crazy during my...

Nicole M. Tota
Nov 2, 20224 min read
2 views


How Not to Write a Manic Pixie Dream Girl
Here's the thing: I've just finished Draft 4 revisions at this point and I'm waiting for the dust to settle before I pick it back up for...

Nicole M. Tota
Oct 24, 20224 min read
6 views


Practicing Radical Self Love as a Writer
It's a beautifully chilly Tuesday in October, the absolute perfect weather for someone who loves fall, and I'm sitting here at my desk...

Nicole M. Tota
Oct 18, 20224 min read
2 views


My Grad School/Writer Survival Guide
AKA: Lots and lots of Google comments and sticky notes. I've been thinking about this a lot the past week, as I continue chipping away at...

Nicole M. Tota
Oct 3, 20227 min read
3 views
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