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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
 
 
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
 
 
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
 
 


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
 
 


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
 
 


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
 
 


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
 
 


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
 
 


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
 
 


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
 
 


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
 
 


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
 
 


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
 
 


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
 
 


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
 
 


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
 
 


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
 
 


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
 
 


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
 
 


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
 
 
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