Slow Writing: Create at Your Own Pace

Nicole Gulotta
  • 5.0 (16)
  • Books
  • Updated Bimonthly

Hosted by author Nicole Gulotta, Slow Writing helps you embrace the season you’re in, create at your own pace, and care for your mind and body along the way. No urgency. No keeping up. Just a sustainable writing life that honors your unique rhythms and inner wisdom. When we’re not taking a breather, new episodes arrive on the full and new moons.

  1. Sep 24

    71. Layers of Landscape with Jenna Brack

    ✨ Seasonal shifts offer a gentle invitation to pause, pay attention, and make space for what comes next. THRESHOLDS is the guided reflection ritual I've returned to for years, now gathered into a workbook I'd love to share with you. Download your copy here. "Like seeing the sky, writing allows you to breathe. You ascend the stairs leading to your own thoughts and words the way water runs downstream, always searching for the larger substance from which you came." In Jenna Brack's Pass-Through Place, she explores landscape, home, and the invitations available to us wherever we're planted. Jenna grew up in Kansas, but this expansive conversation encourages you to consider your own relationship to place. Episode Highlights The ache of belonging to two places at onceDefining home through a shifting lens of time and experienceHow distance reveals what we couldn't see up close, and what announces itself only after we've leftGrief as a doorway into understanding ourselves and our writing more deeplyHome as emotional and spiritual territory, not just physical locationWriting Kansas with nuance rather than clichéThe value of learning to wait and let our work settle while working within our limits and capacityJournaling prompts inspired by Pass-Through PlaceMeet Jenna Jenna Brack is the author of Pass-Through Place (Meadowlark Press, 2026), a collection of essays shaped by growing up in central Kansas. Her essays and poetry have been featured in Every Day Poems, Coffee + Crumbs, Fathom, The Sunlight Press, and others. A former educator and college instructor, Jenna now encourages other writers through editing and coaching. She holds an MA in English from Kansas State University and currently lives with her family in Germany.  Links + Mentions Pass-Through Place by Jenna BrackWisdom from a Wheat Farmer (Substack)Exhale Creativity writing community for mothers and artistsWyatt Townley, former poet laureate of KansasStay Connected 🌱 Free Seasonal Workbook: Download THRESHOLDS and begin wherever you are 🎙️ Slow Writing Newsletter: Exploring creativity, seasonal living, and the writing life 📚 Curl up with one of my books

  2. Sep 10

    70. Writing in the Margins, Then & Now

    ✨ Seasonal shifts offer a gentle invitation to pause, pay attention, and make space for what comes next. THRESHOLDS is the guided reflection ritual I've returned to for years, now gathered into a workbook I'd love to share with you. Download your copy here. Writing in the margins—a philosophy that has guided me for two decades—was born out of constraint. I'd just finished graduate school, started working full-time, and came home too tired to write. But what I learned during that transition has guided me ever since. In a special anniversary episode, we're reflecting on 20 years of writing in the margins. Episode Highlights The origin story of my "writing in the margins" philosophyCombining the method and mindset to support your creative practiceWhy 10 minutes matters more than you thinkFrom writing on walks and in the kitchen, how Wallace Stevens and Emily Bronte found time to writeTinkering, staring at the wall, stretching, and other essential approaches to writingWhat I wish I knew when I started working full-time5 takeaways from 20 years of writing in the marginsLinks + Mentions Making Art and Making a Living: Adventures in Funding a Creative Life by Mason CurreyThis Dark Night: Emily Bronte, A Life by Deborah LutzThe myth of 9-5 writingStay Connected 🍂 Free Seasonal Workbook: Download THRESHOLDS and begin wherever you are 🎙️ Slow Writing Newsletter: Exploring creativity, seasonal living, and the writing life 📚 Curl up with one of my books

  3. Sep 1

    69. Creating in Chaos

    ✨ Seasonal shifts offer a gentle invitation to pause, pay attention, and make space for what comes next. THRESHOLDS is the guided reflection ritual I've returned to for years, now gathered into a workbook I'd love to share with you. Download your copy here. My 2026 word of the year was ease, but the universe had other plans. After a summer break, we're back with lessons learned, the movie I can't wait to watch, and a conversation about the different kinds of liminal space we encounter. Episode Highlights Reflections from 2026's summer of white spaceAn easy way to know if something is right for youHow I'm staying afloat through lots of uncertaintyUnderstanding focus months vs. meandering monthsWhy we get more ideas when we spend time offlineGentle strategies for writing through liminal space and low-capacity times Links & Mentions Episode 49: Seasonal Reflection RitualsEpisode 63: Refining Our Raw Material with Allison Mei Li Stay Connected 🍂 Free Seasonal Workbook: Download THRESHOLDS and begin wherever you are 🎙️ Slow Writing Newsletter: Exploring creativity, seasonal living, and the writing life 📚 Curl up with one of my books

  4. Jun 15

    68. Find Your Creative Center

    In the early 1950s, Anne Morrow Lindbergh—writer, pilot, mother of five, and wife to aviator Charles Lindbergh—spent two weeks alone in a small cottage on Florida’s Captiva Island. During this trip she collected shells, cooked simple meals, and wrote about the trappings of modernity and the search for simplicity. Although this was before cell phones, the internet, and social media, her insights are just as relevant today. Episode Highlights What Anne Morrow Lindbergh considers to be the true enemy of creativity How distraction “pulls one off center,” and ways to remedy this shift Gentle ways to reduce the noise in your life What it means to ‘create a container’ around your writing, and ideas for summer (or any season) Simplification as an intentional, inside job Invitation vs. optimization + Go to the show notes for links and resources mentioned in the episode + Sign up for my encouraging newsletter + Curl up with one of my books: WILD WORDS and EAT THIS POEM

  5. May 31

    67. Fiction Has Nowhere to Hide with Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay

    Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay “put away the call of her soul” to become a scientist, earning a PhD. in biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology. But after two decades as a science writer, feeling grateful for her career wasn’t enough. Her debut novel, Chitra Demands to Go Home, was drafted in the car during her youngest kid’s tennis practice, and Raj proceeded to encounter the sheer vulnerability of fiction where you can’t hide behind rules, facts, or data.  Episode Highlights Unique ways science storytelling prepared Raj for fiction Moments of generosity that led to writing (and finishing) her novel What happened when she accidentally showed up to an open mic night with nothing to read First draft strategies: writing in the car and using a distraction-free typewriter Navigating a story through ambiguity How an ordinary conversation with her mom planted the seed of her novel idea Writing the realistic yet mythological mother/son relationship in Bengali culture The surprising reaction from her LinkedIn community after announcing her book The vulnerability of publication after a lifetime of meeting external expectations Links + Mentions ⁠Chitra Demands to Go Home⁠, out from Modern Artist Press ⁠Freewrite travel typewriter⁠ Let’s Connect Sign up for my encouraging newsletterCurl up with one of my books: WILD WORDS and EAT THIS POEM

  6. May 14

    66. Creative Flow in Menopause with Vanessa Novissimo Wright

    For Part 3 of our cycle series, I’m in conversation with Vanessa Novissimo Wright, a creative communications strategist, writer, and certified life coach for midlife creatives. Before she was fully tapped into her midlife joy and authenticity, Vanessa had a pretty rough perimenopause experience. She generously shares the low points in her journey, which led her to develop a self-care method that keeps her connected to herself and her creative well. If you’re struggling to make sense of this life stage and in need of some wisdom from someone who’s been through it, you don’t want to miss this one. Episode Highlights How her perimenopause symptoms forced her into deep relationship with herself The daily practice of surrender  The FLOW method that keeps her grounded Vanessa’s “self-care-bag” and how she made her car a creative cocoon when her kids were young How a “planting seeds” approach to pave the way for embracing creativity in menopause Essential practices when you’re experiencing fatigue, brain fog, and can’t string sentences together The creative permission slips she’s giving to midlife folks she coaches Releasing perfectionism around journaling The necessity of fun, whimsy, and joy on the journey Meet Vanessa Vanessa Novissimo Wright is a creative communications strategist, writer, and certified life coach for midlife creatives. She helps them navigate menopause with creativity and joy so they can show up vibrantly for their community. Using her FLOW self-care method, Vanessa guides clients to embrace this age and stage of life with clarity, creativity, and curiosity. Follow her on Instagram and Substack. + Go to the show notes for links and resources mentioned in the episode + Sign up for my encouraging newsletter + Curl up with one of my books: WILD WORDS and EAT THIS POEM

  7. May 1

    65. Perimenopause Will Change Your Writing Life

    Perimenopause, over a period of many years, is a radical recalibration of brain and body. As Lisa Mosconi writes in her book THE MENOPAUSE BRAIN, “it’s not just brain energy that changes during menopause but that the brain’s structure, regional connectivity, and overall chemistry are also impacted.” We feel these changes physically, mentally, spiritually, and also creatively. This episode explores the tangible ways perimenopause symptoms require us to reimagine our writing life, and practical suggestions for navigating the sometimes choppy waters.  Episode Highlights Physical, mental, and spiritual symptoms of perimenopause Reframing this transition as a creative rebirth The moment Roxane Gay understood writer’s block as a menopause symptom and not a moral failure.  Honest reflections from my own perimenopause journey Learning to move at the pace of fluctuating energy levels  3 perimenopause and menopause books to read + Go to the show notes for links and resources mentioned in the episode + Sign up for my encouraging newsletter + Curl up with one of my books: WILD WORDS and EAT THIS POEM

  8. Apr 17

    64. The Wise Cycles of Nature & Our Bodies

    Welcome to Part 1 of a new 3-part series on cycles. (👀Coming up next? Perimenopause and menopause.) Even though the linear, Gregorian calendar has us celebrating the new year in the darkness of winter, nature and our bodies know the truth: cycles and seasons flow in their own time. But how can we embrace cyclical rhythms in a world designed to suppress or ignore them? It starts with noticing what’s available to us, and making subtle shifts in the direction of our inner knowing. Think of this episode like a buffet—there are myriad ways to engage with the cycles and seasons in our lives and creative practices. Episode Highlights A grounding ritual to try anytime you drink coffee or tea The main difference between cycles and seasons The history of the Gregorian calendar and understanding “clock time” Why “New Year, New You” energy doesn’t always feel aligned with our bodies 6 types of cycles available to us How to choose which cycles and seasons to engage with  More Ways to Connect + Go to the show notes for links and resources mentioned in the episode + Sign up for my encouraging newsletter + Curl up with one of my books: WILD WORDS and EAT THIS POEM

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Hosted by author Nicole Gulotta, Slow Writing helps you embrace the season you’re in, create at your own pace, and care for your mind and body along the way. No urgency. No keeping up. Just a sustainable writing life that honors your unique rhythms and inner wisdom. When we’re not taking a breather, new episodes arrive on the full and new moons.

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