Slow Writing: Create at Your Own Pace

Nicole Gulotta
  • 5.0 (15)
  • BOOKS

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.

  1. 2D AGO

    60. Fun & Flexibility with Heidi Fiedler

    Mary Oliver wrote that “joy is not made to be a crumb,” yet it’s often the first thing to go when we’re prioritizing survival as parents, employees, partners, and human beings witnessing the rupture of the world. But joy, delight, and creativity aren't frivolous. They're essential. Today I’m joined by writer and creative coach Heidi Fiedler to talk about daily delights, parenthood, self-publishing, and permission to walk away from our own work. Episode Highlights The frustrating (and clarifying) constraints of parenthood Heidi’s notecard strategy for finding a book's structure The power of expanding our identities as writers Rethinking the need to maximize every second of every hour Trusting our creative process and being flexible might be the secret to getting anything done Why we can’t future-forecast the breaks we need to take when writing a book How Heidi decided to self-publish (and the disappointments and benefits along the way)  Self-publishing as a sustainable alternative to traditional publishing Reframing play for adults, especially if you don’t love the word Meet Heidi Heidi Fiedler is a writer, editor, and creative coach. She writes books for kids and essays for grown ups. She’s the author of the new book Quickening: The Art of Being a Creative Mother, which is available at helloheidifiedler.com. You can find her on Instagram and on Substack @heidifiedler. 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

    56 min

  2. FEB 1

    59. What is Slow Writing?

    The dictionary defines slow as a passive, sloth-like existence, but slow isn’t a symptom of falling behind—it’s actually the mechanism by which energy and creativity can return to us and regenerate. The world may want us to think about this differently, but we don’t actually thrive as humans with near-constant output, we thrive on gentle and predictable rhythms.  Episode Highlights A working definition of slow writing Inspiration from other industries like food and fashion 3 guiding principles of slow writing How to embrace this philosophy in the everyday 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

    30 min

  3. JAN 19

    58. Same Show, New Name

    The Wild Words podcast is now… Slow Writing! After a long hiatus, the show returns with new episodes and fresh cover art, but the same support and encouragement you’ve come to expect since the podcast debuted way back in 2019. Tune in for a behind-the-scenes update, what to expect from the upcoming season, and more. Episode Highlights Why it took more than a year to return to podcasting How to recognize if you’re in a creative winter The Traditional Chinese Medicine theory that led to exploring a name change Acknowledging when we accidentally cross our own boundaries + 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

    22 min

  4. TRAILER

    Slow Writing Trailer

    🎙️🐌 Big news, listeners!  Wild Words is now… Slow Writing.  After a year and a half hiatus, we're back with a new name, new cover art, and new episodes coming your way in January 2026.  This show might be freshened up on the outside, but we’ll still dig into all the same topics—seasonal creative living, separating our worth from productivity culture, untangling from social media, the relationship between writing and our bodies, and more. Tune in for a preview of what’s on the horizon! Sign up my encouraging newsletter Order WILD WORDS and EAT THIS POEM Listen to the archives

    4 min

  5. 06/10/2024

    57. Searching for White Space (Rerun)

    Closing out this batch of episodes and heading into summer, I'm re-releasing one of my most popular shows from last year: Searching for White Space. Because we’re conditioned to link our productivity to self-worth, we’re not always practiced in the art of releasing and slowing down, so I wanted to share my own experience in an effort to help you find your own white space in whatever season you need it. Episode Highlights: White space on the page vs. the white space in our creative lives Nature isn’t productive 24/7 and we shouldn’t be easier How we can struggle with resistance when taking time to rest A 4-step process you can implement to cultivate white space if you need itLet’s Connect Visit my website: nicolemgulotta.com Sign up for my encouraging Substack newsletter Curl up with one of my books: WILD WORDS and EAT THIS POEM Say hi on Instagram: @nicolegulotta.author

    41 min

  6. 06/03/2024

    56. The Best Questions I've Been Asked on Book Tour

    Seven years ago this spring, I was in Brooklyn on book tour for my literary cookbook, Eat This Poem. I was there for a live radio spot and a bookstore event, and had time to find the cutest coffee shop where I parked myself for three hours to write the draft of my proposal for Wild Words, which came out a couple of years later. When starting to work on episodes for this season of the podcast, I came across an old draft called “Notes from the Road.” This document was filled with questions I was asked at events—the kinds of questions that were so good I wanted to share them with everyone who wasn’t there in person. Questions We Discuss If you have 3 kids and 20 minutes of free time, what should you work on first? How do you get back to writing if you haven’t done it in a while? Does your writing process change with each book? What’s the secret of balancing writing with everything else? Have you ever been afraid of success? When you do have a margin, how do you avoid just scrolling through Instagram? How do you reconcile wanting to write for yourself, but also the desire to get affirmation for your work?  How do you be content with just being a writer, and not being the next Ann Patchett?  Linkable Mentions Episode 45: Preparing Your Nervous System for Publication with Tiffany Clarke Harrison Let’s Connect Visit my website: nicolemgulotta.com Sign up for my encouraging Substack newsletter Curl up with one of my books: WILD WORDS and EAT THIS POEM Say hi on Instagram: @nicolegulotta.author

    22 min

  7. 05/20/2024

    55. Are We Ever Really Finished?

    Today I’m answering a listener question: How do you know when you’re done? It seems straightforward on the surface—you’re done when the essay is published, when the book comes out, or when the workshop is over. But not every writing project has defined edges. In fact, this episode argues that when we’re wondering if we’re done with something, we’re actually asking the wrong question.  Conversation Starters “When something is finished, it might mean something is true. It could mean someone will read your words. It means you now need to relate to this part of your life differently. You need to tell a new story about what happened to yourself. None of these things are bad, but when we're habituated to the old narratives, change is always hard.” Episode Highlights Understanding completion as a phased experience Questions to ask yourself to gauge where you are in the process Examples of finishing—from blogging to Facebook groups The advice MFK Fisher gave Ruth Reichel that changed the course of her career (and her relationship to finishing) Linkable Mentions Episode 26: Cultivating Trust in the Writer’s Life Episode 50: Make Space, Not Time & Other Insights From the Sacred Pause Julia Gets Real With Ruth Reichel Let’s Connect Visit my website: nicolemgulotta.com Sign up for my encouraging Substack newsletter Curl up with one of my books: WILD WORDS and EAT THIS POEM Say hi on Instagram: @nicolegulotta.author

    24 min

  8. 05/13/2024

    54. A Cyclical Approach to Social Media

    Because of social media’s shape-shifting nature (hello, algorithms) it’s useful to check in a few times a year to see if it’s still serving you, and if there’s anything you’d like to change about how you’re using it. This episode is less about whether or not you should be on these platforms in the first place, and more about how to be in relationship to our visibility and the internet at large in ways that are inspired by nature and our bodies.  Conversation Starters “It might seem strange to give this much thought to how we’re using apps like Instagram, but I think it’s really important, especially because as Annie Dillard once wrote, “how we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”  Episode Highlights A framework for social media use based on your body’s inner seasons, the lunar calendar, and nature’s shifts Prioritizing our needs within the framework of a larger digital ecosystem 5 suggestions for using social media based on your menstrual cycle 6 ways to play with the cyclical energy of your choosing (and still benefit from Instagram) Linkable Mentions How Embracing the 4 Phases of Your Menstrual Cycle Can Expand Creative Potential Episode 30: A Post-Pandemic Relationship with Social Media Let’s Connect Visit my website: nicolemgulotta.com Sign up for my encouraging Substack newsletter Curl up with one of my books: WILD WORDS and EAT THIS POEM Say hi on Instagram: @nicolegulotta.author

    25 min
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About

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.

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