Keeping a Notebook
Episodes
Projects & Practice
30 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Read more and enroll in Projects & Practice.Read more and enroll in Winter Writing Nights: Exploring Voice and Language in Fiction.Subscribe to Nina's...
Truth & Beauty
23 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Purchase Nina's new novel, Watch Over Me.Register for a morning of writing with Nina to benefit Diesel, A Bookstore.Enroll in Writing, Reading, Respon...
Gaslight
22 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
You can rent Gaslight here. (Highly recommended!)Purchase Nina's new novel, Watch Over Me.Register for a morning of writing with Nina to benefit Diese...
A Ghost Story
16 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Wednesday, September 16th with Tiffany D. Jackson5 p.m. PST/ 7 p.m. CST/ 8 p.m. EST, hosted by YA @ Books Inc.Learn more and register here!Thursday, S...
Watch Over Me
15 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Join Nina in celebration of Watch Over Me's release! (If you order from a hosting bookstore, you'll receive a signed bookplate with your copy of Watch...
Writing in Place: A Mess
18 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Announcement:The Slow Novel Lab is open for a special summer benefit session, with 50% of the profit going to Direct Relief!Nina examines messiness an...
Writing in Place: An Anchor
11 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Announcement:The Slow Novel Lab is open for a special summer benefit session, with 50% of the profit going to Direct Relief!Nina examines the anchors ...
Writing In Place: A Window
04 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Nina contemplates the windows in her new apartment, and what it's like to be on the inside when people outside pass by. She offers a two-part exercise...
An Interview with Nina
29 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
About the Shelter in Place podcast, hosted by Laura Joyce Davis: When the news came down about the mandate to shelter in place, Bay Area writer Laura ...
Writing In Place: Wherever You Are
27 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This season opens in Nina's new home. She shares a story of disorientation, and finds her way back to writing.She invites listeners to write with her....
Self-Promotion
06 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Middle
30 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
New! Full transcripts of this season's episodes are now available at ninalacour.com/transcripts!Learn more about Nina's online class, The Slow Novel L...
Emotion on the Page
23 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Slow Novel Lab is now open for enrollment!Join the conversation at The Slow Novel Lab Instagram!Subscribe to Letters from Nina for more writing ti...
The Past and the Present: Weaving Backstory into Your Story
16 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Join the conversation at The Slow Novel Lab Instagram!Subscribe to Letters from Nina for more writing tips, book news, and to hear when The Slow Novel...
Five Strategies for Your 2020 Intentions
13 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Join the conversation at The Slow Novel Lab Instagram! Subscribe to Letters from Nina for more writing tips, book news, and to hear when The Slow Nove...
Announcement
02 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Nina talks about how life sometimes interrupts plans and shares some advice given to her by a friend. Keep in touch with Nina, and hear more about thi...
Experimentation
17 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Once you’re lost in a scene, it really doesn’t matter where you are or how long you have. What matters is that the words are coming, you’re gett...
Self-Doubt
03 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
*The best writing happens when you forget that you're a person. *-Elana K. Arnold On the second episode of this season, Nina shares an experience of s...
Pressure
20 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
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 writer...
Ten Years, Five Books, Three Things I've Learned
25 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Episode 8 -I share with you my plans for season 2 of Keeping a Notebook. Send your questions my way to [email protected]! -I take you th...
The Possibility of Invention
10 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Nina answers a listener's question on writing a novel based on real events and explores ideas of truth and expansiveness in fiction. My website, Twitt...
When You Act on a Dream: Part Two
03 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In Episode 5, Nina turns to three people who inspire her for the stories of how they started their own endeavors. In Part Two, we hear from a journali...
When You Act on a Dream: Part One
03 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
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 own...
How We See & What We Write
19 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We all have our own ways of seeing and understanding the world. This episode dives deep into the ways our perspectives shift as we grow up, and how em...
For When You Feel Stuck In Your Writing
12 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
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 b...
All the Story You Need
05 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In which Nina answers a listener's question about how to weave plot into character-driven novels, and shares her own journey toward understanding that...
I Want it Back
01 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A look at early inspiration and a call to do our best work during difficult times. Books Mentioned Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion The Whi...
Trailer
24 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Keeping a Notebook—a podcast on writing For the next eight weeks I’ll being taking a deep look at the creative process. Answering quest...