What began as a graduate student project in the Arkansas Tech University writing lab has blossomed into a burgeoning writing career for Joshua Nichols.
A native of Franklin County and graduate of Ozark High School, Nichols began his post-secondary education at ATU-Ozark Campus. There, he earned an Associate of Applied Science degree in business technology. He later enrolled at ATU in Russellville as a physical education major with a long-term goal of opening a mixed martial arts gym. When physical illness caused him to change course, he rediscovered a passion from his youth.
“I had always been interested in writing,” said Nichols. “I wrote off and on in high school. I was looking online one day for what to switch my degree to, and I saw the creative writing program. I signed up, but the problem was that was 2020 and COVID happened right after that. My first couple of semesters were strained.”
Nichols’ path forward came into focus when he met Dr. Tori Sharpe, ATU associate professor of English, and participated in her poetry workshop.
“That really changed me around,” said Nichols. “I was contemplating dropping the degree. She kind of saved me with that class.”
Soon after, Nichols met Dr. Claire Kortyna, ATU assistant professor of English. Her emphasis on writing as a process unlocked Nichols’ creativity.
“She described writing in a way that really spoke to me,” said Nichols. “It’s work. There’s a structure to it. We were doing this writing exercise, and I never put this together before, but she said it’s right there in the name…exercise. If you’re doing a lot of squats and trying to make your legs stronger, it’s not fun to push your limits. This is the same thing, just in your head.”
Soon, Nichols’ confidence as a writer began to grow. He joined Sigma Tau Delta, a national honor society for English students. He was invited to speak at a conference in Denver, Colo.
After he completed his bachelor’s degree in 2023, Nichols enrolled in the ATU Master of Liberal Arts degree program and accepted a graduate assistantship in the ATU Department of English and World Languages.
His master’s degree program provided the option to pursue a creative project as one of the steps toward graduation. Nichols selected that option and began work on his first novel.
“I would get here in the morning, I would write a couple hundred words, I would teach, I would then do homework and then I would get to the writing lab,” said Nichols. “If there wasn’t anyone to help, I would just write. I wrote a chapter every single day until the book was finished.”
Looking back, Nichols describes that first draft as “very rough” due to the fact he was writing 3,000-to-5,000 words per day. As he went along, he would post each chapter to an online subscription platform that provided him with both an audience and a source of income.
“I had a very good metric where I had about 6,000 unique views per chapter,” said Nichols.
That proof of concept convinced Riverfolk Books to give Nichols a four-book contract. His first novel, “The Rise of the Blood God,” will be available beginning Tuesday, Sept. 22, under the pen name J.L. Nichols.
Nichols said he would not have made it to this point without the feedback he received from Kortyna and Sharpe, who helped him polish the first draft of that student project into something that became publishable in the real world.
“The creative writing program, particularly Dr. Sharpe and Dr. Kortyna, helped me a lot…not only by building my confidence, but just practice,” said Nichols. “It’s putting the reps in on something you want to get good at. I used to do martial arts and would do these combos over and over and over. No one had ever translated that to writing for me, but Dr. Kortyna definitely did. I put the reps in, got better at writing, got better at receiving feedback and constantly pushed myself on every assignment I could.
“I can’t say enough about how much Dr. Kortyna helped me with that book,” continued Nichols. “Not only the book…she’s still in my corner and always rooting for me, and I think Dr. Sharpe was more excited that I got a contract than I was. It built so much confidence in me and made me realize that other people care. I wanted to make them proud. The book’s success is their success because they put all this work into me.”
Now that he has completed his master’s degree, Nichols is serving as a visiting lecturer of English at Arkansas Tech. He teaches Composition I, which provides him with the opportunity to pay forward what he received from his faculty mentors.
“I’m trying to put that extra effort that was given to me into them, especially with their creative stuff,” said Nichols. “With artificial intelligence, some people feel like there is no point in making things anymore. Even if you aren’t making money, there is a reward in creating something and working hard on the personal improvement of your writing. That care and confidence that was given to me, I try to pass on to my students. I try to make sure they understand that no matter where you are starting, what matters is where you end up.”
