The Writers’ Gym Podcast
Build creative confidence and beat the inspiration addiction with Dr Rachel Knightley. Every episode, we’ll discuss key writing topics while exploring the goals, exercises, tools and techniques to discover what you really want from your writing — and what your writing really needs from you.
Episodes
What do Count Duckula, Bagpuss and your first draft have in common? They only get to exist if their writer stops blocking themselves with ‘what if this idea is too weird?’ or ‘what if this doesn’t work?’ Dr Rachel Knightley shares Writers’ Gym exercises as reminders for why, the more unafraid we are of a messy first draft, the more we bring into the world.
If you enjoyed listening to the Writers...
Johnny Mains, British Fantasy Award-winning author, editor and genre researcher Dr Rachel Knightley’s guest at the Writers’ Gym is Johnny Mains. Johnny is an editor, author and genre researcher who specialises in finding 'lost' works of genre fiction. His first book as editor was Back from the Dead: The Legacy of the Pan Book of Horror Stories (2010). It won the 'Best Anthology' category at the 2011 British Fantasy ...
‘Liminal’ is much more than the name of award-winning author, journalist and Ovarian cancer wrangler Jennifer Steil’s Substack newsletter. In this extended episode, the winner of the Grand Prize in the international Eyelands 2020 Book Awards and Finalist for the 2021 Lambda Literary Lesbian Fiction Award for Exile Music,talks about the kidnap experience and resulting ‘what if&rsq...
One of the most magical things about working with writing prompts is we can find a new story every day in exactly the same piece of stimulus. And if it’s true for one prompt, it’s even more true for a bank of them. Dr Rachel Knightley gifts recipes for evergreen writing prompts to return to again and again. If you enjoyed listening to the Writers' Gym Podcast, head to our website at www.writersgym.com and follow us on i...
Writing prompts aren’t just spread over workshop tables: they’re how we experience the world around us. Dr Rachel Knightley shares how interaction over introspection improves our writing and creative confidence — but also combats our anxiety and our experience of other people and the world.
If you enjoyed listening to the Writers' Gym Podcast, head to our website at www.writersgym.com and follow us on instagram: @...
Dr Rachel Knightley is joined at the Writers' Gym by best-selling adult and children's author, Sue Bentley.
Sue Bentley has written a number of books for adults. Currently with JoffeBooks, written as Sue Bentley, are 'We Other' - dark fae and folk-horror. And 'Second Skin' - shape-changing with dragons. Sue's first love, both to read and write, has always been anything darkly gothic with elements of horror. She found in...Finishing the first draft is a massively important thing to celebrate. But it’s also the point we’ve reached the base of the mountain that looked smaller and easier from a distance, and now looks bigger than it’s ever going to. Dr Rachel Knightley shows paths to move through the next stage, from overwhelm, to possibility and celebration.
If you enjoyed listening to the Writers' Gym Podcast, head to our website at ...
Dr Caroline Sharples, author and historian
Dr Rachel Knightley is joined at the Writers' Gym by non-fiction author and senior lecturer, Dr Caroline Sharples.
Dr Caroline Sharples is a historian of modern Germany, with longstanding research interests in memories of National Socialism and representations of the Holocaust. She has held the post of Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Roehampton in 2017.
Caroline is th...
Dr Kim Fleet, prize-winning author and Writers’ Gym member Dr Rachel Knightley’s guest at the Writers’ Gym is prize-winning published author, developmental editor and book coach, Kim Fleet. Dr Kim Fleet's work in indigenous land rights in Australia inspired her first two novels, Sacred Site and Featherfoot. She then turned to crime closer to home, and wrote the series of novels Paternoster, Holy B...
Showing up in the public sphere can feel overwhelming, but by noticing the messaging inside our heads, we start to enjoy showing up one authentic thing at a time. If you enjoyed listening to the Writers' Gym Podcast, head to our websites at www.writersgym.com, www.rachelknightleycoaching.com, and follow us on instagram: @jointhewritersgym @rachelknightleycoaching
Graham Bartlett, bestselling fiction and non-fiction author Dr Rachel Knightley is joined at the Writers' Gym by ex homicide detective, crime writing mentor and bestselling crime author GrahamBartlett. After thirty years of policing, whereby Graham Bartlett became Brighton and Hove police's chief superintendent, a senior homicide detective and a public order and firearms commander, he is now a best-selling crime fiction a...
What’s the most damaging advice you’ve ever received as a writer? Dr Rachel Knightley reflects on what the wrong and right ‘shoulds’ can do to our ability to make time for our writing and ourselves, and how to take control of our reactions to the messaging we receive. Rachel provides a creative confidence and writing ‘Think On The Page’ Writers’ Gym exercise to create the time and writing t...
Dr Rachel Knightley’s guest at the Writers’ Gym this episode is award-winning author Nathan Newman.
Nathan is a novelist and filmmaker based in London. Their short stories have won awards, including the James Knudsen Prize for Fiction, and been published in literary journals and anthologies.
Their debut novel, How To Leave The House was released to critical acclaim, and was a New Yorker and New York Times best boo...
Showing up for yourself and sharing your achievements can be scary, but instead of waiting for the feelings to change we can shift the focus to action that empowers. If you enjoyed listening to the Writers' Gym Podcast, head to our websites at www.writersgym.com, www.rachelknightleycoaching.com, and follow us on instagram: @jointhewritersgym @rachelknightleycoaching
Lucy Kate Barnes, Trustee and Co-Founder of Lawyers Who Care
Dr Rachel Knightley’s guest at the Writers’ Gym is her coaching client, award-winning advocate Lucy Kate Barnes.
Lucy grew up on council estates. She went into care at 13 and fell off the "care cliff" at 16. Aged 18, she studies law at Surrey. She is now a barrister. Alongside her legal career, she set up charity Lawyers Who Care and is a vocal advocate for c...
Rachel shares how a common phrase helps us cut through what we fear and focus on what we want — instead of getting caught up in unhelpful ‘what-ifs’ that suppress the creative ones. If you enjoyed listening to the Writers' Gym Podcast, head to our websites at www.writersgym.com, www.rachelknightleycoaching.com, and follow us on instagram: @jointhewritersgym @rachelknightleycoaching
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show. Clay Travis and Buck Sexton tackle the biggest stories in news, politics and current events with intelligence and humor. From the border crisis, to the madness of cancel culture and far-left missteps, Clay and Buck guide listeners through the latest headlines and hot topics with fun and entertaining conversations and opinions.
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.