The Writers’ Gym Podcast

Every so often, an editor will need to tell a writer they’ve used a stock phrase (or cliche). Dr Rachel Knightley shares the crises-come-opportunities of realising your character is hiding behind stock phrases, and how to make them still come across as a character all their own.   If you enjoyed listening to the Writers' Gym Podcast, head to our website at www.writersgym.com and follow us on insta...

Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane, award-winning and bestselling authors Dr Rachel Knightley’s guests at the Writers’ Gym are award-nominated author and editor, Marie O’Regan and #1 bestselling author, Paul Kane. Marie O’Regan is a Shirley Jackson, Australian Shadows and British Fantasy Award-nominated author and editor, based in Derbyshire. In 2022 she was awarded the British Fantasy Society ‘Legends o...

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 20...

  ‘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’s that inspired her...

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...

Eliza Chan, Sunday Times bestseller Dr Rachel Knightley’s guest at the Writers’ Gym is speculative fiction author, Eliza Chan. Eliza is a Scottish-born speculative fiction author who writes about East Asian mythology, British folklore and reclaiming the dragon lady. Her debut fantasy novel FATHOMFOLK, published in 2024, was an instant Sunday Times bestseller. Set in a semi-submerged city, revoluti...

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 u...

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 element...

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 t...

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 Roeh...

Rachel explores the link between creativity and anxiety: how the fears we write in our own minds can be used to propel us towards the things we want to create. Meaning we can learn not just more about what we can handle, but what are characters are capable of too.   If you enjoyed listening to the Writers' Gym Podcast, head to our websites at  www.writersgym.com ,  www.rachelknightleycoaching.com...

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, Ho...

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 b...

Rachel shares her experience of rejection, and how to move through it by acknowledging this is the middle of a story, not the end, encouraging us to create the next chapter.    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  

Victoria Dowd, bestselling crime writer and Vice Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association Dr Rachel Knightley is joined at the Writers' Gym by prize and award-winning author, Victoria Dowd.   Victoria is the award-winning author of the bestselling Smart Woman’s Mystery series and has been shortlisted for the CWA Dagger. Her novel, The Smart Woman’s Guide to Murder, won The People’s Book Prize for f...

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 that wor...

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 Y...

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...

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

Helen Marshall, multi-award-winning author and academic  Dr Rachel Knightley is joined at the Writers' Gym by World Fantasy and British Fantasy Award winning author, Dr Helen Marshall. Helen is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Queensland. She has won the World Fantasy Award, the British Fantasy Award and the Shirley Jackson Award for her three collections of short st...

Most of us are looking for more time. But what if instead of looking for more of it, we first look at our beliefs around how we ‘should’ use the time we already have? Dr Rachel Knightley offers thoughts and strategies around time, writing and how we allow ourselves to create the things we want to put in the world. 

Dr Rachel's Knightley's guest is Ramsey Campbell, defined by The Oxford Companion to English Literature as “Britain’s most respected living horror writer”. The Washington Post sums up his work as “one of the monumental accomplishments of modern popular fiction”. In 2015 he was made an Honorary Fellow of Liverpool John Moores University for outstanding services to literature. His latest novels are...