The Writers’ Gym Podcast

For someone running late with her autumn newsletter, there’s a pleasant irony to how the seasons have been shouting at me in art and life this week. A few Writers’ Gym members have heard how Hell Bunny’s advertising campaign really spoke to me: Summer’een , a time I certainly experience when I’m ready for the run-up to my default wardrobe’s season – Halloween – but the weather just won’t be told....

Welcome to the second series of The Writers' Gym Podcast.  We'll be releasing episodes weekly – each Wednesday – from 6th March and we'll cover topics such as: * How not to give feedback * Editing 101 * Unreliable narrators  * World building * "What's Your Wessex?": A guide to place in fiction * Layout * "Write what you know": A discussion Each episode features Rachel Knightley, Emily Inkpen and C...

Acclaimed actor, poet and novelist Nigel Planer joins me for a very special, between-series episode of The Writers’ Gym podcast. From writers’ geographical landscapes to the love of flares and the influence of Pratchett on their lives and works (N.B. I apologise to the whole Disc for saying ‘lavender’ when I meant ‘lilac’: if you know, you know), this is a sneak preview of Nigel Planer and Friends...

Ahead of the launch of Twisted Branches (coming Oct 2023 from Black Shuck Books) , Rachel Knightley talks to Trevor Kennedy of Big Hits Radio UK for his horror spot on the Sunday Service. In return, Trevor comes to the Writers' Gym to talk about his freelance writing life and how confidence in our voices is only ever half the story of what it feels like to be a professional writer. Big thanks to B...

Today's Personal Training at the Writers' Gym takes in the spaces between what goes on the page, and how to work with our feelings about ourselves and the world to create the work lives as well as the art we want. Rachel Knightley's guest is Maura McHugh. Maura was born in the USA, but raised in Ireland, where she developed a love of mythology, horror fiction, art, and writing. She has lived in Ne...

Internationally best-selling author, artist, journalist and speaker John-Paul Flintoff trained in improvisation with Keith Johnstone. He designs today's word-count workout alongside Rachel Knightley as they discuss the benefits of stagecraft on communication, and how performance provides 'factory conditions' for understanding your own character motivation offstage as much as on it. John-Paul's boo...

"What writing advice really pisses you off?" was one of my favourite questions to ask award-winning author and editor Dan Coxon. At the time (an interview for the Business of Writing module I convene at Roehampton University), his answer was one of the most prolific – and apparently innocuous – answers out there. Maybe you've heard it. Dan's the first to say if it works for you, great. But what ar...

One thing that becomes clear the more accomplished we get in any area of writing (or of anything else): the kind of writing somebody else is doing still looks to us more like "real" writing... Dr Mike Jones is a rock lyricist (notably for Latin Quarter, including their Top 20 hit Radio Africa), reader and lecturer in music at Liverpool University. His work includes an MA programmes in partnership...

A painter doesn't need permission to mix any colours they like. Yet, as writers, our memories, imagination, observations and questions about the world and ourselves come with "not supposed to go there" stamped all over them. How can we give ourselves permission to beat those blocks? Multi-award-winning author Jennifer Steil joins Rachel Knightley to talk about about what kept her writing through k...