The Writers’ Gym Podcast

Beating the Blank Page

In this episode of the Writers’ Gym Podcast we will be thinking about starting to write.  Writing the opening  page of your story needn’t be a battle against that glaring white first page and all the psychological demons it implies.  Rachel and Emily offer tips, advice and hacks for starting to write and share examples and anecdotes from their own writing lives.
 
Join the Writers’ Gym and book your next writing workout at https://www.rachelknightley.com/the-writers-gym/
The Writers Gym Podcast is an Alternative Stories production for The Writers' Gym.  
Find out more about The Writers' Gym and Rachel Knightley by going to https://www.rachelknightley.com/
Find out more about Emily Inkpen and her work by going to https://www.emilyinkpen.com/
And learn more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://alternativestories.com/
Subscribe to The Writers’ Gym in your favourite podcast app to be notified of all new episodes as they are released. 

Write What You Know: A Discussion

In this edition of the Writers’ Gym Podcast with Dr Rachel Knightley and Emily Inkpen we take a look at one of the most common pieces of advice offered to writers: “Write what you know”  We examine this advice to consider what it means for our writing and consider how it works in the worlds of science fiction and fantasy as well as in general fiction. 
 
Join the Writers’ Gym and book your next writing workout at https://www.rachelknightley.com/the-writers-gym/
 
The Writers Gym Podcast is an Alternative Stories production for The Writers' Gym.  
 
Find out more about The Writers' Gym and Rachel Knightley by going to https://www.rachelknightley.com/
 
Find out more about Emily Inkpen and her work by going to https://www.emilyinkpen.com/
 
And learn more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://alternativestories.com/
 
Subscribe to The Writers’ Gym in your favourite podcast app to be notified of all new episodes as they are released.  Join us next week for a discussion about unreliable narrators in fiction.

Unreliable Narrators

In this episode Rachel and Emily look at unreliable narrators and how to create and use them in your writing.  With examples from literature we look at the ways in which unreliable narrators can give your stories depth, authenticity and a plot-twist or two to keep your readers guessing. 
The references in today’s episode include  
Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
The other lives of Miss Emily White by AJ Ellwood
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
The Debt to Pleasure by John Lanchester
The Collector by John Fowles
The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
The Dex Legacy (audio drama) by Emily Inkpen 
Join the Writers’ Gym and book your next writing workout at https://www.rachelknightley.com/the-writers-gym/
The Writers Gym Podcast is an Alternative Stories production for The Writers' Gym. 
 
Find out more about The Writers' Gym and Rachel Knightley by going to https://www.rachelknightley.com/
Find out more about Emily Inkpen and her work by going to https://www.emilyinkpen.com/
And learn more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://alternativestories.com/
 
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Layout and Formatting

In this episode we look at the art and science of laying out and formatting your writing.  We ask when you should begin to format your work, how you should go about doing it and explore a few good reasons for starting the process early …or indeed later.  We look at some of the formatting skills and techniques you’ll need for getting your manuscript ready if you’re self-publishing including some thoughts on cover design and format. 
 
Join the Writers’ Gym and book your next writing workout at https://www.rachelknightley.com/the-writers-gym/
The Writers Gym Podcast is an Alternative Stories production for The Writers' Gym.  
Find out more about The Writers' Gym and Rachel Knightley by going to https://www.rachelknightley.com/
Find out more about Emily Inkpen and her work by going to https://www.emilyinkpen.com/
And learn more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://alternativestories.com/
 
Subscribe to The Writers’ Gym in your favourite podcast app to be notified of all new episodes as they are released.  Join us next week for a discussion about unreliable narrators in fiction.

Worldbuilding

In this episode Rachel Knightley and Emily Inkpen look at the process of worldbuilding for fiction writers.  Normally associated with science fiction and fantasy writers, world building skills can also be applied to real places adapted for fiction.  
 
In our conversation we mentioned the map creation services of Dewi Hargreaves who you can follow on twitter  https://twitter.com/Dewiwrites
 
Rachel’s map and prop were made in 2009 by Jude Claybourne, who these days can be found at Past Imperfect: the Alchemy of Transforming Trauma: https://open.spotify.com/show/6XG8ZlvGfWZb4rMKdD9FJV?si=lpfJowJbQ8aE2RSZVzoMjQ
 
Read Emily’s blog on “Building a World out of Walls” here https://www.emilyinkpen.com/blog/buildingaworldoutofwalls
and a further blog on the ways in which worlds relate to characters https://www.emilyinkpen.com/blog/how-does-world-relate-to-character
 
Rachel apologises for the Douglas Adams misquote which should have ended  “widely regarded as a bad move.”
 
Join the Writers’ Gym and book your next writing workout at https://www.rachelknightley.com/the-writers-gym/
 
Book onto the Alternative Stories “Writing for Radio and Podcasts” online workshop on 21st March with Chris and Emily https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/writing-for-radio-and-podcasts-tickets-832128888907
 
The Writers Gym Podcast is an Alternative Stories production for The Writers' Gym.  
 
Find out more about The Writers' Gym and Rachel Knightley by going to https://www.rachelknightley.com/
 
Find out more about Emily Inkpen and her work by going to https://www.emilyinkpen.com/
 
And learn more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://alternativestories.com/
 
Subscribe to The Writers’ Gym in your favourite podcast app to be notified of all new episodes as they are released.  
 
New episodes of The Writers’ Gym will appear every Wednesday 

"What's your Wessex?": Place, setting and location in fiction

In this episode Rachel Knightley and Emily Inkpen look at the role and influence of place in creative writing.  We look at the ways in which setting can influence you as writers and affect your characters. As usual, we offer creative writing challenges to help you consider the influence of place in your own work. 
 
In this episode Rachel references “Three Wishes” by Liane Moriarty (Penguin 2003) 
 
Join the Writers’ Gym and book your next writing workout at https://www.rachelknightley.com/the-writers-gym/
 
Book onto the Alternative Stories “Writing for Radio and Podcasts” online workshop on 21st March with Chris and Emily https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/writing-for-radio-and-podcasts-tickets-832128888907
 
The Writers Gym Podcast is an Alternative Stories production for The Writers' Gym.  
 
Find out more about The Writers' Gym and Rachel Knightley by going to https://www.rachelknightley.com/
 
Find out more about Emily Inkpen and her work by going to https://www.emilyinkpen.com/
 
Learn more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://alternativestories.com/
 
Subscribe to The Writers’ Gym in your favourite podcast app to be notified of all new episodes as they are released.  Join us next week for a discussion about world building
 
New episodes of The Writers’ Gym will appear every Wednesday 

Editing 101

In this podcast we’ll talk about the art and techniques of editing.  We’ll discuss approaches to editing, what you should take out and keep in and some of the best and worst editing advice we’ve received. 
Subscribe to The Writers’ Gym in your favourite podcast app to be notified of all new episodes as they are released.  New episodes will appear every Wednesday
The Writers Gym Podcast is an Alternative Stories production for The Writers' Gym.  
Find out more about The Writers' Gym and Rachel Knightley by going to https://www.rachelknightley.com/
Find out more about Emily Inkpen and her work by going to https://www.emilyinkpen.com/
And learn more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://alternativestories.com/

How Not to Give Feedback

In this episode Rachel Knightley and Emily Inkpen discuss the art of giving and receiving feedback.  We’ll have advice on how and who to ask for feedback, when feedback will be useful and how you should use feedback as part of your creative process.
Subscribe to The Writers’ Gym in your favourite podcast app to be notified of all new episodes as they are released.  New episodes will appear every Wednesday
The Writers Gym Podcast is an Alternative Stories production for The Writers' Gym.  
Find out more about The Writers' Gym and Rachel Knightley by going to https://www.rachelknightley.com/
Find out more about Emily Inkpen and her work by going to https://www.emilyinkpen.com/
And learn more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://alternativestories.com/

The Writers' Gym Trailer

This is our trailer for 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 Chris Gregory
 
The Writers Gym Podcast is an Alternative Stories production for The Writers' Gym.  
 
Find out more about The Writers' Gym and Rachel Knightley by going to https://www.rachelknightley.com/
Find out more about Emily Inkpen and her work by going to https://www.emilyinkpen.com/
And learn more about Chris Gregory and Alternative Stories here https://alternativestories.com/
 

Nigel Planer and Friends

Acclaimed actor, poet and novelist Nigel Planer joins Dr Rachel Knightley 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, this is a sneak preview of Nigel Planer and Friends, featuring Nigel, Rachel and filmmaker and debut novelist Simon Rumley, at Riverside Studios Tuesday 30 January at 7pm.
Book tickets at https://riversidestudios.co.uk/see-and-do/nigel-planer-and-friends-97418/
Hosted by Rachel Knightley and edited by Chris Gregory of Alternative Stories: https://riversidestudios.co.uk/see-and-do/nigel-planer-and-friends-97418/