The Writers’ Gym Podcast

Dr Rachel Knightley
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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.

  1. 4D AGO

    Unblocking

    Unblock your writing and your right to write: Dr Rachel Knightley identifies and debunks the myth that's most got in her way as a writer, and how believing in ourselves, not our monsters, is the purpose of the stories we tell ourselves.

    7 min

  2. MAR 2

    Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes joins Dr Rachel Knightley at The Writers' Gym

    Dr Xavier Aldana Reyes joins Dr Rachel Knightley on the Writers' Gym Podcast, discussing how we turn interests and passions into writing careers. Xavi is Reader in English Literature and Film at Manchester Metropolitan University and a founding member of the Manchester Centre for Gothic Studies. His publications include the monographs Contemporary Body Horror (CUP, 2024), Horror Film and Affect (Routledge, 2016) and Body Gothic (UWP, 2014) and the edited collections Twenty-First-Century Gothic: An Edinburgh Companion (with Maisha Wester, EUP, 2019) and Horror: A Literary History (British Library, 2016). Xavier is co-president of the International Gothic Association and a founding member of the Horror Studies special interest group hosted by the British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies.   https://www.waterstones.com/author/xavier-aldana-reyes/784113   https://www.routledge.com/authors/i14274-xavier-aldana-reyes

    36 min

  3. FEB 23

    No, Reading isn't Stealing

    Dr Rachel Knightley shares how a Writers' Gym member's fear of plagiarizing can be turned from a 'reason' not to write into a reason to write as much as possible.

    7 min

  4. FEB 16

    Ally Wilkes, Stoker-award nominated author, joins Dr Rachel Knightley at the Writers' Gym

    Ally Wilkes joins Dr Rachel Knightley at the Writers' Gym to discuss the power of horror fiction to explore identity and the highs and lows of creating a writing life that works for the individual you are.     Ally’s debut novel, All the White Spaces, was a Bram Stoker Award finalist, and her second novel, Where the Dead Wait, was one of Esquire’s best horror books of 2023. Her short fiction has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies from publishers including Nightmare Magazine, Cosmic Horror Monthly, Flame Tree Press, Eerie River, and Nepenthe Press. Her next novel, Man Eater – set in the fevered jungles of the Amazon during the late Victorian orchid-hunting craze – will be published in February 2027.   Visit the Writers' Gym at writersgym.com   Find out more about Ally at:   Her website: https://allywilkes.com   Wikipedia:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ally_Wilkes   AM Heath: https://amheath.com/authors/ally-wilkes

    48 min

  5. FEB 9

    True Resolutions are Realisations

    Dr Rachel Knightley shares three resolutions for creative confidence on the page and in life.

    7 min

  6. FEB 2

    Jenny Rogers: author, editor and executive coach joins Dr Rachel Knightley at the Writers' Gym

    Dr Rachel Knightley is joined by author and editor Jenny Rogers, one of the UK’s most experienced executive coaches. Jenny’s book, Are You Listening? published by Penguin Random House, tells human stories from the perspective of a coach: it tackles common human dilemmas such as how to overcome shame after a mistake, how to face disappointment and  bereavement, what it means to start a new career or recover a more honest self after making a fortune or after life as a celebrity. During her stint as a BBC TV producer she commissioned and edited many best-selling books including Delia Smith’s Cookery Course and Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cookery.    Recent titles include Personality Type: understanding yourself, getting more of what you want (2024) and Fearless Coaching (2025). She is currently working on a book for women in mid life. This will be published in 2026 by Short Books.   Her books range from Coaching for Health, co-written with Dr Arti Maini to titles on how to be an excellent facilitator, how to cook and eat healthily, how to navigate career crises and how to be a successful coach, with a 5th edition published in 2024 of the book many now regard world-wide as the ‘Bible’ of coaching, Coaching Skills: The Definitive Guide to being a Coach. Jenny’s philosophy as a writer is that, to adapt Dr Einstein’s phrase, everything should be as simple as possible, but not more simple. Her aim is to tackle complex subjects in a way which makes them accessible.   Jenny was an early entrant to the world of coaching and has now been a coach for 35 years. As well as her own coaching, she trains and supervises other coaches. She was married for many years to the BBC Editor and journalist Alan Rogers. He died in 2010. She lives in central London close to her two sons and three grandchildren. She is a keen cook, filmgoer, walker and wannabe textile artist.   Find out more about Jenny at https://jennyrogerscoaching.com

    38 min

  7. JAN 26

    Kayleigh Dobbs, Happy Goat Horror founder, joins Dr Rachel Knightley at the Writers' Gym

    Kayleigh Dobbs is an author, editor, and playwright from South Wales. She is the founder of Happy Goat Horror, a review site and podcast with a focus on independent horror. Her recent short story collection The End (Black Shuck Shadows) was a 2023 Imadjinn Award Finalist. This year she has presented and interviewed authors for World Fantasy Con and Edge-lit. https://happygoathorror.com/ Connect here: Instagram: @drrachelknightley Substack: Dr Rachel Knightley Facebook: Dr Rachel Knightley LinkedIn: Dr Rachel Knightley Twitter: @drrknightley

    32 min

  8. JAN 19

    Emeritus Professor Andrew Cowan joins Dr Rachel Knightley at the Writers' Gym.

    Andrew was for ten years the Director of the Creative Writing programme at UEA, where he taught for twenty years on the MA in Creative Writing. He is the author of the bestselling guidebook, The Art of Writing Fiction, recently reissued in an updated second edition, and the monograph Against Creative Writing. His first novel Pig was the winner of the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, a Betty Trask Award, the Authors’ Club First Novel Award, a Scottish Arts Council Book Award and the Ruth Hadden Memorial Prize, and was shortlisted for five other awards. He has since published five other novels: Common Ground, Crustaceans, What I Know, Worthless Men and, most recently,Your Fault. Find Andrew on Instagram at @andrewcowan01

    36 min
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About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Dr Rachel Knightley
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    93
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2025 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    The Writers’ Gym Podcast

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