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In this episode, I’m talking with Carrianne Leung about writing when the world feels brutal, and she makes the striking case that despair can be as generative as hope. We talk about Carrianne’s new novel, Wonderland Road, the years of persistence it took her to write it, and what it means to live without turning away from grief, genocide, climate crisis, and uncertainty. We also talk about building neighbourhoods where there are no minor characters, and making place in writing feel alive. Carrianne leaves us with a practical invitation to help us write more grounded settings. Find Carrianne on Substack and Instagram. --- What does your draft need next? My free Draft Diagnostic will help you find your most useful next step, so you can stop trying to fix everything at once. rachelthompson.co/free --- All of the notes for this episode are up at rachelthompson.co/124 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Suzanne Roberts joins me in conversation about writing into the difficult thing, and how craft can give us a way into painful or unruly material. Suzanne also leaves listeners with a really touching, beautiful twenty-minute practice for approaching a subject that feels too dangerous to write about. --- Get my Writerly Love Letters, sent Wednesdays and filled with ideas and care for you and your writing: rachelthompson.co/letters --- All of the notes for this episode are up at rachelthompson.co/123. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to Write, Publish, and Shine. This season, I’m exploring rest and unrest, from the smallest craft choices to the larger questions that keep us writing. Through conversations with writers and editors, plus practical solo episodes, we’ll look at how attention, resistance, and one small edit can bring us back to the work. --- Get my Writerly Love Letters, sent Wednesdays and filled with ideas and care for you and your writing: rachelthompson.co/letters Catch up on previous episodes. You’ll find them all and all of the show notes at rachelthompson.co/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dive deep into the art of revision as I share why revising is where the real magic of writing happens and how to approach it with love and enthusiasm. The episode includes practical strategies from my Revision Love Workbook. Listen for tips and exercises to help you fall in love with the revision process and hone your writing for publication. The Revision Love Workbook is a practical guide offering over 100 pages of strategies, exercises, and advice to help writers revise their work with clarity and confidence. It covers essential elements like structure, character development, pacing, and crafting impactful endings, all designed to help writers see their work with fresh eyes and strengthen their narratives. ORDER YOUR WORKBOOK “I was amazed at how in-depth the revisions were and how supportive the language was. It pushed me (in the best way!) out of my comfort zone.” —Agata Antonow --- Get my Writerly Love Letters, sent Wednesdays and filled with ideas and care for you and your writing: rachelthompson.co/letters --- Show Notes: rachelthompson.co/113 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Drawing from my experiences as both an editor and a writer, in this episode, I share insights on why giving your work time to breathe can lead to more profound, polished pieces. We'll explore how slowing down can actually accelerate your growth as a writer, and I'll offer practical tips on how to embrace a more patient approach to your craft. Whether you're working on a novel, short story, or personal essay, this episode will encourage you to find value in the journey, not just the destination. Get my Writerly Love Letters, sent Wednesdays and filled with ideas and care for you and your writing: rachelthompson.co/letters --- All of the notes for this episode are up at rachelthompson.co/111 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I dive into the art of crafting compelling writing from start to finish. We'll explore why it's crucial to maintain engagement throughout your piece, not just in the opening. I'll share strategies for keeping momentum in the middle of your work, tips for crafting effective endings, and emphasize the importance of revision in creating impactful writing. Whether you're a seasoned writer or just starting, this episode will provide valuable insights to help you elevate your craft and create work that resonates with readers. Join me as we uncover the secrets to crafting compelling everything! Get my Writerly Love Letters, sent Wednesdays and filled with ideas and care for you and your writing: rachelthompson.co/letters --- All of the notes for this episode are up at rachelthompson.co/106 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this season-ending episode, I'm talking about returning. Sometimes a draft changes when you look again. Sometimes the draft hasn't changed at all—you have. In this episode, I reflect on my own return to writing sixteen years after publishing Galaxy, what editing has taught me about attention, why returning to the same material is not failure, and how form often reveals itself through repetition, echo, and looking again. I also share a simple three-part practice for returning to a draft with your ear, your body, and the place where the writing still holds a little pressure. --- Get my Writerly Love Letters, sent Wednesdays and filled with ideas and care for you and your writing: rachelthompson.co/letters All of the notes for this episode are up at rachelthompson.co/122 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Write, Publish, and Shine, I speak with Delphine Gauthier-Georgakopoulos, founder and editor of Raw Lit, an online, issue-based literary magazine that publishes curated lineups of prose, poetry, artwork, and hybrids. We talk about what Raw Lit is actually looking for (ahem, not shock, not unprocessed rage), why “fit” is often a voice question more than a theme question, and the small, unglamorous guidelines details that quietly make an editor’s day. --- Get my Writerly Love Letters, sent Wednesdays and filled with ideas and care for you and your writing: rachelthompson.co/letters All of the notes for this episode are up at rachelthompson.co/121 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, I’m sharing one of my Draft & Redraft sessions, The Garden Draft, recorded from a place of feeling really overfull with thoughts and feelings. Grab your writing implements before pressing play. Find more of these guided sessions on Substack at litmaglove.substack.com --- Get my Writerly Love Letters, sent Wednesdays and filled with ideas and care for you and your writing: rachelthompson.co/letters All of the notes for this episode are up at rachelthompson.co/120 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this solo episode, I’m talking about short forms (flash memoir, prose poetry, and other tiny pieces) as the most genuinely doable way back to the page in a busy season. If summer looks spacious from far away but fills up fast once you’re in it, this is a small plan you can keep, plus one image-based practice you can try today. --- Get my Writerly Love Letters, sent Wednesdays and filled with ideas and care for you and your writing: rachelthompson.co/letters All of the notes for this episode are up at rachelthompson.co/119 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 118 of Write, Publish, and Shine, I talk with Room Magazine’s managing editor Chimedum Ohaegbu (a three-time Hugo Award–winning editor, as part of the editorial team at Uncanny Magazine) about speculative writing, revision, and what it means to read for chemistry. We talk about what speculative writing can do that realism sometimes can’t, how a story can start with an ordinary fear (like missing your stop on a bus) and then turn strange on purpose, and how emotional truth can find a different kind of realism through transformation. We also get into submissions and editorial discernment, including what “not for us” can mean behind the scenes, and how to hold rejection as information about fit and space, not as a verdict on your work. I hope this episode helps you protect the weirdness in your draft, revise without sanding off what’s alive, and keep sending your work out with self-assurance. Get my Writerly Love Letters, sent Wednesdays and filled with ideas and care for you and your writing: rachelthompson.co/letters --- All of the notes for this episode are up at rachelthompson.co/118 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 117 of Write, Publish, and Shine, I talk with writer Tamara Jong, author of Worldly Girls, about the long, real arc of making a book, and the stamina it takes to bring it to the finish line. We talk about the season after a debut, about learning to say no so you can make space for the work, and about the formal decisions that helped Tamara unlock the book, including “containers,” braided structure, and the kind of metaphor that can hold what’s too loaded to say straight out. Tamara also offers a beautiful prompt about family lore and what you might write if no one were reading over your shoulder, and reads a luminous excerpt from her memoir. I hope this episode invites you to stay in the long game and protect what you need in order to tell the truth on the page. Get my Writerly Love Letters, sent Wednesdays and filled with ideas and care for you and your writing: rachelthompson.co/letters --- All of the notes for this episode are up at rachelthompson.co/117 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 116 of Write, Publish, and Shine, I talk to the unpublished writer part of you. This may be the part that really wants to send your writing out in the world, but gets a little cagey the moment before you press submit. I move you through what I’ve been calling a soft-steadfast submission practice: a way of staying tender and steady, so submitting doesn’t require you to feel impermeable. I share three anchors I return to when rejection starts to feel like final judgement (rejection as data, “not right for us” as a routing problem, and fit as learnable), plus a simple, repeatable rhythm to help you decide your pace, choose your container, keep your list small, and build in aftercare. All so you (and your nervous system) learn: I can do brave things and stay soft. I hope this episode invites you to choose one brave thing and share your writing with the world. Get my Writerly Love Letters, sent Wednesdays and filled with ideas and care for you and your writing:rachelthompson.co/letters --- All of the notes for this episode are up at rachelthompson.co/116 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 115 of Write, Publish, and Shine, I talk with writer and educator Rayya Liebich about what it means to keep making art in a time of unrest. We also talked about how she came to be the commissioned author for Room 48.3: Rest/Unrest, where I was issue editor. Our conversation circled on the idea of radical softness alongside rage as a way of refusing numbness and staying human-hearted. And Rayya shared her thoughts on how grief resists tidy arcs, and how to find structure when you’re working in lyric, collage, braided, or hermit crab forms, with grounded, oh-so-practical approaches and a luminous writing prompt titled “Dear Grief.” I hope this episode invites you to make something and let the making be part of how you keep going. Get my Writerly Love Letters, sent Wednesdays and filled with ideas and care for you and your writing:rachelthompson.co/letters --- All of the notes for this episode are up at rachelthompson.co/115 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a longer pause than I planned, I’m back with a short mini-episode about what changed—and what I’m learning about rest. I’m sharing a behind-the-scenes glimpse from editing Room 48.3: Rest/Unrest, a reframing I keep returning to (rest and unrest are in conversation), and four grounded practices you can try this week to support your writing without burning out. --- Get my Writerly Love Letters, sent Wednesdays and filled with ideas and care for you and your writing: rachelthompson.co/letters --- Show Notes: rachelthompson.co/114 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.