Write, Publish, and Shine

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

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/lettersAll of the notes for this episode are up at rachelthompson.co/122

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/lettersAll of the notes for this episode are up at rachelthompson.co/121

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/lettersAll of the notes for this episode are up at rachelthompson.co/120

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/lettersAll of the notes for this episode are up at rachelthompson.co/119

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