In this solo mini-episode of Write Your Heart Out, host Kayla Ogden dives headfirst into the lyrical feud—or maybe flirtation?—between pop titans Taylor Swift and Charli XCX. With Taylor’s The Life of a Showgirl and Charli’s Brat still dominating playlists, Kayla unpacks the songs that set off a thousand think-pieces: “Actually Romantic” and “Sympathy Is a Knife.”

She breaks down the verses, tone, and writing style of each, tracing the messy, fascinating overlap of art, ego, and emotional honesty. Is Taylor’s diss playful or petty? Is Charli’s spiral self-aware or self-sabotaging? Kayla compares their craft—not just their conflict—and explores how two brilliant lyricists can write from the same moment in completely different emotional keys.

Whether you’re a Swiftie, a Brat, or just a writer obsessed with subtext, this episode is for you.

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Kayla and Rachel host a reader-submitted showcase featuring three luminous poems by Blair Vischer—“Easy Dark,” “Halfway Heroes,” and “Salt”—plus Rachel’s one-hour continuation of her “Enemies to Lovers” work-in-progress, a moody, Poe-tinted short piece by Dave Richanbach that riffs on “more weight” and the Salem trials, and MJ’s aching new poem “Strangers,” a call-and-response to Scott Gibson’s piece from last week.
Along the way, we talk rejection resilience (hi, Novelry shortlist), why humor sometimes masks sadness, and how we’re inviting listeners to share their work via email (contact@writeyourheartoutpod.com) or our new

Reddit community (@WriteYourHeartOutPod) for future Storytime episodes.
Next up: character development deep-dive—yes, with Enneagram tricks writers can steal.

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This week we go full craft-nerd. Kayla shares how adding interiority (yes, telling!) is transforming Pillow Forts Down, and we break down the long-misunderstood “show, don’t tell” rule—from Chekhov to Hemingway’s iceberg theory—and land on a modern balance: show and tell. We walk through quick edit tools (for every scene: desire, fear, misbelief), why character expectations create delicious reversals, and how to build emotional dynamic change in scenes (with detours through Little Women adaptations, Friends, and a murderous “Gertrude” example).

Rachel celebrates an Honorable Mention from Reader’s Digest for “Extra Scoop of Revenge,” we read our Two Sentences entries, and Kayla talks printing the manuscript and aiming at Book Pipeline. Next week: Storytime (Scott & MJ’s “switcheroo” poems + Blair’s pieces).

Send us your short fiction or poems to be featured—and please rate, review, and, as the YouTubers say, smash that subscribe button.

Please subscribe, rate and review!

New episodes every Wednesday.

E-mail us your short story at contact@writeyourheartoutpod.com

Follow us on instagram @writeyourheartoutpod

Leave us a message at 650-260-4885