Nancy Hendrickson's Blog: Nancy's Blog

Goodnon-fiction revolves around a story. Even a cookbook, as evidenced by Lindsay Nixon’s Everyday Happy Herbivore: “Shortly after I finished my first cookbook . . . my husband and I were transferred to St. Maarten for a year. While the prospect of living in paradise was quite exciting, the realization that I’d have to cook three meals a day, everyday was daunting. . .”

Don’t you want to know how that year in paradise turned out and why it wasdaunting?

If you’ve already started writing your boo...

One of my love note (AKA newsletter) subscribers sent me an email telling me that an Anne Lamott quote had really hit her hard. The quote reads:

Oh my God, what if you wake up some day and you’re 65, or 75, and you never got your memoir or novel written; or you didn’t go swimming in warm pools and oceans all those years because your thighs were jiggly and you had a nice big comfortable tummy; or you were just so strung out on perfectionism and people-pleasing that you forgot to have a big juic...

When I received an email from Udey Johnson, thanking me for my How to Write for Kindle book, I was thrilled that I’d been able to help someone with the structure of their book. I asked Udey if I could interview him and he graciously accepted. He’s a first-time Kindle author and his book is The Montreal Plateau: A traveler’s guide.

Nancy: Could you tell me a little about how my Kindle book helped you? i.e. inspiration, structure, outline, etc?

Udey: Actually, your book gave me inspiration becaus...

From 30,000 feet

No, this isn’t a post about writing while flying. Rather, it’s a post about the BIG PICTURE of a non-fiction book structure.

How Many Topics Does Your Book Need?

Once you’ve hit upon the basic idea for your book, break it down into topics.Think of the book’s structure in the same way you’d think about a recipe. Even if you don’t cook, you know that every recipe has a list of ingredients. Your book topics are like the ingredients of a recipe.

Recipe: How to Tame a Dragon

Ingredient...

Capt. Jack's method for #writing a fitst draft http://t.co/PKoCtVc4es

— Nancy Hendrickson (@nhendrickson1) June 17, 2014

Sometimes a #writerslife requires watering the tomatoes http://t.co/oA2kARyNA3 http://ift.tt/1n4OWKq

— Nancy Hendrickson (@nhendrickson1) June 16, 2014

Thanks to Chris Bell for offering me a guest interview spot on the Writers Rebellion Podcast. It was great fun – and filled with tips for writers.

When I first started writing for magazines I managed to collect my (not) fair share of rejection letters. However, I persisted in writing queries and improving my pitch. One day, the dam broke open and I was faced with a choice I was happy to make:

Quit my job and jump full force into being a freelancer OR
Keep my job and try to eke enough hours out of the day to fulfill my magazine assignments.

For awhile, I continued doing both the job and the dream job until I reached a tipping point; I knew...

My name is Nancy Hendrickson and I like to shuffle words around until they make sense. You’ve just stumbled upon my online hang-out. I write non-fiction books and work with authors who are stalled, stymied, stopped, stagnating, scared, or stumped.

Need a creative boost? Try the 30-Day Challenge. It's free and it will make your brain tingle!

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My name isNancy Hendrickson and I like toshufflewords around until they make sense.You’ve just stumbled upon my online hang-out, whereI post excerpts of my work andthoughts about the craft of writing.