195: #FromPeopletoSciAmerican

How do you become a science writer? What if you didn’t even think you liked science as a kid? What if, instead of “serious journalism”, you spent the first half of your career covering celebrities and royals, even becoming the London Bureau Chief for People magazine? Then you’re in perfect shape, at least if you’re our guest, Lydia Denworth. She tells us how she made that transition, going from People through Redbook to Scientific American using the dual powers of curiosity and ignorance (and more relevantly, the willingness to admit it). We also discuss getting grants for non-fiction research, pitching scientific topics and the literary aspect of science writing—and Friendship, which just happens to be both the topic and the title of Denworth’s latest book. Episode links and a transcript follow—but first, did you love last week’s #WritersTopFive: Top 5 Ways to Win at Newsletter Subject Lines? Because I did (and I’m winning .) This Monday: Top 5 Things to Do When Your WIP Feels Like It’s In Flames. Support the podcast you love AND get weekly #WriterTopFives with actionable advice you can use for just $7 a month. Upgrade to Supporter As always, this episode (and every episode) will appear for all subscribers in your usual podcast listening places, totally free as the #AmWriting Podcast has always been. This shownotes email is free, too, so please—forward it to a friend, and if you haven’t already, join our email list and be on top of it with the shownotes and a transcript every time there’s a new episode. Get New Episode Emails LINKS FROM THE PODCAST #AmReading (Watching, Listening) Jess: Open Season (Joe Gunther Mysteries #1) , Archer Mayor KJ: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine , Gail Honeyman (catch it on my #BooksThatWon’tBumYouOut series HERE ) Lydia: The Great Pretender: The Undercover Mission that Changed Our Understanding of Madness , Susannah Cahalan The Ruin , Dervla McTiernan Bonus Book Rec for Lydia: The Mountains Wild, Sarah Stewart Taylor (because “those Irish really know how to do dark”). Our guest for this episode is Lydia Denworth . This episode was sponsored by Author Accelerator, the book coaching program that helps you get your work DONE. Visit https://www.authoraccelerator.com/amwriting for details, special offers and Jennie Nash’s Inside-Outline template. Find more about Jess here , Sarina here and about KJ here . Follow KJ on Instagram for her #BooksThatWon’tBumYouOut series: short reviews of books that won’t make you hate yourself and all humanity. If you enjoyed this episode, we suggest you check out Marginally, a podcast about writing, work and friendship . For a transcript of this and every episode, go to amwritingpodcast.com.