WEAVING THROUGHLINES INTO NARRATIVE NONFICTION

By Donna Janell Bowman

Have you noticed that the term “throughline” pops up in webinars and editorial letters more often these days, but not always with clear definitions? In 2021, after realizing that the term is rarely highlighted in craft books beyond screenwriting, I embarked on my first deep dive to better understand how throughlines ensure structure and continuity in fiction and narrative nonfiction. Sometimes, throughlines emerge organically during the writing process. At other times… not so much. Being conscious of throughlines was certainly helpful during my writing of Wings of an Eagle: The Gold Medal Dreams of Billy Mills, a collaboration with Native Olympian Billy Mills. Let’s try to demystify the term here.

Note — As you read this article, keep in mind that there are countless variations in children’s narratives. For example, narrative nonfiction picture books often have unique structures, creative approaches, non-human subjects, and illustrations that tell part of the story. Throughlines will vary, too.

What are throughlines?

Technically, a throughline is any storytelling element that is employed from a story’s beginning to its ending. Think of throughlines as threads of different colors and textures that, when woven together, result in a satisfying layered tapestry.

Critical Throughline — The Character Arc / Internal Throughline

Sticking with the weaving analogy, the character throughline is like the Warp threads — the foundational spine — in a tapestry. In a human-centered (or living being) narrative, the character’s journey and struggle toward a goal or resolution IS the story. Not surprisingly, the character arc in a narrative is akin to the Character Spine or Super-objective in a screenplay. On a theoretical stage, an actor might ask “what’s my motivation” so that they can stay in character throughout the fictional story. In narrative nonfiction, research reveals the character backstory, traits, inciting incident (if applicable), and the motivation that propels them into action. By stitching every scene or spread with the essence of the character and their slow transformation, we ensure a strong character arc throughline that holds up the entire story and results in the narrative theme, which we’ll address later. Every other throughline in a story is in service to the character throughline.
            I am so grateful for my collaboration with Billy Mills, because, from my very first draft of Wings, I knew the story focus, and I knew Billy’s internal motivation — to chase his Olympic dream as a way to emotionally survive poverty, heartbreak, grief, and systemic racism. I also knew the story’s ending — Billy’s Olympic success and what he did with it. For the character throughline to be cohesive, every scene between the beginning and the ending had to show his internal transformation.

Character + goal/problem + motivation + ordeal = character transformation / character arc

The character throughline is like the Warp threads of a tapestry

Tip — What if research doesn’t reveal enough backstory or details to authentically show character change? When there isn’t enough evidence for internality and an obvious character transformation, try crafting the protagonist as a Flat/Steadfast character. For narrative purposes, this kind of character doesn’t transform as an individual on the page. Rather, they change their world in a notable way. The throughline for this kind of character might rely more on their pragmatic efforts, external goals or processes, or how others perceived the character and their contribution. Bring them to life by showing them in action.

Critical Throughline #2 — The Narrative Arc Throughline:

As you know, in most narratives, the all-important character arc begins when the character is propelled into action by their goal/want/problem. The plot — the action/things that happen in a story — becomes a narrative arc when the author gives the events meaning for the character through a beginning-middle-ending structure. As mentioned earlier, once you know your story focus, select scenes that specifically drive the story forward and reveal the character arc. 

During my research and conversations with Billy, a few obvious narrative throughlines for Wings revealed themselves. For example, we wanted the narrative to end with Billy’s post-Olympics Giveaway — a Lakota tradition of generosity. For that scene to be cohesive and powerful, I first stitched the idea into a third spread scene that shows Billy’s first memory of a Giveaway when he was a child.

Tip — Occasionally, a major throughline must change mid-story. For example, the beginning of Anita Pazner’s book, Words Matter: The Story of Hans and Sophie Scholl, and the White Rose Resistance, shows the two characters naively excelling as members of the Hitler Youth group and the League of German Girls — the initial narrative throughlines. But when the characters learn the truth about Hitler’s horrifying plans, they turn against Hitler, form the White Rose Resistance, and spend the rest of their short lives acting against him. If this kind of switch is necessary for your character, logically resolve the first throughline(s) before picking up the new thread.  

Themeline (Theme Throughline)

By the end of a narrative, what the character endured — internally and externally — reveals a universal relatable truth, the organic moral of the story. It is literally why the story matters and likely what drew you to the real character in the first place. The themeline begins in the character setup, possibly faint at first, but as the narrative progresses and the character changes as a result of the narrative arc, the themeline becomes such a prominent thread in the story tapestry, the reader grabs hold of it and takes it into their own life.

The theme slowly reveals itself through the character’s actions and reactions, direct quotes or internality, or the author’s creative storytelling choices.

Tip: There can be more than one theme in a narrative, but there should be one primary theme.

Sub throughlines:

While the character and narrative throughlines are foundational, sub throughlines are like colored and textured threads that produce an intentional tone and reader experience. As already mentioned, technically, a throughline can be anything that stitches through the length of a narrative, including voice, refrains and irregular refrains, repetition, subtext, subplot, visual or narrative motifs, an objective correlative, literary devices, etc..

Weaving sub throughlines into the lyrical voice in Wings of an Eagle: The Gold Medal Dreams of Billy Mills was surprisingly enjoyable. Inspired by Billy’s memories and the poetry of Native Americans, I crafted bird-inspired metaphors, similes, and verbs throughout the text. So, too, with the use of “footsteps.” You will also find the refrain of “We are stronger together,” which was inspired by the Lakota prayer, “We are all related.” Any other sub throughlines are fodder for another day.

Authors aren’t the only creators to use throughlines. In addition to the use of pictographs and a traditional Lakota art style in Wings, illustrator S.D. Nelson added the visual refrain of a background eagle that stays with Billy throughout the story. The artistic choice works in beautifu synergy with the text.

I hope this distillation has demystified throughlines for you. Now it’s your turn! How will you stitch your narrative with just the right throughlines to weave a memorable story tapestry for your readers?

Happy writing, friends! 

 

Donna Janell Bowman is an award-winning author of books for young readers, including Wings of an Eagle: The Gold Medal Dreams of Billy Mills, co-authored with Billy Mills (Oglala Lakota); Step Right Up: How Doc and Jim Key Taught the World About Kindness; Abraham Lincoln’s Dueling Words; King of the Tightrope: When the Great Blondin Ruled Niagara; and others. Donna’s books have garnered such accolades as starred reviews, state book awards, a Robert F. Sibert Award Honor from ALA, and awards and honors from NCTE, NCSS, ALSC, TLA, Oprah Daily, Library of Congress Great Reads, Best-Of-The-Year lists, and more. Armed with an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, she writes from her Central Texas home and enjoys teaching writers and speaking at schools around the country. www.donnajanellbowman.com

 

 

Ninja Susie Kralovansky Interviews Donna Janell Bowman

Today we are talking with one of my friends and favorite authors, Donna Janell Bowman, about her newest book, WINGS OF AN EAGLE: THE GOLD MEDAL DREAMS OF BILLY MILLS, co-authored with Billy Mills and illustrated by S.D. Nelson. Donna, I was blown away by this wonderful story, which will be released on July 2^nd.

How did you come to collaborate with Lakota Olympian Billy Mills on WINGS? 

In some ways, like Billy’s Olympic journey and ultimate gold medal, my own journey with WINGS has felt like a long-distance test of endurance, stamina, and metamorphosis. Our collaboration, even more than the book itself, was my reward.

I learned about Billy about ten years ago while researching for a different book. I couldn’t stop thinking about his remarkable come-from-behind journey to the Olympics. He had overcome great odds, from losing his parents as a child, life on an impoverished reservation, health challenges, and systemic racism. His was the ultimate underdog story, and it resonated with me deeply.

At about the same time, I entered VCFA’s MFA writing program, focused on children’s and young adult literature. As part of my creative work, I drafted a picture book about Billy that showed promise. But I couldn’t consider submitting the manuscript until I reckoned with whether it was appropriate for me, a white woman, to tell Billy’s story. There was no legal reason why I couldn’t. But was it right? My agent and I agreed that the answer was no unless I had Billy’s blessings and input. But reaching Billy proved more challenging than I expected.

Long story shortish, 49 months and 43 emails, phone calls, and social media direct messages after my 2015 first draft, my college athlete son and I sat in the Mills’ living room for an interview that lasted all day. During those glorious hours, Billy and his wife, Patricia, shared stories, photos, cultural artifacts, sacred items, family history. At one particular display case, Billy recounted memories attached to his Olympic souvenirs and memorabilia. He even slid his gold medal over my head and rendered me speechless.

Ultimately, Billy not only invited me to tell his story, but he agreed to collaborate with me to ensure a narrative that was authentic to his truth. That moment, and the countless phone calls, Zoom calls, emails, and texts since then, have been the honor of my career. The rest, as they say, is history.

This book is beautifully written. Why did you choose to write the narrative with a lyrical style and metaphors? In other words, how did you choose the voice?

First, thank you! I think about voice a lot when I begin a new story. My goal is always to use voice as a soundtrack, of sorts, to set a tone and reflect the story subject. Even before Billy and I began our collaboration, I had been immersed in decades of his interviews and speeches that are preserved in print, audio, and video, so I had a base to work with. At the same time, I read a lot of Native literature and poetry. Native storytelling has some of the most evocative and powerful metaphorical language that I have ever seen. To honor Billy and his Native culture, it felt right to blend his voice with lyricism. At every step, I ran the text by him for approval. Well-placed metaphors and similes are used to stitch the highs and lows of his life together as throughlines. For example, the term “wings of an eagle” is attributed to an episode from Billy’s childhood. After his mother died, his father told him he had broken wings, but if he chased a dream, he could have wings of an eagle. That inspired the bird-related metaphors that evoke struggle, freedom, and flight in the story. Likewise for the Lakota prayer, “we are all related,” and the motif of footprints, which Billy often refers to in his speeches. Metaphorical language has layers that can pack an emotional and thought-provoking punch in few words.

What is the research process like for a collaborative project like WINGS OF AN EAGLE?

My initial pre-collaboration research was fairly typical: newspaper and magazine articles about Billy, U.S. census records, military records, Indian census, video and print interviews, witness accounts, books, broadcast footage of the 1964 Olympic race, etc. But that wasn’t enough. When I started communicating regularly with Billy and Pat, they filled the gaps that external sources couldn’t by helping me understand what made Billy tick as a young person, and by offering historical information not available elsewhere. Billy also reminded me that we are all shaped by the people and events that came before us. Among other discomforts, I needed to face the beast that caused generational trauma and generational poverty. That meant getting real about United States history: colonialism, western expansion, Manifest Destiny, Doctrine of Discovery, repeated broken treaties, etc. None of that is part of the WINGS narrative, but it all shaped the child from the Pine Ridge Reservation who grew up and chased his dream to the Olympics. For me to be a worthy collaborator, I owed it to Billy to personally peel back the curtain that had insulated me from uncomfortable truths for most of my life. In doing so, I realized just how deeply my generation was deceived. The history textbooks, curriculum, and media of my youth presented falsehoods, racist stereotypes, and revisionist history about Native Americans that persist today. I was/am appalled by the compounded injustices and the perpetuated ignorance about them.

On a personal level, I’m surprised by how much I have changed since working on this book. I like to think that I have always been open and compassionate to the perspectives of others, but my journey with Billy and WINGS has changed me. I’m still a white woman who was invited into his world, but I now feel more connected, informed, aware, and sensitive. That, I think, is a benefit of deep research and close collaboration. It’s impossible not to be changed when we make concentrated efforts to listen, learn, and empathize.

How does Billy feel about the book and what does he hope young readers take from the story?

Billy and his family are delighted with the book! They are already actively promoting it globally and in association with Billy’s seemingly endless speaking engagements. With a bit of luck, he will even sign books in Paris while he is there for this summer’s Olympic Games. Which, by the way, will mark the 60^th anniversary of his gold medal win. How cool is that?

The first prominent theme in the story can be summed up with Billy’s quote from years ago, “Follow your dream. Every dream has a passion, and every passion has a destiny,” even when the destiny doesn’t reach Olympic proportions. Also, he encourages kids to embrace their cultures, honor the past, and use their voices and their choices to make the world better, because we are stronger together when we lift each other up. When we collectively do that, we can reach global unity.

 

Donna Janell Bowman is an award-winning author of books for young readers, including Step Right Up: How Doc and Jim Key Taught the World About Kindness; Abraham Lincoln’s Dueling Words; King of the Tightrope: When the Great Blondin Ruled Niagara; and Wings of an Eagle: The Gold Medal Dreams of Billy Mills, co-authored with Billy Mills. Donna’s books have garnered such accolades as starred reviews, state book awards, and honors from NCTE, NCSS, ALA/ALSC, and more. Donna has an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. When not writing at her central Texas home, she enjoys speaking at schools and coaching writers.