When I write nonfiction or informational picture books, I
pretend I’m writing fiction. Why? We humans have been telling stories since
time immemorial, and stories—complete with characters, tension, drama, and
resolution—are compelling to us. We pay attention to stories. We remember
stories. We enjoy stories. They make us giggle and worry and sigh with
relief. Stories don’t just teach; they also touch our hearts.
But isn’t nonfiction supposed to be about facts? Yes, but great nonfiction is more than the sum of its facts. Facts can be found on Wikipedia. Stories cannot. As an author of informational picture books, it is my job to find the story within the facts—the story that will bring those facts to life for young readers.
Thinking like a fiction writer starts at the very beginning—in the idea-generation stage. At this point, I am exploring topics. Maybe I’m learning about rocks. Maybe there’s something about rocks that I find interesting. So, I ask myself, is there a story here? Is there a narrative arc? Is there tension? Most fundamentally—is there change?
For a story to truly be a story—for the reader to feel catharsis when they turn the final page—I would argue that there has to be tension. There has to be an arc. This doesn’t mean there has to be one clear, concrete problem that a character solves after making three failed attempts (an effective structure often found in fiction picture books). In an informational text, the tension might be more subtle. The “character” might be, for example, a (non-anthropomorphized) rock—an actual rock that experiences an actual transformation.
My first book, A Stone Is a Story, follows a stone through the stages of the rock cycle, as it forms and transforms over hundreds of millions of years. As soon as I understood the rock cycle as a process of change and transformation, I knew I had a story. I had tension (what would happen to this rock?), I had drama (volcanoes! glaciers! erosion!), and I had a resolution (you’ll have to read the book to find out what happens to the rock 😊). Note that this is a rock we’re talking about—a seemingly inert object! Yet it experiences profound change and holds the key to a story.
Our lives, our planet, the whole of our universe is defined by change. Nonfiction that highlights this change has a shape our minds and hearts crave—the shape of a story. As you go hunting for your next nonfiction book idea, I encourage you to think like a fiction writer. Within the facts, hunt for tension, hunt for drama, hunt for a narrative arc. Use these tools of fiction to build a nonfiction manuscript that’s as surprising and emotionally potent as fiction. It’s a tall order, but the real, true, factual wonders of our dynamic planet call for nothing less.
About the Author:
Leslie Barnard Booth writes lyrical picture books about
science and nature. She is the author of One Day This Tree Will Fall and A
Stone Is a Story, both of which were named Outstanding Science Trade Books
by the National Science Teaching Association and Children's Book Council. Her
next book, I Am We: How Crows Come Together to Survive, releases in
fall 2025. Leslie lives in Portland, Oregon, and loves exploring the natural
world with her family. Visit her at lesliebarnardbooth.com.