THE WRITING ADVICE NEXT TO MY STACK OF SWEATERS

By Cedar Pruitt

Somewhere between my maroon corduroy pants and gray and white striped sweater is propped an ancient greeting card. My clean laundry sits folded and stacked on the shelf next to this ragged, treasured piece of paper that I read every morning while getting dressed. It was never sent or received. I’m pretty sure I bought it, but I don’t remember when or where. 

I’ve had it for a long time. 

It’s entirely possible I’ve had it for 30 years, since I was just 18, as the yellowed thumbtack holes bring to mind a wall-bound bulletin board in a college dorm.

In this age of framed motivational slogans and glossy affirmation cards, one shabby card has opened my days and closed my nights for decades. And I think it guides me in writing nonfiction for children, too.

“Don’t let your hearts grow numb. Stay alert. It is your soul which matters.”

-Albert Schweitzer

And it’s not just the quote. There’s also an image. Which is good. Were it just those words on a page, I think I might get distracted by the possibilities of the word ‘soul.’ But a benefit of being raised Buddhist is that I’ve always had a loose and trusting relationship with that word, and when I look at the picture – a black and white image of little girl fiercely hugging a cat, the wind gently blowing her hair, fully alive and loving as she buries her face in that fur –I know exactly what the quote means.

We’re all connected, and it’s our connection that makes us human. It’s painful to stay alert, it takes vulnerability and precious energy, but it’s what matters most.

I think this card describes the journey of writing nonfiction, and the perils of willful ignorance. When we don’t try to understand the world around us, we can become numb to it, and closed off to what makes us uniquely and truly ourselves. Nonfiction is a way to dig into this vastly mysterious experience we’re all having together, on this thing we call a planet. 

Children are naturally inquisitive – it is human nature, after all – and writing nonfiction that delights, surprises and engages them has the capacity to guide and shape their experience of the world and, therefore, of themselves. Could there be a more thrilling, humbling opportunity? One of the joys of being a nonfiction author is getting a front-row seat to see the sheer effort that writers, illustrators, agents, editors, art directors, publishers, booksellers, teachers, librarians and more all pour into bringing this dream to life. 

It’s as if they all know that kids deserve creative, fun, fresh and interesting work that inspires them to lean into their curiosity, embrace their humanity, and, above all, to stay alert. 

Does everyone have a greeting card stuck somewhere that makes them want to help children keep growing, learning and wanting to understand the world?  I don’t know. All I know is: Don’t let your hearts grow numb.

 

About the Author: 

Cedar Pruitt is an author based in Massachusetts. Her lyrical nonfiction picture book, FIRE FLIGHT: A Wildfire Escape, illustrated by Chiara Fedele (Capstone Editions, 2024), explores climate change and ecological connection through an owl’s real-life flight out of a California wildfire and into the co-pilot seat of a firefighting helicopter.

Her second lyrical nonfiction picture book, WHAT MARCEL FOUND: The Incredible Discovery of the Lascaux Cave Paintings, illustrated by David Litchfield, is about brave kids in occupied France whose forest search for treasure during WWII led to an astounding discovery that forever changed our view of humanity (Beach Lane Books/Simon & Schuster, 2026).

Learn more about Cedar, her books and author visits at CedarPruitt.com.

 

SPARK AND PASSION: NOT JUST FOR ROMANCE WRITERS

by Jonathan Roth

 

You know the feeling: a rising heartbeat, a quickening of breath, an urgent desire for passionate and obsessive embrace. I am, of course, talking about writing non-fiction. That visceral moment when you know you’ve fallen for an idea.

It usually happens in a flash. One minute I’m sipping my coffee with the morning paper. The next I read a strange, small fact near the end of an article, such as that a small helicopter on Mars is carrying a piece of Earth’s first airplane, and fireworks go off in my head. In this case, I turned it into a book: Almost Underwear: How a Piece of Cloth Traveled from Kitty Hawk to the Moon and Mars, which begins with two brothers buying a bolt of muslin in a Dayton department store in 1903, and then follows that cloth on the most unlikely of adventures.

The vast majority of my sparks don’t turn into published books, but that’s okay. As I’m sure you know, writing is 99% butt-in-chair, long hours of honing your craft. And that’s okay too. But because the perspiration part is so often emphasized and the inspiration part seems uncontrollable, the Muse-like moments don’t get talked about much. After all, what can you do?

I think there’s a lot you can do. And I suspect you’re already doing it.

Like me, you probably geek out for a number of things. I’m obsessed with space stuff. With you, maybe it’s plants or dolphins or the history of trains. Whatever it is, I know you often read about it, think about it, delight in the minutiae. This is a prime space where you’re going to find your sparks, those little nuggets or small facts (“a piece of the Wright Flyer on Mars!”) that make you pause, make you jolt, and want to dig deeper.

And deep you can go! Everything is connected. When I pulled at the thread of that small piece of cloth on Mars, I found connections from everything from Neil Armstrong to ladies’ undergarments. It led me to big themes like technological innovation and commemoration, and to equally small, cool details.

Of course, your writing ideas won’t just come from other writing. Non-fiction covers everything under the sun (and the sun too!). Ideas can come from anywhere. Gaze at the stars, ride some trains, swim with the dolphins. Your job is to be open, to be curious, and to be ready to pounce when inspiration strikes. Carry a notebook!

Editors can smell the lack of passion. So really, if you’re chasing some idea just because you think it sounds good, or might sell, just like with fiction you’re probably barking up the wrong tree. As they say, no passion (about some interesting non-fiction subject) for the writer, no passion (about some interesting non-fiction subject) for the reader.

So give yourself permission to follow strange threads. Trust in your gut. Follow your instincts and let yourself fall in love. Your interests matter, and by sharing them with us you widen our lives.

 

About the Author:

Jonathan Roth is an Earth-bound but space loving author-illustrator of fun, STEAM-themed books for kids including the chapter book series Beep and Bob (Aladdin/S&S), the graphic novel series Rover and Speck (Kids Can Press) and the surprising true story Almost Underwear: How a Piece of Cloth Traveled from Kitty Hawk to the Moon and Mars (Christy Ottaviano Books/Little, Brown Books for Young Readers), which is a Kirkus Best Picture Book of 2024. He also teaches art to elementary students in Maryland. Learn more at www.jonathan-roth.com.

 

Where Do Ideas Come From? How Do You Explain Inspiration?

 By Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond

 

“What inspired you?” It’s a question we’re often asked as writers, and, if we’re being honest, we can never fully articulate the answer.

Was it that story you read? Or that thing someone said? Or that bare tree, glistening in the dampness of early spring, standing tall on a sidewalk stained with fallen blossoms? Maybe.

People often ask me how I got the idea to write BLUE: A HISTORY OF THE COLOR AS KEEP AS THE SEA AND AS WIDE AS THE SKY.  I tell them the truth: “I was reading a description of the furnishings in King Solomon’s temple in the Bible, and it noted that a curtain was blue. I wondered why that detail mattered so I started investigating.” But one third grader recently asked what I think is a better question. She probed, “But what made you wonder?”

I could try to stumble through an answer here, as I did when the student asked, but I believe, ultimately, only God knows. What I will say is, sit with that question.

What makes you wonder? What are you wondering about right now?

Pay attention to the question that keeps coming up for you, the one that’s been insistently splashing around your brain, and, instead of judging it as silly, insignificant or too scary to plumb, let it get you wet. Dive into it and allow it to lead you to sources expected and unexpected to find the answer. With your question brazenly framing your perspective, you’ll start noticing—or stop ignoring—answers all around you.

Gather every fragment of an answer you find, then dump them on the page. (Drafts are allowed to be a mess.) Examine what you have, and begin to isolate and assemble the treasures—the facts, the anecdotes, the new questions—into a work that isn’t so much the answer, but a construction that reflects the work you did to find your answer.

When you’re staring at what you created, and someone asks, “What was your inspiration?” once again, you’ll probably stumble trying to explain, but I believe what you will have is a fresh sense of wonder that you wondered at all.

Meet the Author: 

Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond is the author of the children's picture book BLUE: A HISTORY OF THE COLOR AS DEEP AS THE SEA AND WIDE AS THE SKY,  illustrated by Caldecott Honor Artist Daniel Minter, and the young adult novel POWDER NECKLACE,  which Publishers Weekly called “a winning debut.” Her short fiction for adult readers is included in the anthologies Accra Noir  edited by Nana-Ama Danquah, Africa39 edited by Ellah Wakatama Allfrey, New Daughters of Africa edited by Margaret Busby, CBE, Hon. FIRSL, Everyday People edited by Jennifer Baker, and Woman's Work edited by Michelle Sewell, among others. Her writing has also appeared in Now2, African Writing, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Sunday Salon.