The Power of Maps

By Mélina Mangal

 

As an author and school librarian, I love doing research.  I love poking into different sources to hunt for useful facts.  One of those sources that I come back to, no matter the project, is maps. 

I collect maps whenever I travel, as a souvenir, but also as a reference for future work.  I picked up such a map when I visited Plymouth, Massachusetts years ago, which later helped me as I wrote a story about cranberry bogs.  

I use a range of maps, starting with the basic street map, physical map, and topographical map.  Typically, I search Google, Apple, or Bing maps online first, getting a general idea of the area, then zooming in for greater details.

Not only do maps pinpoint a specific location and geography, they help inform a range of sensory details.  When I hone in on a location, I can zoom in on both the natural and human-made elements surrounding it. 

So much of what we might find out about a person or a place from secondary sources tends to be written for adults.  But children are often interested in more basic, day-to-day aspects of lives, like how did this person get to school?  Maps can help generate useful questions, but also provide the answers. Where was the school?  Was my subject affected by this factory nearby?  Did they hear the mining trucks on the road?  Did they worry about flooding?  

Maps put things into perspective.  Your subject may say they walked 5 miles each day.  Maybe they did, but maybe that’s exaggerated recollecting.  If you can pinpoint the exact locations, you can verify accuracy by selecting the walking directions feature. Is your subject’s neighborhood on the map?  Was it called something else in the past? 

Remember that locations change as well.  A school that was once located in a certain spot, may have relocated, or closed.  Factories and mines can be reclaimed by nature.  And, unfortunately, what we’re more used to: meadows and forests can be plowed over and built upon. 

While researching facts for my picture book biography The Vast Wonder of the World: Biologist Ernest Everett Just, I wanted to find out more about Charleston, South Carolina and the surrounding Low Country area of the late 1880s. 

Starting with digital maps helped me get a general sense of the terrain. I was immediately struck by the abundance of waterways. I’d learned that Ernest Everett Just’s family had moved back and forth from Charleston to the country, but seeing the maps opened up more questions for me.  How did his family travel?  What modes of transportation were available to them at that time?  Though I didn’t initially think such questions were directly tied to his life’s work as a scientist, they helped flesh out more sensory details that rounded out the story of Dr. Just’s childhood.

Getting my hands on historic maps really filled in the gaps.  When I traveled to Charleston and was able to look at maps of the 1880s from the Charleston Public Library’s historical maps collection, it became clear that during the time period I was researching, the bridges weren’t yet reconstructed (one had been destroyed by a hurricane).  This pointed to the need to travel by boat.  Further research verified that this was they way many people got around.  This detail helped bring the 1880s to life for me, imagining the sights and sounds and smells that young Ernest would likely have experienced. 

Using the map, I listed details that the surrounding physical elements could evoke: the rush of the river, pelicans flapping overhead, oars dipping into water, waves crashing against the beach, horses clip clopping on cobblestone, humidity hazing the woods…

By looking very closely at the historical maps, I was able to locate the area where his family moved and where Ernest’s mother had opened a school. Though completely different now, it was an area rich with wildlife and vegetation. Knowing that he was exposed to so much of the natural world as a child helped inform the choices I made as I wrote and rewrote the manuscript.

Charleston County GIS map taken by Mélina Mangal

In addition to maps of specific locales, I like to use sources like the Library of Congress Digital Maps Collection when looking for historical maps.  Perusing county maps, and the Historical Society of the locality you are researching can yield very detailed historical maps that help you pinpoint specific changes over time.  Local libraries often have historical maps in their collections as well. 

Exploring and free writing with maps provides useful background to inform editing and specific word choices, but it can also help if you are stuck.  Free writing with maps is a springboard for virtual travel, adding depth and sensory detail to your nonfiction writing, no matter what stage you are in.  Enjoy your journey!

Give it a Try

Pick a location from your manuscript, like a home, school, lake, or courthouse. If you have a physical map, open it up and examine it.  Linger over all place names and physical features.  Plot distances your subject might have frequented.

Do the same with Google Maps or any other map app you may use.  Zoom in as close as you can get.  Use street view, then aerial view.  What’s the terrain like?  Zoom out and examine a 2 mile radius.  What do you notice?  Are there roads?  If so, what are they like? Train tracks?  Power poles? Any bodies of water? 

Generate a list of questions.

Create a list of physical features like lakes, mountains, train tracks, woods, etc. Then, imagine what you can see, hear, smell and feel in or near each of these features, from the perspective of your subject.  Be as detailed as possible. Have fun roaming!  With your map, you won’t get lost.   

 

 

Meet the Author

Working at the intersection of nature, literature, and culture, Mélina Mangal’s writing highlights youth whose voices are rarely heard, and the people and places that inspire them to explore their world.  She is the author of biographies for youth, including The Vast Wonder of the World: Biologist Ernest Everett Just, winner of the Carter G. Woodson Award and named an NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People. Her short stories have been published by Milkweed Editions, Carolina Wren Press/Blair Publishing, Spider magazine, and Bravery. Her latest book, Jayden’s Impossible Garden, won the first Strive/Free Spirit African American Voices in Children’s Literature contest. Mélina works as a school library media teacher in Minnesota and enjoys spending time outdoors with her family.  Visit her online at:  melinamangal.com

 

The Art of the Opening Scene

by Steve Sheinkin 

When it comes to narrative nonfiction, I bet we all agree on the importance of opening scenes. I’m talking about the first two or three pages, maybe 600-800 words. You’ve got the grab the reader, prove your story is going to be compelling, convince them they want to know more. 

Sure, but how? I wish I had a better answer than trial and error. That’s what works for me.

As I’m researching, I keep a list of possible openings, stand-alone bits of action that are intriguing, and that raise questions. I give special preference to scenes that are documented with primary sources, especially sources that include details of what participants said or thought—the sorts of things a novelist or filmmaker would invent. Then I write the scenes. I write a few different ones as part of my first draft. Try them out, see how they work with the rest of the story.

For my book Bomb, I tried five or six different prologues, moments from all over the story. As I showed each to my editor, she kept saying, “This is good—but what is your book about?” It’s one of those things editors say, and it seems annoying, but turns out to be profound. The question really forced me to think. My answer: I wanted to write spy thriller set in the Manhattan Project. “Fine,” my editor said. “Then make sure your opening scene feels like part of that kind of story.” 

With this in mind, I settled on a scene of FBI agents closing in on an atomic spy at his home after the war. It’s entertaining and raises questions. It’s well documented from multiple viewpoints. And it lets the reader know exactly what they’re in for. It’s the kind of thing a teacher can read to a class in a few minutes and, hopefully, convince some of them to pick up the book. The kind of thing you can pull out when you find yourself in the scariest place on earth—the stage of a crowded middle school auditorium. 

For my newest, Fallout, a Cold War thriller, opening options included an American pilot getting shot down over Russia and a brilliant mathematician at Los Alamos realizing how to build a hydrogen bomb. I settled on what’s probably my favorite opening scene in any of my books: a thirteen-year-old Brooklyn paperboy stumbling into a Soviet spy ring.

It’s a cinematic scene with plenty of documentation. It doesn’t require background knowledge of the Cold War, and it sets up a lot of the stuff I want to talk about in the early chapters. Why are the Soviets and Americans spying on each other? Why are the stakes so high? How can seemingly small details and ordinary people shove the fate of the world in one direction or another?

 

Give It a Try

Think about a current project. Look over your research notes. Pick some favorite moments from your story, things that might work as a two- or three-page prologue. Go through them one at a time and ask yourself:

1. Is it a grabber? Does it pass the I’m-in-a-middle-school-auditorium test?

2. Do I have, or can I find great sources?

3. Does the scene/story require a lot of background knowledge or explanation in order to make sense? (If so, it’s out.)

4. Does it set the right mood? Meet the “what is this book about?” challenge?

 

You’ll likely come up with a few candidates as you research. I’d say write them all. You may well end up using all of them, in different parts of the story. But hopefully one will stand out. When it’s right, you’ll know it!

 

Meet the Author

Steve Sheinkin is the NYT bestselling author of fast-paced, cinematic nonfiction for young readers, including Bomb, Fallout, Undefeated, The Port Chicago 50, Born to Fly, and The Notorious Benedict Arnold. Awards include a Newbery Honor and three National Book Award finalist honors. He lives with his family in Saratoga Springs, NY.

Which Category of Children’s NF is Best for Me?

By Lionel Bender  

Whether you are new to children’s nonfiction or wish to change direction within it, I believe your efforts to get published and established will be most successful if you target the most appropriate category in the marketplace. Each category has a unique set of characteristics, distinct types of publications, and specific editors, art editors, and publishers.

It can take a good deal of time and effort to become familiar with and break into a category, so it is important to choose carefully. But what are these categories, what is special about each one, and what criteria can you use to make your choice?

As part of the process, you should analyze and assess your circumstances, skills, expertise, creativity, and desires as a writer or illustrator.

These are main marketplace categories:

• trade, or consumer books
• school and library books
• magazines
• educational books
• digital or online publications
• packaged books and licensed publishing
• self-publishing.

To help illustrate my belief, here are my definitions of the first three categories. My points are general, and there are certainly exceptions. Also, other editors, book packagers, publishers, agents, and booksellers, may define categories slightly differently.

Trade or consumer children’s nonfiction books 

• seen in bookstores and featured at book fairs and book festivals
• focused on by SCBWI, reviewers, writers’ and illustrators’ groups, and critique groups, so lots of practical help and advice available to newbie authors and illustrators
• created by high-profile authors and illustrators
• produced from ideas created by authors and illustrators, but mass market information books are initiated by the publishers
• acquired by publishers from agents and rarely from authors and illustrators directly most with royalty contracts: authors and illustrators retain the copyright
• contracts and royalty payments may be several thousand dollars ($000s)
• take more than a year, sometimes two or three years, to produce and publish
• win prizes and awards
• one-off titles
• authors/illustrators expected to publicize and promote their work. They should have active websites and blogs
• publishers prefer authors and illustrators not to work for competing houses
• good for authors and illustrators to do school and library visits
• include picture books, literary or creative nonfiction, mass market information books, graphic nonfiction, chapter books, highly illustrated gift books, novelty books, licensed materials.

 School and Library children’s nonfiction books

• seen in schools and public libraries but not often in bookstores or at book fairs and festivals
• often glossed over by SCBWI, reviewers, and critique groups, but some coverage by writers’ and illustrators’ groups
• created by authors and illustrators of all levels
• ideas initiated by each publisher, which seeks out authors and illustrators directly or via book packagers to produce them
• writers and illustrators pitch themselves and their skills to publishers: an active website and blog will be helpful but not essential
• agents generally not involved
• mostly work-for-hire and flat-fee contracts
• fees range from several hundred to a few thousand dollars depending on length, complexity, and word count
• publishers or book packagers hold the copyright
• often produced for publishers by book packagers or creation houses, which commission the authors and illustrators
• usually take less than a year to produce and publish 
• occasionally win prizes and awards
• authors and illustrators not expected to publicize and promote their books
• mostly series of titles. Authors and illustrators likely to be commissioned to do several titles
• publishers fine with authors and illustrators working for competing companies
• good for authors and illustrators to do school and library visits
• include informational books, easy readers, chapter books, activity books, makerspace books, reference books, lifestyle guides.

Children’s Nonfiction Magazines 

Print and online products

• seen in schools, libraries, and homes
• covered but not featured by SCBWI. Rarely dealt with by reviewers, critique groups, and writers’ and illustrators’ groups
• created by authors and illustrators of all levels
• work-for-hire and flat-fee payments
• fees generally a few hundred dollars per article or illustration
• publishers keep the copyright
• ideas initiated by each magazine
• publishers give authors and illustrators clear guidelines as to subject matter, word count, age range, text, and illustrations style
• writers and illustrators pitch to win contracts
• agents not involved
• articles may take only days to write and illustrate
• magazines, but not the contributors, may receive awards and prizes
• authors and illustrators not involved in publicity and promotion: No need to have an active website and blog
• no great interest for school and library visits
• publishers fine with authors and illustrators working for competing companies
• one-off articles but potential for authors and illustrators to produce many of them for various magazines
• include magazines for all ages, interests, and subjects, both in print and online 

How can you determine the best category for you?

I trust you can see that a comparison of three categories highlights some significant differences that you can focus on to make your selection. I recommend you choose the category that:

• contains books or other publications that you would most like to write or illustrate and that you will enjoy researching.
• contains publications that you feel able to produce with your skills and expertise. This might be, first, with those skills and expertise you have now, then with additional ones you can easily acquire
• fits your status of either having, not having, or not wanting an agent
• contains publications that are produced within the time you have available to write or illustrate and to survive without an income from your publishing work 
• gives you the income level you need or desire 
• involves the amount of publicity and promotional support you can or want to give 
• fits your status of either having, not having, or not wanting an active website and blog 
• offers either royalty deals or projects on a work-for-hire, flat fee basis as you desire
• is open to ideas from authors and illustrators or looks for authors and illustrators to produce ideas generated by the publisher or book packager
• gives you the profile or status as a professional writer or illustrator that you desire or need.

Give It a Try

Some of these choices will seem obvious, but if you don’t consider them, you may go off-target. Once you get established, you may want or need to work in more than one category. Many authors and illustrators I have worked with do just that. But for now, focus on just one. Choosing your target category will be a major step forward. Next step will be to break into that category. But that’s another article, story, or webinar!

 

About the Author

Lionel Bender is a children’s nonfiction specialist. He has written more than 70 books, edited some 1,400 titles, and run a book packaging company for 31 years producing children’s illustrated nonfiction for several North American publishers. He gives talks, workshops, and webinars on all aspects of the “business” of being a self-employed writer, illustrator, editor, and book packager. His latest webinars are:

https://writingblueprints.com/p/the-childrens-nonfiction-market-how-to-break-in-how-to-succeed

https://writingblueprints.com/p/writing-nonfiction-for-the-school-library-market

https://writingblueprints.com/p/how-to-get-published-with-book-packagers

 

 

Writing for the Educational Market—A Research Junkie’s Dream

 by Carol Kim

From a pretty young age, I loved doing research projects. I would hunker down in our home “library” surrounded by two sets of Encyclopedia Britannica and an entire series of Time/Life books that covered every science and nature topic imaginable.

Despite my love of exploring facts, I didn’t end up in a profession that involved doing research.

Why? I think it’s because I didn’t want to specialize; I enjoyed exploring and learning about EVERYTHING. But being so unfocused didn’t really lend itself to a profession.

Until I discovered writing for the educational market.

It’s a research junkie’s dream job!

What Is the Educational Market?

The educational market refers to books written primarily for schools and libraries. These books are often referred to as work-for-hire (WFH) children's books. The publisher determines the subject and then hires writers to create the content according to their specifications.

Most WFH books for the education market are nonfiction. They focus on science, math, and social studies, but can cover a wide range of topics. Details such as word count and reading level are set by the publisher.

Some of the biggest differences between the trade and educational market involve payment and creative freedom. In most cases, writers are paid a flat fee for their work, but no royalties. They receive a byline, but the publisher owns all the rights to the book. All parameters (e.g. topic, word count, reading level, and structure) are set by the publisher.

                                                Get ready to research a wide range of topics!

Tips for Conducting Research for Your WFH Assignment

If writing educational books sounds appealing, then I highly encourage you to explore breaking into this market. And once you do, here are some of my best tips for researching your books.

It’s not necessary to dig deeply into your topic

This is not a dissertation you are writing. It is a children’s book, and many are written for elementary school-aged kids. Most of the books I write are in the 1,500 to 2,000 word range. That does not allow for extensive exploration into your book’s topic. Think about it– if the book is to include four chapters, plus an introduction, that only leaves you around 400 words per chapter.

Keep your audience in mind

Every typical WFH assignment will include specifications about the target reading level of your audience. This means your research should be focused on information that would be both understandable by this age group, and be interesting to them.

Try to find some informational gems

This kind of goes against my earlier advice of trying to avoid going deep down research rabbit holes. But finding and including something about your topic that is not widely known can surprise and delight your reader. Recent sources can be the way to find these treasures.

Avoid the over-researching trap

One mistake I made with my earlier WFH projects was spending hours digging deeply into the topic before creating an outline. I ended up with a lot of unused research.

 It's much better to start with just enough research to create an outline. Wait to go deeper until you start writing. You can better target your research, which is much more efficient and effective. Believe me, it will save you a lot of time. 

If you are a research junkie, WFH can be a great outlet for your love of unearthing facts. While the monetary rewards are somewhat modest, I like to think of this work as getting paid to explore topics you previously knew nothing about. And who knows? Maybe your next book idea will come from some of that research you had to leave out!

 

Give It a Try

For those of you who want to examine this market further, start by exploring educational books. Visit a range of educational publishers and take a look at their catalogs. Here are a few to get started: Capstone, Lerner, Enslow, North Star Editions, and Amicus. See what kind of books they publish, topics they cover, and grade levels. Try finding some at your library (including ebooks) to take a closer look. If they seem like books you might enjoy writing, then study their WFH submission guidelines.

 

Meet the Author

Carol Kim believes books and words have a magical ability to change the world for the better, and she writes for children with the hope of spreading some of that magic. She is the author of the picture book biography, King Sejong Invents an Alphabet as well as dozens of fiction and nonfiction books for the educational market. Carol relishes unearthing real-life stories and little-known facts to share with young readers. Learn more at her website: www.CarolKimBooks.com or her website on the craft and business of writing for kids: www.MakeaLivinginKidlit.com.

Lights! Camera! Action! Starring: Versatile, Vivacious Verbs

By Beth Anderson

When I write an historical picture book, I see a movie in my head, and the challenge is bringing that movie to the page. Illustrations will partner in the process, but the words I choose need to create scenes, provide action, and invite the reader into the experience of the main character. To accomplish this, verbs take front and center stage. 

LIGHTS come first when you spotlight a character, event, and angle to hook the reader. In this thought process, one vital verb guides me—“take away,” as in, What do I want readers to take away? Then, before I start drafting, I brainstorm words that will support theme, character, topics, and imagery—including a list of verbs. Here are a few examples of "priming the pump” and “filling the bucket."

battle, surrender, resist, fight, give up, unite… [An Inconvenient Alphabet]

sniff, permeate, smell, reek, inhale, investigate, detect… [“Smelly” Kelly and His Super Senses]

Then, it’s time to make the past come alive.

The CAMERA carries the reader through the telling. If you examine the “camera” in a story, most often you’ll see it zooms and pulls back—in and out of scenes, from big picture to character interior. If it’s all close, all distant, or hangs in the middle, you lose potential drama that propels a reader.

When I learned about close/deep third person narration, about “proximity” and “psychic distance,” my writing changed. And the secret was in the verbs. “Head verbs,” or “filter verbs,” add an extra layer that distances the reader—the narrator layer. Words like heard, saw, decided, and other “head” actions serve as filters that dilute the action. To bring the reader INTO the main character’s experience, try eliminating these verbs and directly connecting the reader to the main character—go from reporting to experiencing:

          She heard a crash. vs. BOOM! 

          He wondered where it came from. vs. Where did it come from? 

This intimacy feels a lot like first person narration, but by using close third, you have greater access to the world beyond that one character.

This same concept is also in play when you move from indirect speech to direct speech. (This choice gets tricky with strict nonfiction.)

          He told her to get off… vs. “Get off.”  [Lizzie Demands a Seat!]

Often a story about a person from the past involves a thought process or dilemmas and can be less than exciting on the page. Dig into the interior conflict. Eliminating head verbs enhances point of view, builds character, and “shows” instead of “tells.” Oddly enough, sometimes cutting verbs helps keep a story active.

 ACTION is essential to moving a story forward, engaging young readers, and connecting to history in a meaningful way. Even static elements of a story like “state of being,” context, and setting can benefit from some action.

The first and easiest rule for action is to dump BE verbs whenever possible. AM, IS, ARE, WAS, and WERE are empty verbs. THERE WERE and IT WAS beg for replacements, too. Other “verbs of being” such as SEEM and BECOME often don’t contribute much either.

Franz was a curious child. vs. …Franz’s mind sparked with wonder. [Franz’s Phantasmagorical Machine]        

In nonfiction, providing the context readers need to understand the complexities of a different time and place often results in the dreaded information dump. That necessary context impacts character and is integral to conflict, so we need to interlace those ideas.  

How do circumstances affect their actions? For example, in Revolutionary Prudence Wright, taxes and boycotts must be meaningful without a convoluted explanation.

No British tea! Prudence grew herbs and made her own Liberty Tea.

No British cloth! She spun flax into linen and wove homespun fabric.

NO British sugar! She boiled maple sap into syrup.

No gloves or garments, no ribbons or buttons, no glass or paper! She would do without. Prudence could live with inconvenience and additional work. But she couldn’t live with unjust laws and stolen rights.

Even physical setting can come alive to enhance character, conflict, imagery, and themes. How would your character perceive the location? In Smelly Kelly and His Super Senses, the reader experiences the setting through the character’s super-senses via active, sensory verbs.

The metropolis hummed. Buildings stretched to the sky. Scents familiar and foreign wafted in the breeze.

 Specificity is also golden. Connotation adds depth. The right verb lets you cut adverbs. Or can ring with theme, provide a twist, or add humor.

…unwilling to take liberties with their language. [An Inconvenient Alphabet--American Revolution era]

Finally, we all hear the admonition against passive verbs, where the “actor” is not up front taking responsibility for the action in a sentence, or not mentioned at all. Passives can hide an antagonist and minimize conflict. Reframing amps up the telling.

Tad was frustrated by his lessons. vs. Lessons launched him down the hall and out the door. [Tad Lincoln’s Restless Wriggle]

Verbs are “energizers” that power a story. Of course, like the code for pirates in Pirates of the Caribbean, what I share is more what you call guidelines than actual rules. I confess an upcoming release has WAS in the first and last sentences, and more. It has IT WAS, and some head verbs. But sometimes you need a verb to fade back for something else to come forward. Or need a head verb to make a character present. Or just need the simplest way to state an idea. It’s all about choices to make your movie come alive.

Give it a Try      

Highlight all verbs in a WIP. Do you see patterns? Overused verbs? BE verbs? Where can you cut head verbs to zoom in? Where can you interlace action with context? Where can you add action or more specific verbs? What differences do your new choices make?

About the Author

Beth Anderson, a former English as a Second Language teacher, has always marveled at the power of books. With linguistics and reading degrees, a fascination with language, and a penchant for untold tales, she strives for accidental learning in the midst of a great story. Beth is the award-winning author of TAD LINCOLN’S RESTLESS WRIGGLE, “SMELLY” KELLY AND HIS SUPER SENSES, LIZZIE DEMANDS A SEAT!, and AN INCONVENIENT ALPHABET. She has more historical picture books on the way, including three more stories of revolution, wonder, and possibility in 2022.  

 

 

Nonfiction Revision Decisions

By Melissa Stewart

First of all, I’d like to thank Pat Miller and the rest of the Nonfiction Chicks—Susan Kralovansky, Peggy Thomas, Nancy Churnin, and Linda Skeers—from the bottom of my heart. What an incredible gift they’ve given the entire children’s nonfiction community!

This year for NF Fest, I’m going to do something a little 

bit different. Instead of writing an essay, I’m sharing

THIS LINK to an interactive visual-audio tool that takes an up-close look at my revision process for Summertime Sleepers: Animals that Estivate.

It includes how my thinking evolved and I worked through big picture revisions as well as a series of drafts where the editor and I are discussing key points via track changes. I created this tool for students, but I think writers will also find it both illuminating and useful. I hope you enjoy it.

Give it a Try
Use the Voice Continuum to come up with a description for the voice of your nonfiction work in progress. Is that the best possible voice for the information you want to share and the way you want to share it? Consider experimenting with a different voice. If you are happy with the voice, how can you revise to make it even stronger?

 

About the Author

Melissa Stewart has written more than 190 science books for children, including her newest titles Summertime Sleepers: Animals that Estivate, illustrated by Sarah s. Brannen Fourteen Monkeys: A Rain Forest Rhyme, illustrated by Steve Jenkins. She co-wrote 5 Kinds of Nonfiction: Enriching Reading and Writing Instruction with Children’s Books, edited the anthology Nonfiction Writers Dig Deep: 50 Award-winning Authors Share the Secret of Engaging Writing, and maintains the award-winning blog Info-licious Inspiration. Melissa’s highly-regarded website features a rich array of nonfiction writing resources.

Finding Your Voice in Writing Nonfiction

By Doreen Rappaport

Writing nonfiction for kids is an absolutely wonderful career. It’s a passion, a commitment to the young to present important and meaningful stories that will stretch their minds and hearts.

Research is the first step.  The deeper you dig, the richer, more interesting and illuminating will be your work. And your research will lead you to the right approach for telling the story you want to tell. Don’t worry that someone else has written about a subject you’re passionate about. There’s always room for more well-written books on your subject.  Do your research and you will find your unique voice, the hook to tell your stories.

In writing about the African-American struggle from the kidnappings in Africa to the Civil Rights Movement, I read the work of scholars who took years to untangle and present this history accurately. I read poetry, interviews, diaries, biographies, autobiographies, documents.  All these elements confirmed that this was a history of resistance, and that’s when I found my hook--resistance. Primary sources allowed me to accurately recreate historical events without fictionalizing. Having studied and taught music myself, I knew its importance as a cohesive force for Black Americans and had to include this great tradition. And so, my trilogy uses all these elements. 

Twenty-two years ago, I was asked to write a book on Martin Luther King, Jr.  There were already 10 or so books about him, and I initially resisted because there were so many other great Black Americans whom kids didn’t know anything about, and I wasn’t sure I could find a different way to write about Dr. King’s life.  But I dug in. I went to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture an immersed myself in biographies about Dr. King and in his speeches, interviews, letters, autobiographies, and diaries.  I thought about what Dr. King meant to me, about my Mississippi summer working in a Freedom School, and the joyous day at the March on Washington in 1963, and of course about Dr. King’s now famous speech, and it all came together.

My hook to present Dr. King’s life would be to combine a narrative punctuated with words by this great man, and so Martin’s Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born.

Seek out experts to clarify facts. A coal miner helped me with my book on a mining strike in Pennsylvania. I reached out to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who read and commented on every page in my almost final draft, catching confusion and demanding greater clarification, helping me simplify but not dumb-down legal arguments. I wanted to add Cherokee words and phrases to my book about Wilma Mankiller, and her husband provided them and a pronunciation guide. I have found people more than willing to help me, because they too wanted accuracy about what I was writing.

Never fear criticism.  It will only strengthen your work. Have a few writer friends whom you trust to show your early drafts. Ask them to read your revisions, also. 

Write, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.  Revision is the key to all writing.

Read nonfiction books by other writers.  When I began, I read all of Jean Fritz’s early books. I don’t write at all like her, but she taught me about “attitude” and point of view, that we all are unique, and there are lots of way to tell a story, and they are all valid if they are grounded in research and careful self-editing.

And remember, there will be stumbling blocks along the way.  Times you think you’ll never get it right. You will.  Walk away from the book for a while. Sometimes, I walk away for a month or so. Right now, I’m working on a book that I put away two years ago.

 

Give it a Try

I know you have unfinished manuscripts in your files, books you just "couldn't get right."  Well, maybe you couldn't get them "right" when you wrote them a while ago, but dig them out, re-read them, smile about what is strong, think about what doesn't work. You might be surprised that with fresh eyes you can come up with solutions to finish the book. I'm working now on a book that I put away 10 years ago. A long time, right?  Well, I think I've solved most of the problems. Getting away can be so important, and having the courage to go back is essential. Good luck!  Follow your passion! You can do it, too!

 

 

About the Author

Doreen Rappaport is an award-winning author of 75 children’s books that celebrate multiculturalism, historical events, the lives of world leaders and the stories of those she calls the “not-yet-celebrated.” Her books have received critical acclaim for her unique ability to combine historical facts with intimate storytelling, and for finding new ways to present the lives of iconic heroes such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the Statue of Liberty. Among her numerous honors, Doreen is the recipient of The Washington Post Children’s Book Guild Award for Lifetime Achievement for the writing of nonfiction. Visit her at www.doreenrappaport.com