Borrow From Nonfiction to Enhance your Fiction

 by Sue Heavenrich

If you’re a nonfiction writer, then you’ve read plenty of articles suggesting that you use fiction techniques to spiff up your writing. But have you ever heard anyone suggest that fiction writers borrow from nonfiction to enrich their novels?

Picture book authors do this frequently, especially when their story includes elements that connect with curriculum topics like nature, gardening, science, space exploration. But for novels – excepting historical fiction – I haven’t heard many folks saying, "hey, try this approach used in nonfiction."

There are a few cases where I have seen novelists and picture book writers use nonfiction techniques to great effect. Most of them include…

Notes

Sure, lots of novels have author’s notes, but the ones I fall in love with tend to read like back matter in children’s nonfiction books. Take The Inquisitor’s Tale, by Adam Gidwitz. He begins, “My interest in the Middle Ages is entirely my wife’s fault…” and then goes on for 14 pages dissecting what is true in his novel and how much is made up. He also talks about the Bayeux Tapestry which, he says, isn’t a tapestry at all but rather, an embroidery of a 230-foot long graphic novel (or the Middle Ages equivalent thereof).

In his author’s notes for Heroes, Alan Gratz tells more about Pearl Harbor, where he got his inspiration, and explains a few things in the book that are outside of the historical timeline. He also talks about Asian Americans in comics and the legacy of Pearl Harbor.

In her notes to Boy Bites Bug, Rebecca Petruck provides a guide to eating bugs and includes a couple recipes. Author notes and recipes aren’t so unusual, so I really love it when fiction authors …

Map Out the World

Fantasy and fiction authors put a great deal of energy and imagination into world building. So I love it when they include a map on the end pages or first pages of their books. Whether it’s Avalon or Redwall, or the map drawn by The Last Mapmaker, seeing their world on paper makes it more real. Visual maps allow us to orient in space: which direction are the mountains? Where be there dragons?

Historical fiction feels richer when accompanied by a map. Alan Gratz includes a map of Pearl Harbor in Heroes, and Laurie Halse Anderson includes a great map of Boston in her novel, Rebellion 1776. Maps are a lot like illustrations, so they feel like a natural part of any story. That’s why I appreciate it when they include a…

Bibliography

This is where we find the gold – the truth behind the fiction. Gidwitz includes nine pages of annotated bibliography. Laurie Halse Anderson includes detailed “Notes on Sources” at the end of her book and Carol Baldwin – who I interviewed back in August – includes both endnotes and resources (a selected bibliography) in her historical fiction, Half-Truths. While I love end notes and chapter notes, I fall head over heels when I see a piece of fiction incorporating…

Footnotes, Appendices, and More

There is something about a footnote that just imbues a piece of writing with authority.  Even if – no, especially if – it is a work of fantasy. Take Jonathan Stroud’s first book in the Bartimaeus Trilogy, The Amulet of Samarkand. 

This is a tale of magical espionage, murder, and rebellion. Stroud wastes no time, introducing footnotes as a feature beginning on the second page of the story. Most of them are asides – comments by the narrator such as when talking about architecture and noting that those folks in Pisa clearly hadn’t paid attention to his engineering expertise when they built that tower.

My favorite use of footnotes is in Cindy Derby’s picture book, How to Walk an Ant. On one page she warns not to stab an ant, and in the footnote refers the reader to “How to Conduct a Funeral” in appendix 1. Swoon! Not only does she have footnotes, but she includes an appendix and a glossary! 

Baldwin doesn’t have any footnotes, but she does include photos and a family tree at the end of her book. Other authors, both fantasy and historical fiction, have included pronunciation guides and timelines. 

Next time you create a story, what will you borrow from the nonfiction writing toolbox?

Writing Board Books part II ~ an editor's POV

 by Sue Heavenrich

Welcome to the GROG’s second discussion about Board Books. Today I’m sharing the table with two board book editors, Kate Riggs and Gabriela Baron. So grab your cup of … whatever … and let’s get to chatting!

Kate Riggs edits board books at The Creative Company. She began working as an editor in 2006, and served as managing editor from 2013 through 2021. She left the company in July 2021 but remains a freelancer for Creative Editions and continues to have a hand in producing the picture and board books. 

Gabriela Baron has been working as an editorial assistant at Charlesbridge for about three years. With a background in creative writing and poetry, she finds herself drawn to musical stories told in verse. She started acquiring her own frontlist titles over a year ago, mostly picture books and board books so far, but is interested in expanding into middle grade and YA.

Me: Kate, can you tell us about the process of creating a board book? How do you decide number of pages, size, etc? Laura Purdee Salas was a guest at our roundtable last week, so maybe you can talk about her books? 

Kate: When we dipped our toes into the board book market, we wanted to do it in our own way. So we intentionally made them nonfiction in content/concept, but illustrated with the same beautiful care as any of our picture books. From the beginning, we knew the page count and size we would be targeting, so for the majority of the board books, I wrote the texts within those parameters – basically, seven sentences. The only time we ever adapted one of our original picture books as a board book was with the special title What to Do with a Box, by Jane Yolen and Chris Sheban, which our art director figured out how to construct into an actual box. That was a feat! Things can get changed (not necessarily for the better) when they go from larger-format picture books to shrunken-down board books, and it annoys me when details in the art just get cut out ... as though they were insignificant and not part of a greater plan.

I loved working with Laura Purdie Salas on her most recent books for Editions (as well as Puddle Song, from 2023) because she's a poet who knows how to capture the essence of a thought so beautifully and succinctly, and she can do it in such a way that appeals to both reader and listener. She had submitted Puddle Song to us in 2021, and we signed it as a board book because we thought it would fit perfectly with some of our other board books that were poems rather than nonfiction. So when we were developing the concepts that eventually became When a Butterfly Goes to School and A Home Like This, I approached her about writing the manuscripts. I try not to be too intrusive with the fiction and poetry editing, but we did have to do a little dancing back and forth to get just the right words to encapsulate the concepts in those two books.

Me: I’m going to toss the same question over to Gabriela, but with a twist. Can you also address how you adapt an existing picture book to board book format? Darrin Lunde was one of our roundtable guests last week, and I noticed that his board books have fewer spreads and are sometimes in a different order than the original picture book.

Gabriela: Charlesbridge publishes both original board books and board adaptations, but we tend to do far more adaptations because the margins are much better when you are reusing an existing title. Original board books are a tough category because the print costs are proportionately higher to the price you can charge the consumer, and the number of units you need to sell to be profitable is thus higher as well. So most publishers are quite selective about original board editions.

The ideas for the backlist reuse board book projects can arrive through various channels, but they often come from our in-house creative working groups. And when it comes to books like Hot Pot Night! and Whose Egg Is That? I actually wasn’t the original hardcover editor of those titles. So my goal as board editor is always to preserve the tone and heart of the original picture book but cater it to a younger audience. 

The first step in the process is knowing that we’ll have to cut down our typical 32 to 40-paged picture books to fit our standard 20 to 22-paged board book. Vincent Chen’s Hot Pot Night! has super catchy “Hot pot, hot pot” refrains throughout, so when I was trimming the text/spreads, I knew I wanted to keep these sing-song phrases at the beginning, middle, and end to round out the story. 

As part of my process, I’ll also talk with the original editor and creators of the book to hear more about their key considerations when they first created the story and what might change given the new audience. When I was turning Whose Egg Is That? into a board book, Darrin Lunde and I discussed which animals we thought would be the most unique and appealing to babies and toddlers. We cut the killdeer from the board edition because having the word “kill,” even as part of a bird name, didn’t seem as fitting. Another animal that doesn’t make an appearance in the board book is the platypus. We felt that the rarity and surprise of a mammal laying an egg wouldn’t make the same impact among our littlest readers, so we opted to cut it (sorry, platypus!). 

Trim size and shape are often determined by the illustrations. Kelsey Oseid’s beautiful illustrations travel across the page in Whose Egg Is That?, so we chose a trim size proportional to the hardcover to maintain the horizontal orientation. The playful energy of Hot Pot Night! just called for a shaped book, so the decision to round the edges to mimic a hot pot was a no-brainer.

Me: What do you find is the biggest challenge in creating a book for an adult to read to a very young (0-2 years) child?

Gabriela: I’d say the biggest challenge would be just that! The concept of the book will need to initially catch the attention of the adult buyer and reader, but the story should ultimately cater to the little one who will want to reach for it again and again. It’s the classic conundrum: You are trying to make a book useful and memorable for two groups that differ widely in ages!

Kate: I've always maintained the philosophy that good writing is good writing, no matter the age or audience. When crafting books for the youngest learners, we strive to make them appealing to the ear, engaging for the eye, and palatable for the reader! (Because if it's a good book, you know you'll be reading it over and over.) One of the most satisfying experiences I've had is when children repeat a phrase or remember some detail from one of my board books – then I know [that book] has helped that child form a connection, learn something new, or provided a delight. So much happens as babies develop into toddlers, and we need to give them credit that they can be challenged, that they can connect the dots between their own life experiences and whatever they see or hear in books. It's an incredible privilege to create content for them. (I say this as an editor, writer, and mother!)

Me: What words of advice do you have for picture book authors who might want to try their hand at writing a board book? Or who want to write a picture book with the idea that it might be revised as a board book in the future?

Kate: Keep it simple but not simplistic. The best thing you can do is teach without condescension. Read aloud whatever you write to make sure it will work for the ear as well as the eye. Children are musical; they appreciate rhythm and cadence.

Gabriela: A simple story does not mean uninteresting. Every single word counts. Why might you opt for “stinky” instead of “smelly”? “Why might you say “slimy” over “slippery”? A slight change can make a big difference.

On another note, I often was told in my graduate studies that the easiest way to make a poem boring is writing a technically perfect one. If you are going to follow a rhythm in your story, always break it at least once. And if you’re stuck trying to force an exact rhyme, try out a slant rhyme instead. Or maybe lose it entirely. And remember – some of the most impactful stories are told in the fewest words.

Me: We’ll end with a question I know writers are wondering about: Do you accept manuscript submissions for board books?

Gabriela: Yes, we do! We accept electronic manuscripts (including text-only and illustrated) of all formats ranging from board books through young adult every year during our open submissions period from January to June. For more information on our submission guidelines and materials, you can visit our website at www.charlesbridge.com/pages/submissions

Kate: No, we don’t. We tend to generate concepts/prompts for board books ourselves, and seek out writers to pair with them. So, unfortunately, it's a pretty closed loop at the moment.

Me: Thank you so much, Kate and Gabriela for joining us today and sharing your accumulated wisdom!

 

Put Interviewing in Your Writer's Toolbox

by Sue Heavenrich

Nonfiction author, Patricia Newman has a new book coming out next week:  Sharks Unhooked, The Adventures of Cristina Zenato, Underwater Ranger. Illustrated by Becca Hall, this picture book is meant for kindergarteners through fourth-graders. The combination of engaging text and illustrations invites readers into the life of Cristina who, from an early age, dreamt of protecting her shark friends. 

It’s a great story, complemented with plenty of back matter … and tucked into that back matter was a source note citing an interview that Patricia Newman had with Cristina Zenato.

“Wait, you interviewed Cristina?” I asked Patricia.*  “How did you decide that an interview was the best way to gather information?" And with that, we were off on an interview!

Patricia: I often write about scientists and other people living and working in the world, and interviewing is almost always the best way to gather primary source material for my books. Interviews help me tell my story from different perspectives, and often bring me to the location where the research happened and give me some familiarity with the actual tools used. 

At the beginning of most middle-grade projects, I schedule a twenty-minute interview with my subject to explain the book-making process and help the subject understand the time commitment involved. I also ask some basic questions that I’ve developed after checking out several online sources, such as newspaper articles, scientific studies, videos, etc. After this first interview, I usually have enough material to write a proposal for my editor. If I receive a contract, I either schedule an in-person research trip or Zoom interviews.

Picture books don’t normally require proposals, and I did not write one for Sharks Unhooked so my first interview with Cristina lasted about an hour. Afterwards, I read more widely including the resources she suggested before booking a second interview with her.

As nonfiction writers, we’re obliged to gather as much primary source material as possible. Most internet sources provide great background, but you really want to find the unpublished, the new, the different. There’s no substitute for meeting your subject and developing a personal rapport.

Sue: What did you do to prepare for your interview with Cristina Zenato?

Patricia (photo from her website)

Patricia: I usually start by scouring the library and the Internet for books, articles, media interviews, reports, websites, photos, videos, maps, diagrams – anything I can get my hands on. I want to be as informed as possible to use my slotted interview time wisely. 

When I first started, I made up long lists of questions. But interviewing a subject in the field while walking and holding a digital audio recorder and a notebook is not practical! I find it best to ask a few large-concept questions to get the ball rolling. My interviews are much more like conversations. I let my subjects talk as long as they like, trying to keep interruptions to a minimum. Most people don’t think in succinct interview responses; they wander, add detail, and often go off on tangents. That meandering is where the good stuff is!

With Cristina, I began with two main questions: how did your fascination with the ocean develop? And why did you want to learn to dive? As she talked, her passion bubbled to the surface. All I needed to do was clarify details and ask follow-up questions.

Sue: I love that you think of interviews more like conversations. So did you just pick up the phone and talk? 

Patricia: I researched and wrote Sharks Unhooked in 2021, so the pandemic put a major crimp in my research travel. I relied on Zoom (as most of us did), and of course, recorded the interviews using Zoom’s record feature.

  

Recording interviews is essential. After each interview, I listen to the recording while making notes in my research notebook. I mark the parts I like and also make a list of any follow-up questions that I’ll ask during the next interview. 

Depending on the scope of the book, I usually interview each subject at least twice. Two shorter interviews are usually easier to schedule than one marathon. As I begin writing, I often send short emails with easy clarification questions.

Note: Patricia mentioned that when she’s out in the field doing interviews, she uses a hand-held digital recorder that connects directly to her computer via USB so she can download interview files at the end of each day and charge the recorder.

Sue: I didn’t notice any direct quotes in the book. How did you integrate Cristina’s interview responses into the picture book text?

Patricia: When I write middle-grade nonfiction, such as Giant Rays of Hope, I integrate several quotes that scientists have shared with me in our interviews. And all the quotes are sourced at the back of the book.

But Sharks Unhooked is a lyrical picture book, and integrating exact quotes gave the text a clunky feel. Except for one. “You have sharks!” is a direct quote from our interview. Basically, I listened to the poetic, flowing way Cristina spoke about sharks and their underwater world, and I tried to mimic that poetry with the cadence of the text, alliteration, and line breaks. I do, however, include direct quotes in the back matter.

Sue: One of the things that happens during an interview is that folks veer off track. How do you make sure you get the information you need?

 

Patricia: I welcome those winding twists and turns! When I write a book, I give myself the luxury of time when I interview an expert. I’m not a journalist on deadline trying to churn out five column inches. I want a deep dive.

My conversation with Cristina covered her childhood, her adolescence, and her young adulthood before she ever swam with sharks. I needed that information to build a solid case for why sharks were so important to her. Life’s winding road makes our subjects who they are. That’s where you find the nuggets to hook your readers and connect them to your story. 

Every expert I’ve ever interviewed is excited to talk about their life’s work. Let them!

Sue: Thank you so much for sharing your interviewing tips, Patricia. You can find out more about Patricia and her books at her website, www.patriciamnewman.com

Of course, not everything I asked Patricia made it into this post – just as not everything she asked Cristina made it into her book. As for citing interviews for bibliography or sources, Patricia keeps it simple. Here’s how she cited one interview:  

Zenato, Cristina, interview by Patricia Newman. 2021. (August 3).  

*our conversation happened via email!

If the idea of interviewing someone is scary, here are four resources to help you get started:

Anatomy of Nonfiction, by Margery Facklam and Peggy Thomas (Writer's Institute Publications, 2011). Chapter 4 has a huge section about doing interviews. 

Talk to Me: How to Ask Better Questions, Get Better Answers, and Interview Anyone Like a Pro, by Dean Nelson (Harper Perennial, 2019).

“10 Interviewing Tips for Journalists,” by Alison Hill. Writer’s Digest,  Apr 27, 2022.

https://www.writersdigest.com/journalism/10-interviewing-tips-for-journalists

“An illustrated guide to the basics of interviewing,” by Annie Aguiar. The Poynter Institute for Media Studies, October 31, 2023. It’s short, visual, and to the point.

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2023/illustrated-guide-interviewing-basics-journalism/

Time to Pivot - by Kathy Halsey

 I forgot I signed up to interview Becky Gehrisch on her adorable debut picture book ESCAPE TO PLAY and her very successful foray into self-publishing. But Becky was sick; I discovered a friend at a weekend graduation party contracted COVID. Oops! 

What to do? Make a new plan. Today I pivoted. Becky and I will talk about successful self-publishing July 13, 2022. You have plenty of time to anticipate our discussion and Becky’s tips.  I’ve pivoted lots these last few months. I’ve discovered being able to “pivot” is a useful tool for the writers and illustrators.   

 

Case in point, when I searched Pixabay for an image for “pivot” a few male basketball players showed up and arrow images, too. (I wanted a female b-ball player, btw.) 

 

So, I had to pivot and figure out how to use this image. I was making something out of what I had. This image looks like a wave or many iterations of how to end up at the same place. What do you see?

Maybe it’s time to change our game plan, adapt, or improve our practice.  It’s June! We’re almost halfway through 2022. If you’re like me, the last few months have gone so fast, I need to think about my shiny 2022 goals and find if they still serve me. If not, I’ll lean into change and redirect myself. (synonyms for pivot!)

Using myself as a case study. Here WAS my 2022 plan.

1. Be my own book wife - turn off news earlier, read poetry, revise or write in the AM.

2. Keep building on my way to “chunk” big goals into seasons. This past season was the season of exploration and trying new writing techniques.

3. Continue with submission goals of 100 submissions in 2022 via, beginning with 5 queries a month.

4. Keep my schedule light to feel creative: do yoga, walk, and don't take on extra responsibilities.

Where Did I Loose Direction? 

I’ve drifted out of #1, #3, and #4. But instead of chastising myself, I’ll be honest about what I know to be true! 

1. The daily news makes me nauseous and raw. I am writing haikus to channel those feelings now. 

2. I stopped querying for a month to prepare for the ABLA Big Sur Cape Cod Writers’ Retreat. I took 4 mss for that weekend and have more actionable advice on the work I’m sending out from top-notch agents and editors. 

3. I’m back to walking with my husband and dog Scrappy Doo and going to volunteer at the church community garden.    

If you’re spinning your wheels or feel stuck in old routines, why not pivot? Give yourself permission to swim in a different direction this summer. How about creating a motto or inspirational phrase in Canva and using it as your desktop wallpaper? That’s what I’m doing as a reminder. Share your new course correction or motto in the comments.

Here's my new "seasons" mantra.