“If you want to write nonfiction, dig out the humanity. Really, this is the old ‘show don’t tell’ rule—if you show the human actions behind the event, the story comes alive…” --Vicki Oransky Wittenstein
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Posted on 3/3/2010
Blog: Through The Tollbooth (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: author interview, astronomy, vermont college, fact and fiction, planet hunter, debut non-fiction, new earths, keck, wittenstein, show don't tell, young adult, book review, middle grade, science, Add a tag
“If you want to write nonfiction, dig out the humanity. Really, this is the old ‘show don’t tell’ rule—if you show the human actions behind the event, the story comes alive…” --Vicki Oransky Wittenstein
Q: The story of Geoff Marcy as he develops his groundbreaking system to detect new planets is full of human drama. From Marcy’s boyhood on he seems to battle the odds against becoming not only a world class astronomer but the man who achieves what others believe is impossible. I’m reminded of Phillip Hoose’s wonderful book on Claudette Colvin Twice Toward Justice in that you were able to create new awareness and excitement about a subject by showing events through another’s eyes. How did this human drama help shape the book? How much did you draw on fictional techniques while writing? Do you have any advice for other writers in approaching non-fiction in terms of shaping their story?
Posted on 3/2/2010
Blog: Through The Tollbooth (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: young adult, book review, middle grade, science, author interview, astronomy, vermont college, fact and fiction, planet hunter, debut non-fiction, new earths, keck, wittenstein, Add a tag
Q: Vicki, congratulations on your beautiful and amazing new book Planet Hunter, which has just been released with a Kirkus starred review! I found myself completely drawn in by the human drama of astronomer Geoff Marcy’s story and his fascinating hunt for “other earths.” (I have it on good authority that Marcy will be at your
I think Planet Hunter was brewing for many years, maybe even from when I was a young girl and went camping. Warm and toasty in my sleeping bag, I would stare at the stars and dream about life on other planets. When the first extra solar planets were detected (planets outside our solar system) in 1995, I was glued to the news stories. Although astronomers had long thought there were planets orbiting other stars, finally there was proof! The possibility of other planets like Earth became a reality, and I was hooked. Since then, Geoff Marcy, the astronomer in my book, and his colleagues have detected over half of the known 400 planets orbiting other stars. Scientists are getting closer to finding another planet like Earth, and when they do, it will rock our world view.
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Posted on 3/3/2010
Blog: Through The Tollbooth (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: author interview, astronomy, vermont college, fact and fiction, planet hunter, debut non-fiction, new earths, keck, wittenstein, show don't tell, young adult, book review, middle grade, science, Add a tag
“If you want to write nonfiction, dig out the humanity. Really, this is the old ‘show don’t tell’ rule—if you show the human actions behind the event, the story comes alive…” --Vicki Oransky Wittenstein
Q: The story of Geoff Marcy as he develops his groundbreaking system to detect new planets is full of human drama. From Marcy’s boyhood on he seems to battle the odds against becoming not only a world class astronomer but the man who achieves what others believe is impossible. I’m reminded of Phillip Hoose’s wonderful book on Claudette Colvin Twice Toward Justice in that you were able to create new awareness and excitement about a subject by showing events through another’s eyes. How did this human drama help shape the book? How much did you draw on fictional techniques while writing? Do you have any advice for other writers in approaching non-fiction in terms of shaping their story?
The nonfiction I admire most draws on fiction techniques to create suspense. The story arc is so important. Without it, nonfiction is just narrative and pretty hard for people, especially young people, to follow. Behind every true-life event, there is human drama, often a special kernel of truth that imparts significant meaning to children. If you want to write nonfiction, dig out the humanity. Really, this is the old “show don’t tell” rule—if you show the human actions behind the event, the story comes alive, and important life messages are conveyed without sounding didactic.
Posted on 3/2/2010
Blog: Through The Tollbooth (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: young adult, book review, middle grade, science, author interview, astronomy, vermont college, fact and fiction, planet hunter, debut non-fiction, new earths, keck, wittenstein, Add a tag
