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In this series of Teaching Author posts, we’re discussing the areas of overlap between fiction and nonfiction. Today, I’m thinking about creative nonfiction.

What is Creative Nonfiction? According to Lee Gutkind (known as the “Father of Creative Nonfiction”), “The words ‘creative’ and ‘nonfiction’ describe the form. The word ‘creative’ refers to the use of literary craft, the techniques fiction writers, playwrights, and poets employ to present nonfiction—factually accurate prose about real people and events—in a compelling, vivid, dramatic manner. The goal is to make nonfiction stories read like fiction so that your readers are as enthralled by fact as they are by fantasy.”

One critical point about writing creative nonfiction is that creativity does not apply to the facts. Authors cannot invent dialog, combine characters, fiddle with time lines, or in any other way divert from the truth and still call it nonfiction. The creative part applies only to the way factual information is presented.

One way to present nonfiction in a compelling, vivid manner is to take advantage of the techniques of poetry. When I wrote the nonfiction picture book Flip, Float, Fly: Seeds on the Move (gorgeously illustrated by Pam Paparone), I made a conscious effort to use imagery, alliteration, repetition, and onomatopoeia while explaining how seeds get around. When she called with the good news, the editor called it a perfect blend of nonfiction and poetry. Yippee, right?

Fiona Bayrock’s “Eleven Tips for Writing Successful Nonfiction for Kids” lists more helpful and age-appropriate methods for grabbing kids’ attention, starting with “Tap into your Ew!, Phew!, and Cool!”

Marcie Flinchum Atkins has compiled a helpful list of ten Nonfiction Poetic Picture Books. She points out that these excellent books (including some by Teaching Authors friends April Pulley Sayre, Laura Purdie Salas, and Lola Schaefer) can be used in classrooms to teach good writing skills. We can all learn from such wonderful examples!

Heidi Mordhorst has this week’s Poetry Friday Roundup at My Juicy Little Universe. Enjoy!

JoAnn Early Macken

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As I read through the array of exceptional children's science books published in the last several years, I can't help but wonder: Cool science, where were you when I was a kid?

The answer, of course, is that cool science has always been around, just not always accessible to young readers, including the kid-me of decades ago. My memories of science books from that time consist of clinical, dry text with black & white illustration, often overly simplistic or of poor quality. It wasn't until I was a grownup looking for science books and magazines for my own kids that I came across dynamic children's writing that captured the "wow" of science. Science hasn't become any more wonderful or awe-inspiring in the last thirty years—the "wow" has been there all along—but effectively communicating that wonder and awe to children is relatively new. Oh, how the kid-me would have loved the vibrant well-told stories and detailed artwork and photography that kids will find between the covers of this today's science books.

So, what's changed? How have today's science writers made the move from dry and lifeless to cool? As a contemporary science writer, what am I trying to do differently than science writers of yesteryear?

One move I make toward "cool" is to keep things fresh. Not always easy to do when writing about things that were discovered long ago. In fact, if you hang around writers long enough, you'll hear something along the lines of "There are no new stories under the sun. Only new ways of telling the same stories." In science writing, we sometimes do get new stories in the way of new discoveries, but for the rest, this old saying holds true. So one of the first things I do when starting a book is ditch the head-on view and look for an unusual angle. I tap my inner kid, looking for the "Ew!", "Cool!" and "Phew!" in the subject, some aspect that will get an emotional reaction from my young readers. For instance, Pascal's law (water can't be squished so the more pressure applied to it, the faster it leaves a pipe...yawn) becomes interesting and relevant to a 10-year-old when explained as the science of squirt guns. See? Physics can be cool. I also try to connect information in new ways. In Bubble Homes and Fish Farts, I use bubbles as the thread to connect an unusual assortment of animals. There are oodles of animal adaptation books out there, but the bubble angle gives survival a whole new spin.

Another big difference is that I don't set out to teach anything. Instead, my goal is to share. This may sound like splitting hairs or playing with semantics, but it's actually an important distinction. Both involve the author imparting knowledge, but the mindsets are different, and so the attitude and approach to the writing is different, too. Teaching turns the writer into a teacher, and the reader into a student—an unequal relationship with the teacher in an authority position. Sharing allows for equality between writer and reader. I think of it as an invitation to a peer. "Come, sit with me. I just have to tell you about this amazing thing I found." Readers will learn a lot of interesting things in my books, but story always drives my tale, not the need to teach specific information for the readers' own good. When I approach the reader with this attitude of mutual respect, I never have to worry about talking down or becoming didactic, as often was the case in early children's science books. It just doesn't happen.

I take several more steps away from dry and lifeless by engaging readers in a more sensory way. Visually, the illustrations take on a big role, but I want the text to get readers feeling and reacting, too. I search for concrete references that will relate new information to something readers already know—this snail is the size of a large grape; gouramis look like they're shooting hoops when they spit eggs into a bubble nest. My goal is to create images in readers' heads so they really get how big or small (or whatever) something is. For example, saying a blue whale is "big" or "29 meters" doesn't mean much, but when I explain that it can be as long as a basketball court, with a heart the size of a small car, and blood vessels kids can swim through, the images conjured sure show the scale of BIG I'm talking about. I also draw on the other senses whenever possible, describing taste, smell, texture, and especially sound. I'm a huge onomatopoeia fan. Read "fwap-fwap-fwap-fwap", a hammer "clang!", or the "gulp" of a hungry seal, and those sounds instantly echo through your head, putting you in the moment. Lifting the words off the page that way adds layers of interest to the reading experience.

Dry writing often suffers from being too formal, so I like to take it down a few notches, using a voice that is conversational and kid-friendly. And [gasp] that sometimes means using sentence fragments, interjections such as Yikes!, Aha! or No kidding!, or starting a sentence with and or but. I also play with language, adding puns, homonyms, alliteration, double meanings, BIG WORDS, and lo-o-o-o-o-ong words as I would spice to a meal—sometimes none, a little, or a lot, depending on who's coming to supper.

These are the major techniques I use to bring the cool of science to kids...to write the books the kid-me would have enjoyed. The keystone to it all, though, is my genuine sense of wonder or enthusiasm for whatever I write about. A writer's passion has a mysterious way of seeping through the text and becoming contagious. And that's what I want to pass on to my readers—a taste of the wonder and awe I feel at the world around me, so that they'll start asking their own questions, checking things out for themselves, and sharing their excitement with a friend: "Come, sit with me. I just have to tell you about this amazing thing I found."

Science writing has come a long way in the last 30-40 years. This generation of kids won't be asking, "Cool science, where were you when I was a kid?" That makes me smile.

Posted by Fiona Bayrock,
author of Bubble Homes and Fish Farts

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Blogger of the Week:
Fiona Bayrock (Books and 'Rocks)...

Today nonfiction writer Fiona Bayrock talks about her blog, Books and 'Rocks--along with some other great blogs maintained by nonfiction authors--and offers her advice to others hitting the blogosphere.

You started your blog Books and 'Rocks in 2007. What prompted you to dive into the blogosphere at that point?

I had thoroughly enjoyed the peek-into-the-process blogs of authors such as Loree Griffin Burns and Chris Barton, and was energized by the breadth and depth of discussion amongst blogging children's lit enthusiasts. The Kidlitosphere was springing into being about then, too. It was an exciting time, and I wanted to add my voice to the mix.

I could also see how a blog could serve as low-key promotion for my work, increasing my name recognition. But, first and foremost, Books and 'Rocks was to be a vehicle for shining a light on books and authors I thought were exceptional, as well as give me a place to talk about writing, reading, publishing, and literacy. Food for my brain.

What kind of posts will readers find on Books and 'Rocks. What would you say is your purpose or philosophy behind blogging? What do you hope to accomplish?

I subtitled the blog as "The meanderings and musings of a children's book author as she ponders the writing life, the biz, the good books she's read lately, and how all that fits into her family, the 'Rocks.", which I thought would let me talk about pretty much anything to do with family and books. And it does, although I generally keep things tightly focused on writing and publishing, with an emphasis on nonfiction for kids, since that's my main writing passion and covers most of the work I do. Within the bigger picture, I hope that in some small way I'm helping to nudge children's nonfiction into the legitimacy zone other genres enjoy.

Types of posts? All over the map. I post book talks whenever I find a new fave, I point to other blogs when their posts are thought-provoking or tickle my funny bone, and I report award news, as well as regular updates and news about my writing and publishing journey. Readers will also find light musings such as my paper clip conspiracy theory, the fortune cookie that told me I had a way with words and should consider writing a book(!), or my concern about people searching Amazon for my book using an ampersand instead of "and". I keep things casual and conversational, as though chatting with a friend over coffee.

I haven't come across a lot of blogs by nonfiction writers--am I missing them? Are there others you visit regularly?

Amazingly, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of us out there. In addition to Loree and Chris, the nonfiction writers I follow regularly include: Marc Aronson, Elizabeth Partridge, Mary Bowman-Kruhm, Peggy Thomas, and I.N.K. - Interesting Nonfiction for Kids (group blog).
Process intrigues me. Reading these blogs is like getting a glimpse through studio windows.

Also blogging, but with a lighter nonfiction touch, are children's nonfiction authors Lizann Flatt, Tanya Lee Stone, Deborah Hodge, Tanya Kyi, and Wendie Old. I'm sure that's not a complete list, so, Alice's dear readers, if you've got links, send 'em my way.

Tell my readers a little about the books you've written. Any recent projects we should know about?

All science and nature books so far, always with a twist or coming at the topic from a different angle. I follow my curiosity, looking for new connections and new ways to understand why things are the way they are. Passion is contagious. I try to pass it on in my books and magazine articles.

My latest project—thanksforasking!—was a particularly fun one to write. Just out from Charlesbridge, Bubble Homes and Fish Farts is a nonfiction picture book about the amazing ways animals use bubbles (to live in, keep warm, ride, talk, and even shoot hoops). Carolyn Conahan, the staff artist for Cricket Magazine, illustrated the book in beautiful watercolor paintings, capturing the science with a touch of whimsy—a perfect match to my text. We're excited about the reception it's received so far. It was named a Junior Library Guild Selection and Kirkus called it "a volume that's sure to rise to the top". Squee!

What's your advice for new bloggers, particularly other nonfiction writers?

You can't be all things to all people. Know why you're blogging and who your audience is, and then choose your content accordingly. Be fresh, genuine, and original. Be you. All promotion all the time is a turnoff; a sprinkle here and there is fine. Not everyone is cut out to blog, but if it's something that interests you, go for it. Blogging can be a great way to think deeper, get involved, and network. I've heard from several sources that there is much interest in behind-the-scenes stories about how authors work and the journey—warts and all—that a project goes through to become a final book. For nonfiction, that process has lots of interesting nooks and crannies to explore. And because there are so few nonfiction writers blogging, we're still a bit of a novelty...the demand is there.

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