ICYMI: Nonfiction Workshop with Mary Cronk Farrell

Last Wednesday, dozens of SCBWI-WWA writers (and illustrators!) attended a special workshop, Talking with the Dead… and Other Secrets to Writing Nonfiction for Today’s Readers, presented by award-winning author and former journalist, Mary Cronk Farrell.

Mary started out by sharing an uplifting message for all of us:

“Story has made us who we are, and story can save us.”

But is nonfiction "story?" Indeed! Great nonfiction always comes from the heart, and kids often tend to seek out nonfiction specifically.

Mary shared some interesting data about how our brains our changing thanks to the internet. Whether this is good or bad can be debated, but what matters most is that we use this knowledge when we're writing in order to grab, and keep, the attention of our readers.

Mary then broke down how some of the big nonfiction award winners from 2016 succeeded in doing just that. She analyzed each of the following titles:

• March: Book 3 by John Lewis
• Animals by the Numbers by Steve Jenkins
• Some Writer! by Melissa Sweet
• Samurai Rising by Pamela S. Turner 
• Giant Squid by Candace Fleming 
• I Dissent by Debbie Levy

She also talked about how to research and find the necessary details to bring our stories to life, including primary source documents and interviewing people, and how to synthesize a huge pile of information down into a coherent story arc.

It's not easy, but if you're following your passion and pursuing a story that matters to you, it will ultimately be worth it--to you AND to your readers!

A huge thank you to Mary for venturing over the pass to share so much of her knowledge and expertise with us! If you haven't yet, be sure to check out some of her fabulous nonfiction titles. You won't regret it!

Researching a historical novel?

Then check out this blog by Monica Pierce, who writes for adults and is working on some YA. She lists her top 5 research services and why she loves them.

How to research historical novels

Our own Michele Torrey has a great blog post about how she researches her historical novels, including pitfalls to avoid and sources to use. Here's the start:

As a writer of historical novels, I must conduct a lot of research. Over the years, I’ve become quite adept at finding what I need and separating the wheat from the chaff. Recently, I was asked some in-depth questions by a colleague regarding historical research. As they were common questions, I thought I’d share the Q&A for those of you who also struggle with research. Hopefully it will be helpful. If you still have questions, post them to me here and I’ll try to answer as best I can.

Remember, these are only my opinions. Have your grain of salt handy.

Q: My main question is what do you do when reliable sources disagree?

A: First of all, make certain that they ARE reliable sources. Are they experts in their field? Is it current scholarship? (Scholarship is much more objective than it used to be, with even more resources available to draw upon.) Is it a primary source? If two or more reliable sources disagree, and if you can’t find any kind of agreement out there as to who is right, then you can feel free to make your own decision as it suits your novel.

And here's the rest.

Lois Brandt talks about historical research

Come join Lois Brandt at the Washington State History Museum on Thursday, Nov. 19 at 6:30 p.m.

She’ll be starting off their evening program, “Home Front 1967,” by talking about what she learned about the Vietnam War while doing research for her WIP, Wearing Vietnam.

Thursday is a free entrance day at the museum. Come early to see the museum’s “Marking Time: Voyage to Vietnam” exhibit and then stay for the evening program.

More information here.

Research Geekery from Kirby Larson

The author of HATTIE BIG SKY finds her facts in the most interesting places, including old travel guides. Read more about it here.