Since the 2019-2020 school year marks the 10th
Anniversary of this blog, on Fridays, I’m resurrecting and updating old posts
that sparked a lot of conversation or that still have a lot to offer people
teaching or writing nonfiction. Today’s essay originally appeared on April 27,
2016.
Sometimes when I visit schools, I discover that
teachers are asking young writers to choose
nonfiction topics “that you could teach someone about.” For instance, an avid
soccer player might write about the rules of soccer. I have just one word for
that kind of writing . . . BORING.
she already knows backward and forward when there’s a wide world of ideas and
information out there just waiting to be discovered?
how to make a sandwich just the way my husband likes it. I could explain how to
wash windows so they don’t streak or how to make “hospital corners” when I
change the sheets on a bed. I could describe how to sort trash according to my
transfer station’s rules. But why would I want to write about any of these
things? I’d be bored, and so would my readers.
the natural world. When I’m engaged in the world, I’m constantly encountering
things that make me ask questions. And to satisfy my curiosity, I want to know
more, more, more. Learning more gets me so excited that I’m dying to share my
new knowledge with other people. That’s what fuels my writing.
Kids are no different from me. When they focus
on ideas and information that they care about, when they conduct research to
satisfy their own curiosity, they will craft lively, interesting writing just
brimming with passion. And, really, that’s the goal of nonfiction
writing—crafting prose that our intended audience wants to read.
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