For
the last couple of weeks, I’ve been sharing tips for crafting engaging
nonfiction. Writing nonfiction involves more than just cobbling together facts.
It requires digging deep and sharing information in a way that taps into who
the writer is and how he or she views the world.
week, I suggested ways that writers can view the information they’ve gathered
through their own personal lens. Today, I’m going to continue the discussion by
taking an up-close look at another critical step in the pre-writing process to
answer the question:
little bit of yourself to the nonfiction you write?
this post, I explained how I did that in a big way as
I was writing Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and
Stinkers: Celebrating Animal Underdogs. Today, I’m going to share how I did
that in a small way—a way that’s more manageable for young writers—for a
section of a book I’m currently writing.
As
a recap, I started with this bit of information from my research file:
When they hatch, female places maggots on a harlequin toad’s skin
toad and feed on its body. They kill the
toad in just a few days.”
one of the prompts I discussed last week, I quickly jotted this down my
writer’s notebook:
I started thinking about ways to share this information with my readers and
made a few more notes:
I started making personal connections:
My
notes about possibly sharing the information as a narrative made me think about
helping my niece write a fractured fairytale for school. Maybe I could write a
sort of twisted tale about the flesh fly.
I spotted the word “surprised,” it made me think of the surprise party I had
recently planned for my husband. Maybe I could include the idea of the
information being surprising in my piece.
Even
small moments from our lives can work their way into our writing and help to
make it shine.
When
it was time to write, I decided to create two different pieces and then see
which one I liked the best. I’ll share them next week and also discuss how this
“digging deep” technique helps to prevent plagiarism.
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2 Responses
I absolutely love your post 2 and now this post 3 containing the questions to ask yourself whilc researching your non-fiction writing piece. You've given my a new twist in thinking, one which I so badly need at this time, when I feel my story isn't getting my satisfaction I know it will be able to do, IF I can only wrap my head around the important thought line. Thank you for your continued help.
So glad this is helpful, Virginia.