I had the honor last weekend of joining an impressive panel of authors and illustrators to speak about writing nonfiction for children. The event took place at the annual convention for the National Council for the Teachers of English; it featured the creators of books that NCTE recognized on its 2011 Orbis Pictus award list, which distinguishes one top winner and five honor books.
Co-authors Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan and illustrator Brian Floca
discussed the intersections of collaboration and inspiration that resulted in Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring, which won the top Orbis Pictus award.
Marc Aronson, If Stones Could Speak: Unlocking the Secrets of Stonehenge, spoke about how the challenge of nonfiction—being beholden to the facts—adds to the thrill of writing in this genre, and how there will always be questions that haven’t yet been asked.
I spoke about indulging curiosity and seeking the human connection to scientific topics in reference to Mammoths and Mastodons: Titans of the Ice Age.
Larry Dane Brimner, author of Birmingham Sunday, spoke about finding the specific details of history that make a story come to life,
Rebecca L. Johnson shared how a decade of ocean diving led her to write Journey Into the Deep: Discovering New Ocean Sea Creatures.
Michael O’Tunnell spoke about how serendipity and follow-through lead writers to powerful stories such as Candy Bomber: The Story of the Berlin Airlift's "Chocolate Pilot."
Eight panelists spoke and we ended our hour-and-fifteen-minute session right on time. That’s worthy of an award in itself!
Plus I met many of the wonderful educators who have a passion for children’s literature and contribute their expertise and energy to serving on the Orbis Pictus Award Committee.
And as icing on the cake, when perusing the exhibit hall booths, I saw teachers admiring Hamline alumnus Molly Beth Griffin’s Loon Baby at the Houghton Mifflin booth. And they had already sold out of Claire’s Marching with Aunt Susan at the Peachtree booth.
It was a great day all round.
Showing posts with label history nonfiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label history nonfiction. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Monday, March 29, 2010
History vs. Historical Fiction - A Case of the Willies
I got the willies two weeks ago during the revision of my novel. I woke up in the middle of the night and thought, I can't write about this real brother and sister from 1920. Her descendants are still alive. They will protest.
I have written nonfiction history and contemporary fiction. But in my current novel, I am putting my two loves together. I have written two historical fiction picture books, but never a novel. A long-running stumbling block for me has been that all my historical fiction main characters are based on real people. I find it so fascinating that they actually lived through these events. But my determination to be accurate and honor the actual history, so critical for a nonfiction writer, does not always serve the fictional narrative. Until now I have sometimes criticized historical fiction writers who I believed played too loose with the facts. My current story sticks closely to the actual historical events, but my main character is placed in a situation that likely in real life she was not. And that's where my doubts crept in. Maybe she needs to be a fully made up character I told myself. But I'd already tried that and it hadn't worked. I'd fallen in love with my Ottie, and couldn't give her up.
I talked to my writing group, the very group who responded to a draft of my gold rush novel a few years ago - "I know it really happened, Claire, but some of this isn't working . . . " I emailed Liza Ketchum, asking how she has handled this dilemma. She wrote back that her serialized novel, ORPHAN JOURNEY HOME, was based on the story of a real family of orphans who actually did make a similar journey in 1828. But she changed some details to make the story work. Almost two hundred years later, descendants got in touch with her after they read her story in newspapers across the country. They were thrilled that the family story had come back to life. "You can do this, Claire," Liza wrote me.
Still I worried. So many adult novels use real historical people. But not many children/YA novels, unless based on family history. I decided to do some reading, find some more examples, for safety sake. Like we ever have that as writers.
In one article, Sue Reichard wrote about the two types of historical fiction. The first kind is when the setting is historical, but there are no historical events or persons in the story, like "Catherine Called Birdy" by Karen Cushman. The second type is when both the setting and characters are factual. Like Melanie Benjamin's new historical novel, ALICE I HAVE BEEN, which centers on Alice Liddell --- best known as the "real" Alice in Wonderland from the works of Lewis Carroll. But Liddel's new novel is for adults. (http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/childrens_writing/14324#ixzz0hu3d6dFH)
I kept searching. A posting on writer Crawford Killian's blog helped me finally understand what I needed to do. "Historical Fiction with Real People" (http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/fiction/2008/01/historical-fict.html)
He concludes: "But the point I'm finally making is that you are using your characters, not the other way around. If you're thinking of writing about a former US president, he has to dramatize your vision of the world—both as it is now and as it was in his time. You may use lots of historical factoids, but they're really just window-dressing. The key question for you is this: How do I make this person in history provide "anecdotal evidence" for my view of the world?"
Sounds like writing any novel to me. Still I worried. I talked to my agent. She talked to Editor/writer Marc Aronson. He said, "no problem." So what was my problem?
In researching my main character and her family, the local historical society had already given me the contact info for her 80-year-old nephew. The NF writer in me was thrilled. I love primary source interviews. But the fiction writer in me - oh, my. What if he didn't like that I was fictionalizing his family story? But Harry, Jr. was the only one who seemed to have some historical information I needed. I dove in, confessed to Harry what I was doing. The fiction part didn't register a blip on his screen. All my worries for not. He has emailed me some many terrific details about small town life and the historic period. I couldn't be luckier. And he seems to enjoy sharing.
Maybe it wasn't the fiction/nonfiction dilemma that gave me the willies after all. Maybe it was me, letting that old doubt creep in. But now I have recommitted and am whaling away. And I am grateful to everyone who has helped me get there. Sometimes those doubts help us dig deeper into the story, even while kicking and screaming that we've dug enough. How about you? Done any digging lately? Overcome any doubts?
I have written nonfiction history and contemporary fiction. But in my current novel, I am putting my two loves together. I have written two historical fiction picture books, but never a novel. A long-running stumbling block for me has been that all my historical fiction main characters are based on real people. I find it so fascinating that they actually lived through these events. But my determination to be accurate and honor the actual history, so critical for a nonfiction writer, does not always serve the fictional narrative. Until now I have sometimes criticized historical fiction writers who I believed played too loose with the facts. My current story sticks closely to the actual historical events, but my main character is placed in a situation that likely in real life she was not. And that's where my doubts crept in. Maybe she needs to be a fully made up character I told myself. But I'd already tried that and it hadn't worked. I'd fallen in love with my Ottie, and couldn't give her up.
I talked to my writing group, the very group who responded to a draft of my gold rush novel a few years ago - "I know it really happened, Claire, but some of this isn't working . . . " I emailed Liza Ketchum, asking how she has handled this dilemma. She wrote back that her serialized novel, ORPHAN JOURNEY HOME, was based on the story of a real family of orphans who actually did make a similar journey in 1828. But she changed some details to make the story work. Almost two hundred years later, descendants got in touch with her after they read her story in newspapers across the country. They were thrilled that the family story had come back to life. "You can do this, Claire," Liza wrote me.
Still I worried. So many adult novels use real historical people. But not many children/YA novels, unless based on family history. I decided to do some reading, find some more examples, for safety sake. Like we ever have that as writers.
In one article, Sue Reichard wrote about the two types of historical fiction. The first kind is when the setting is historical, but there are no historical events or persons in the story, like "Catherine Called Birdy" by Karen Cushman. The second type is when both the setting and characters are factual. Like Melanie Benjamin's new historical novel, ALICE I HAVE BEEN, which centers on Alice Liddell --- best known as the "real" Alice in Wonderland from the works of Lewis Carroll. But Liddel's new novel is for adults. (http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/childrens_writing/14324#ixzz0hu3d6dFH)
I kept searching. A posting on writer Crawford Killian's blog helped me finally understand what I needed to do. "Historical Fiction with Real People" (http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/fiction/2008/01/historical-fict.html)
He concludes: "But the point I'm finally making is that you are using your characters, not the other way around. If you're thinking of writing about a former US president, he has to dramatize your vision of the world—both as it is now and as it was in his time. You may use lots of historical factoids, but they're really just window-dressing. The key question for you is this: How do I make this person in history provide "anecdotal evidence" for my view of the world?"
Sounds like writing any novel to me. Still I worried. I talked to my agent. She talked to Editor/writer Marc Aronson. He said, "no problem." So what was my problem?
In researching my main character and her family, the local historical society had already given me the contact info for her 80-year-old nephew. The NF writer in me was thrilled. I love primary source interviews. But the fiction writer in me - oh, my. What if he didn't like that I was fictionalizing his family story? But Harry, Jr. was the only one who seemed to have some historical information I needed. I dove in, confessed to Harry what I was doing. The fiction part didn't register a blip on his screen. All my worries for not. He has emailed me some many terrific details about small town life and the historic period. I couldn't be luckier. And he seems to enjoy sharing.
Maybe it wasn't the fiction/nonfiction dilemma that gave me the willies after all. Maybe it was me, letting that old doubt creep in. But now I have recommitted and am whaling away. And I am grateful to everyone who has helped me get there. Sometimes those doubts help us dig deeper into the story, even while kicking and screaming that we've dug enough. How about you? Done any digging lately? Overcome any doubts?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)