Do You Have What It Takes to Write Children’s Nonfiction?

I was well on my way to a master’s degree in history when I realized what I really wanted to be when I grew up.  I wanted to be a writer and I wanted to write for kids.

I remember calling my mom with the news but I don’t remember exactly what I said.  Why?  Because her reaction is etched in my memory.  “It’s about time you figured it out.”

How had she known I would make an excellent writer?  Here are a few of the earliest clues.

I love to read and do research.  I am a voracious reader.  Last year I read 184 books.  I write for children so there are a number of picture books, beginning readers and others shorter works on that list but the reality is that I read a lot and I always have.  I actually used to read during spelling tests in grade school.  This love of reading folded over into a love of research.  Any assignment was a chance to go to the library and retrieve an armload of books.

I collect the stories of other people.  My mother always knew that she could find me with my father and grandfathers and uncles.  Sitting among them, I listened to someone tell about a mine cave in, blowing the windows out of the garage or rescuing a stranded hiker.  This desire to collect stories came into play when I studied anthropology and history in college, interviewing a Kiowa pastor and immigrants who came to St. Louis during World War II.

I am interested in a wide variety of things.  History.  Knitting.  Archaeology.  Animals.  Art.  Caves.   Beading.  These topics and more litter my bookshelves.  Unlike academia, writing children’s nonfiction allows me to explore a wide variety of topics and satisfy my many curiosities.

What about you?  Do you love to ferret out a variety of facts on a topic?  Searching for just one more interesting bit of information?  The more types of information the better.  Your sources can range from print materials such as diaries and journal articles to interviews and photographs.

Maybe you’re the kind of person who gets bored easily and you like to work on a variety of different topics ranging from early elementary pieces on animals for Highlights to hiking and camping topics for middle school Boy Scouts (Boy’s Life).

If so, you may have what it takes to help young readers explore this world and beyond through nonfiction of all kinds.

–SueBE

In addition to writing her own nonfiction, SueBE is teaching the upcoming WOW! course Writing Nonfiction for Children and Young Adults.