![]() By Lisa Amstutz Whenever I speak to groups about writing nonfiction, I get some variation of the following question: What can I write about? Can I write about science if I’m not a scientist, history if I’m not a historian, or art if I’m not an artist? This is a subjective question, of course, and opinions vary. But I thought I’d share mine. I don’t believe you have to be an expert to write about something you’re interested in—writing is a great way to explore new things. But at the same time, accuracy is critical in nonfiction. So if you’re not an expert, you need to be willing to do your homework. My background is in science, so I’ll use that as an example here, but the same principle applies to other topics as well. When I critique stories from non-scientists, I see two common issues:
The remedy for this is twofold.
Here’s what this looks like for me. While most of my books are science-themed, I’ve also written middle-grade books on the Titanic and Ancient Egypt. Since I was starting from scratch, these took a TON of research. I needed to figure out which authors are considered reliable and which are controversial. Then I immersed myself in documentaries and stacks of scholarly books. I created timelines, charts, etc. Each book was then reviewed by an expert before publication. Even for topics in my field, I often get an expert review. It’s easy to overlook something or for errors to creep in. When I wrote about physics, I ran the text by my engineering professor brother. For Amazing Amphibians and Marvelous Mammals, I found reviewers with PhDs in herpetology and mammalogy. All of them gave valuable insights. So to return to the original question: Can you write about something if you’re not an expert? Of course you can! Just make sure you’re willing to do your homework. Kids deserve no less!
4 Comments
Kathy Halsey
1/27/2021 05:37:09 am
Oh, yes, we can write "about that," Lisa. I love learning about something I don't know that well and diving into research. TY.
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Jilanne Hoffmann
1/27/2021 09:57:41 am
I agree. If we only wrote about what we know right now, writing nonfiction would be far less interesting. I'm a former engineer, but I'm writing a PB now in the realm of biological science. Love learning new things, but vetting the research is important.
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Suzy Leopold
1/27/2021 06:30:06 pm
Children are curious about the world around them. Readers deserve quality nonfiction picture books that pique their interests and encourage them to discovery more facts. Digging deep is key.
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Jenifer Fugal
1/28/2021 12:09:04 am
Great advice. I'm just getting started and this is a clear explanation of how I pictured the process. It's good to know I'm on the right track.
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Disclaimer: The Nonfiction Ninjas are a group of writers with diverse ideas . The views expressed in each post are those of the author and may differ from others in the group.
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