Glen and Karen Bledsoe --> articles --> The Writing Process --> Organizing Non-Fiction
Articles Index: Site Index: Commercial non-fiction needs to be as lively and
entertaining as fiction, yet at the same time the facts
need to be absolutely accurate. Organizing information is
critical to writing non-fiction, as the structure of the
writing often emerges from the information itself. Unless you're a qualified expert on a subject -- and
even if you are -- it's wise to do your research before
you begin writing, or even before you begin an outline.
If you're working on assignment for a school and library
publisher, you may have a general outline that you must
work from. If you're writing your own book, the facts you
gather may suggest the form that your book will take. Research: Where to look The old adage "write what you know" may go out the
window if you are offered an assignment from a publisher
to write on a topic that you know little about. If you're
absolutely sure that you can't write about a topic, you
can refuse the assignment. If you take the assignment, do
so on the understanding that you can't fake authority,
nor can you be lazy with your research because it's
"just" a children's book. If you've agreed to write about
the topic, you must make yourself into an authority. So where do you start? One place is the children's
section of the library. It's not a wise idea to use
children's books as your source material; however, a
stack of well-written children's books can be a good
introduction into the topic you'll be writing about.
Furthermore, a close study of other books that are out
there can give you ideas on how to organize the
information, how to present complex information, and what
territory has already been covered. If the books include
bibliographies of source material used by the author, you
have a great list of resources you can find and consult
yourself. Another place to look is the internet. Use search
engines, such as Google or Yahoo, to search for words
related to your topic. However, be critical of the
information that you find there. Anyone can put anything
they want on the internet, regardless of its accuracy.
Publishers usually don't have a problem with information
that comes from official government sites and websites of
large institutions. They might have a problem with
information gleaned from "Bob's Home Page of Stuff" --
unless, of course, your book is about people who put up
their own web pages of interesting stuff! A university library or your local library may also
have access to databases of articles, from research
journals to magazines and newspapers, and may allow you
to access these databases from your home computer. This
can be a great advantage, since many of the articles are
available as full-text articles. Once again, be critical
of your sources. Peer-reviewed research journals are more
reliable sources than, say, a letter to the editor in a
newspaper. Once you've done some initial looking around, you'll
have a better sense of your subject matter. You'll also
be ready for some more in-depth research material. In order to do your research thoroughly, you must seek
first-hand sources. If you're writing a biography, for
example, find as much material written by your subject as
possible. If you want to write about the early days of
aviation, look for monographs written by the Wright
Brothers, Glenn Curtiss, and others. It may take some
digging to find this kind of material. A good research
librarian can usually help you. You may end up searching
microfiche documents or digging through files of
government documents. But don't give up. These kinds of
materials are important in your search. Research: Staying organized By now you're realizing that research for any book,
even "just" a children's book, will involve mountains of
information. It's crucial to organize the information so
that you can put your hands on any key piece that you
need within minutes. If you take notes, either by hand or on a computer,
record not just the information, but also the source.
Sometimes you need to go back and check facts, and you
don't want to be left wondering, "Now where did I
find that piece of information?" Organize your physical notes and computer notes into
files, and put them into one master file for the whole
project. This way you have all of your material in one
place and you don't waste time searching your house (or
your hard drive) for a critical piece of information. Use
whatever system works for you, but be sure to use
it. Creating the outline When I was in fourth grade, my teacher gave an
assignment to write a report on any living thing. But she
didn't just turn us loose on the report. This was the
major assignment of the year, and we spent about two
months on it, learning each step of report writing along
the way. I never forgot the lessons learned, and the
assignment shaped my approach to writing reports and
other non-fiction forever after. First, we took notes. We used a separate sheet of
paper for each source that we consulted, and carefully
summarized the information. Our teacher emphasized that
we were not to copy the information verbatim, and she
demonstrated how to take information from a book and turn
it into a series of short notes. Next, we took the major facts and put them on separate
notecards or strips of paper, with a code or other
reference to the sources. Having each fact on a separate
card made it possible to sort the cards into piles of
related ideas. It was from these piles that our outline emerged. Our
teacher demonstrated how to take the piles and turn them
into a Harvard outline, with a header (the topic of the
pile) and subtopics (the notes themselves). While our reports were rather dry and encyclopedic,
you can use the same techniques to create interesting and
lively non-fiction. The facts that you gather will soon
suggest categories that can become chapters, subtopics,
and sidebars. If you can find a metaphor for your topic,
such as, "How is a coral reef like a neighborhood?" you
may find your structure there and begin organizing your
information around it. Writing With your outline complete, the writing will seem to
almost take care of itself. You can begin by "writing
down the page" -- writing quickly to get the ideas down
in a first-draft form. Here you can use incomplete
sentences and quick, note-like writing as your chapters
first take form. Then make a second pass through, rewriting as you go.
Now is the time to add the interesting details, the
lively writing, the anecdotes that bring your subject
alive. Pay close attention to the reading level you are
aiming at, especially when writing about scientific or
technical information. What vocabulary can you expect
your readers to have? What terms should be explained in
the text, and which can be saved for the glossary? What
concepts can you expect children to have learned in
school, and which are you going to have to build for
them? As you can see, when you write non-fiction, most of
your effort goes into the research and organization, yet
you must still pay close attention to the writing. Make
the facts as easily accessible as possible, while still
making the subject interesting. It's a good idea to study
well-written non-fiction and use the best examples that
you find as models.
Glen and Karen Bledsoe --> articles --> The Writing Process --> Organizing Non-Fiction