Behind the Scenes: “Branching Out Into Longer Form Nonfiction” with Kirsten W. Larson

Posted on by Beth Anderson

So glad to see another book about writing nonfiction for kids! My copy has arrived, and I’m diving in! Thanks, Kirsten Larson, for sharing your knowledge in the book, and also for this post about taking on this endeavor. 

Kirsten is also doing a GIVEAWAY! Leave a comment after the post to be in the running for a copy of Reimagining Your Nonfiction Picture Book or half off an annual membership to the Reimagine Insiders community.

KirstenWLarson“Branching Out Into Longer Form Nonfiction” with Kirsten W. Larson

In December 2023, I published what I hope will be a valuable resource for nonfiction picture book writers, Reimagining Your Nonfiction Picture Book: A step-by-step revision guide. For years, I’ve longed for a book that sits somewhere between Ann Whitford Paul’s fiction-focused Writing Picture Books and Margery Facklam and Peggy Thomas’s Anatomy of Nonfiction, which focuses on researching and writing children’s nonfiction across formats.

I yearned for a book I could hand to my students and critique clients, a book that would help them find and refine their story through the revision process. As I mulled this over one day, it finally hit me: Why was I waiting for someone else to write this book? Maybe this was my story to tell.

Yet, as someone who normally writes picture books or graphic novels, the idea of writing a longer nonfiction work — without pictures! — was initially daunting. But I’m here to tell you with the right tools and resources, you too can share your expertise with the world.

Don’t omit the outline

Picture books are so short and visually driven that I often don’t do a formal outline. Instead, I map out my ideas on thumbnails spread-by-spread thinking through the text and visual story, a process I explain in my book. Yet, I knew that kind of approach wouldn’t work for a nearly 200-word book for grownups. A formal outline was in order.

Using the six-week revision class I teach at The Writing Barn as a guide, I brainstormed ideas for chapters, thinking about what writers revising their work would need to know and grouping the chapter ideas into sections. In Scrivener, the writing software I use for all my books, I added a folder for each section with a separate document for each chapter. Once I had my ideas organized, it was time to draft. But how would I fill up all those empty pages? Reimagining Your Nonfiction Picture Book cover

Drafting chapter-by-chapter

Two resources shaped my writing and helped me bridge the gap from outline to completed page. The first was Josh Bernoff’s blog post, “How to Write a Nonfiction Chapter without Tears,” which appeared on Jane Friedman’s blog. Bernoff talks about starting with a “fat outline.” That meant opening the document for each chapter and dumping in anecdotes and stories, mentor texts, ideas, research, arguments, and advice. And then I used Bernoff’s technique to form each chapter into a story with its own arc as best I could. Here’s his approach:

“Here’s a story of someone facing a problem (case study). You can learn from what they learned (main idea). Here are the elements of that idea (framework). Here’s why that idea is valid and convincing (argumentation, supported by proof points). Taken together, here’s what that all means (idea, restated as conclusion). And here is what you should do about it (advice).”

I paired this approach with the ideas found in the book Smart Brevity: The Power of Saying More with Less by Axios co-founders Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz. As I revised my chapters, I followed the Smart Brevity four-point system, starting with “the muscular tease” or a six-word headline followed by a strong lede to peak interest, then moving to context; and the choice to go deeper and learn more.

Maintaining momentum

I typically set small, manageable goals, especially for picture book projects. These are most-often time-based goals instead of a specific word count. For example, I might aim to work on a project for an hour. But for a book this long, my process was more like undertaking NaNoWriMo. I aimed to fast draft a chapter each day and finish the whole book in a month. There was a real benefit to maintaining that kind of momentum. Using the fat outline and Smart Brevity, drafting went quickly, and I mostly kept on target.

But was what I was writing helpful? There was only one way to find out – feedback.

Finding feedback

I am lucky enough to have a novel critique group (which includes two agents!) who were happy to read sections of this book in chunks as part of our critique group meetings. I incorporated their feedback into a complete draft, which went out to two beta readers, the amazing Annette Whipple and Debra Shumaker for their feedback too. There’s nothing like critique partners and beta readers to know how well you’re making your point.

The final result is a book I’m happy with and one I’m hoping can reach far more writers than I ever could through classes and critiques. But even better, I’m much less daunted by the idea of writing longer-form nonfiction for kids or adults. This may be my first craft-based “how to” book, but it certainly won’t be the last.

Don’t forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Reimagining Your Nonfiction Picture Book or half off an annual membership to the Reimagine Insiders community. (Paperback book sent to US addresses only/ e-book available outside US. Winner announced 2/9/24)

Bio:

Kirsten W. Larson used to work with rocket scientists at NASA. Now she writes books for curious kids and grownups too.Kirsten lives near Los Angeles with her husband, two sons, and dog Chloe. Learn more and sign up for her newsletter at KirstenWLarson.com.

If you enjoy a book, please support authors with online reviews. Always appreciated!  😃

66 thoughts on “Behind the Scenes: “Branching Out Into Longer Form Nonfiction” with Kirsten W. Larson”

  1. Thanks for sharing the process for writing your longer nonfiction book! And congrats on making Reimagining Your Nonfiction Picture Book happen, Kirsten. I’m eager and excited to read it.

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  6. “Longer form nonfiction for kids” caught my attention instantly. While I write an assortment of stories, I do have two straight nonfiction manuscripts and three narrative nonfiction ones. I’m hoping some of the information will be helpful for the narratives as well. The book just came out in December–can’t wait to read it!

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  8. What wonderful sources you have incorporated in this book Kirsten – thank you!

    Definitely building my TBR pile with this list and YOUR book on top!

    Congratulations!

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  15. This sounds wonder, Kirsten. Looking forward to reading. I still can’t imagine writing long non-fiction without pictures (long live the fully-illustrated chapter book!).

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  17. Thank you for once again sharing your process along with helpful resources so we can dig deeper. Your ability to add structure to writing – in this case a longer work – makes it seem less mysterious and daunting. Your book is incredibly helpful, as is your companion class. I highly recommend it!

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  23. I’m trying to fit a biography of a scientist into the picture book format of 48 pages, and will be looking at your book and your resources. Thank you!

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  25. Great post, Kirsten. I use storyboards and mapping for picture books, but find outlines absolutely essential for anything longer. Not formal high-school-English-class outlines, but something that breaks the project into manageable bits. I definitely need to get me a copy of your book – and have a cozy space reserved right next to my dog-eared copy of Anatomy of NF…

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  26. Thank you, Kirsten, for writing this book. I need to get a copy for study! Your post is encouraging and filled with lots of good points to consider.

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  27. I am excited that this book now exists. Plus your post had a lot of useful information about how to approach longer works, especially the drafting chapter by chapter section and the idea that I should work to complete a chapter a day. As I begin a longer work, your words have given me impetus to stop pussyfooting around it and just dive in. Thanks so much.

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  29. This sounds like an amazing resource. I have take a Writing Barn webinar with Kirsten in the past (“Noodling with Nonfiction Structure”) and it was excellent.

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