Something I’m still trying to figure out with my nonfiction is how far to go with the “warts and all” approach.
Obviously, it’s important to me that young readers know about the people that I’m interested in writing about, or else I wouldn’t be writing about them. And with one notable exception, I can’t think of any children’s biographies that were written about horrible people precisely because they were horrible people. We tend to write about people we admire, or at least about those whose stories are meaningful to us.
But people aren’t perfect, and what I struggle with is how much to dwell on those imperfections. Is it dishonest to frame a story so that it avoids having to deal directly with those flaws? Is it lazy to save up those shortcomings for the author’s note so that they don’t disrupt the flow of the narrative? Would a children’s biography in which the author goes out of his way to poke holes in the subject be any fun to read?
I wish I had better answers than “maybe,” “maybe,” and “probably not,” but at the moment I don’t. I sure hope I do by the time I finish new drafts of Smith and James.
I had the same questions with B, the biography you so graciously critiqued on my behalf. I decided to leave out the warts, although they were very colorful, interesting warts. I felt those things spoke to his human side, you know? I felt that it would communicate to readers that this person who did great things was still human, with human flaws. But, I didn’t want to sort of endorse those flaws either. Since my book is intended for very young readers I decided to leave those things out.
I had the same questions with B, the biography you so graciously critiqued on my behalf. I decided to leave out the warts, although they were very colorful, interesting warts. I felt those things spoke to his human side, you know? I felt that it would communicate to readers that this person who did great things was still human, with human flaws. But, I didn’t want to sort of endorse those flaws either. Since my book is intended for very young readers I decided to leave those things out.
I had the same questions with B, the biography you so graciously critiqued on my behalf. I decided to leave out the warts, although they were very colorful, interesting warts. I felt those things spoke to his human side, you know? I felt that it would communicate to readers that this person who did great things was still human, with human flaws. But, I didn’t want to sort of endorse those flaws either. Since my book is intended for very young readers I decided to leave those things out.
The URL attached to the “Homepage” link isn’t my home page but rather a link to a CBC interview with James Cross Giblin, who has written about “bad guys” for YAs as well as some children’s biographies. His work is quite good and might be useful not only your reading interest/pleasure but also for study as a fellow writer.
The URL attached to the “Homepage” link isn’t my home page but rather a link to a CBC interview with James Cross Giblin, who has written about “bad guys” for YAs as well as some children’s biographies. His work is quite good and might be useful not only your reading interest/pleasure but also for study as a fellow writer.
The URL attached to the “Homepage” link isn’t my home page but rather a link to a CBC interview with James Cross Giblin, who has written about “bad guys” for YAs as well as some children’s biographies. His work is quite good and might be useful not only your reading interest/pleasure but also for study as a fellow writer.
I think it depends upon the age of the children for whom you are writing as well as the format. I don’t believe it is a cop-out to put more information (especially wart-like info) in an author’s note in a picture book format. However, in a biography for middle/high school readers, I would expect the whole person to be shown.
I think it depends upon the age of the children for whom you are writing as well as the format. I don’t believe it is a cop-out to put more information (especially wart-like info) in an author’s note in a picture book format. However, in a biography for middle/high school readers, I would expect the whole person to be shown.
I think it depends upon the age of the children for whom you are writing as well as the format. I don’t believe it is a cop-out to put more information (especially wart-like info) in an author’s note in a picture book format. However, in a biography for middle/high school readers, I would expect the whole person to be shown.