written by Lydia Lukidis
I’m so excited to rejoice the discharge of my new STEM image e book. UP, UP HIGH: The Secret Poetry of Earth’s Environment. It’s illustrated by Katie Rewse and printed by Capstone Editions, a Capstone imprint. Like its companion e book DEEP, DEEP DOWN, writing it required a ton of analysis.
A few years in the past, once I was a beginner, I made a beginner mistake. I queried a kidlit journal with a nonfiction article. The editor took the time to answer, and what she stated was an enormous studying second for me. She stated she didn’t trouble to even learn my article as a result of I didn’t provide a bibliography. After all, I had consulted books and web sites, however not mentioning them was a colossal mistake.
The lesson? At all times embrace a bibliography!
However let’s begin from the highest. What constitutes good analysis? Listed here are my prime 5 finest analysis practices in the case of writing nonfiction. I discovered these classes by way of the years and hopefully, they’ll assist encourage you.
1. The library is your finest good friend
I all the time begin at my native library. I try books, magazines, journals, articles, and periodicals. By the way in which, by no means use kidlit, even YA books, for analysis. At all times persist with books written by and for adults as they’ll be extra exact with the knowledge.
Universities & specialised libraries are additionally your finest good friend! Universities typically have a large number of references that libraries don’t, so don’t be shy to test them out. Specialised libraries additionally open the door to uncommon texts. You can even buy a membership to on-line assets resembling https://www.newspapers.com/ and actually fall down the rabbit gap of nonfiction analysis heaven.
2. Main assets rock
I didn’t know the distinction again once I was a beginner. I figured any e book is an efficient useful resource. However, I’ve now discovered the significance of main sources over secondary ones. Listed here are some temporary definitions:
A main supply supplies direct firsthand proof concerning the topic, so, for instance, for those who’re in search of historic info, a letter or picture or eyewitness account or a authorized doc could be main sources.
A secondary supply discusses or analyzes or feedback on main sources, so, for instance, an article in a scholarly journal discussing another person’s analysis or a e book.
You’ll be able to see how main assets deliver you nearer to the subject material.
3. Interviewing specialists can deepen the textual content
You’re probably not an knowledgeable in your subject, so it’s crucial that you simply discover somebody who’s. Begin with on-line interviews with specialists and attempt to monitor down their emails. Looking college databases is efficient, or use Profnet: https://profnet.prnewswire.com/profnethome/what-is-profnet.aspx.
In my expertise, most specialists are greater than keen to talk with you. For my e book UP, UP HIGH, I spoke to three completely different specialists and so they helped deepen the textual content:
-Dr. Zhang who works for the NOAA. He’s a whiz who was in a position to reply all my climate/environment questions.
-NASA astronaut Linda Godwin, who hung out aboard the Worldwide Area Station. And sure, it was practically unattainable to talk with a NASA astronaut, however I persevered and despatched dozens of emails.
-Alan Eustace, a pc analyst who, gasp, SPACE JUMPED! Sure, you heard that proper. He travelled quicker than the pace of sound.
4. Government businesses = a goldmine
Authorities businesses and departments additionally submit a wealth of knowledge and information, freed from cost. Listed here are a number of examples which have turn out to be useful with my very own analysis:
National Centers for Environmental Information
There are various extra!
5. The web has 1,000,000 assets
There are various different helpful on-line assets. After all, it’s important to be sure that the sources are respected (ie. no Wikipedia and so on…). I additionally cross-reference my information, which means I look for a similar information in a number of respected web sites. Whereas researching DEEP, DEEP DOWN, I used to be astounded at how a lot inaccurate info is on the web, even on so-called respected websites. Checking your information is significant.
Listed here are a number of assets I typically use:
Web Archive: https://archive.org/
Venture Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/
Library of congress: https://www.loc.gov/
Smithsonian Libraries: https://library.si.edu/
LSU Library: https://www.lib.lsu.edu/
JSTOR on-line database: https://about.jstor.org/
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/
Professional Quest: https://www.proquest.com/
EBSCO: https://www.ebsco.com/
On-line encyclopedias like Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/
One of the best half is--all these assets are free! However you’ll have to commit plenty of time to your craft, as you won’t essentially know what you’re in search of till you discover it. However once you do, that’s when the magic occurs. You’ll be capable to formulate a novel hook that may set your e book other than others.
Good luck to all of you aspiring nonfiction writers! By the way in which, this weblog submit can be helpful if it’s important to do analysis for fiction or informational fiction books.
About Lydia Lukidis
Lydia Lukidis is an award-winning writer of fifty+ commerce and academic books for youngsters. Her titles embrace DANCING THROUGH SPACE: Dr. Mae Jemison Soars to New Heights (Albert Whitman, 2024) and DEEP, DEEP, DOWN: The Secret Underwater Poetry of the Mariana Trench (Capstone, 2023), which was a Crystal Kite winner, Forest of Studying Silver Birch Categorical Honor, and Cybils Award nominee. A science fanatic from a younger age, Lydia now incorporates her research in science and her eternal curiosity into her books. One other ardour of hers is fostering a love for youngsters’s literacy by way of the writing workshops she repeatedly gives in elementary colleges throughout Quebec with the Tradition within the Colleges program. Lydia is represented by literary agent Miranda Paul from the Erin Murphy Literary Company. Discover her on-line: Blog. Twitter. Facebook. Bluesky.
