From: kellymilnerh_at_aol.com <kellymilnerh>
Date: Thu, 07 Jul 2005 15:55:03 -0400

I'm new to this list, but I wanted to respond because I also write science for young readers (Dinosaur Mummies and Albino Animals most recently -- Wild Dogs this fall). I agree, being engaged by your subject translates into the text you create and even the layout your art director is inspired to use to frame and energize the words. Excitement and even something as basic as FUN shows.
  But I'm going to take Pamela's comments about not relying on simple research a step further. When I do school visits, I tell the kids it's not my job to give them details they can find on the web or in other books and articles. I say it's my job to dig deep and find fresh facts whenever possible -- to jump ahead to what they can't find on their own; to practically look into the future.
  I will read and study all the available literature -- both professional and trade. THEN I'll go straight to the sources, the experts on the cutting edge, to see what's about to happen NEXT. I interview them, I talk to them, I join them on adventures when possible. It keeps me down right GIDDY about a project to connect and discover something new.
  I also try to use what I learned writing 1600 articles for kids magazines and newspaper sections in the books I create. To sell an article, you can't rehash old goods...because it's all been done and done and done again. To sell an article, you have to come up with a new twist on an old idea. When I write science or any nonfiction for young readers, I try to give them something they might not have imagined before; like Dinosaur Mummies, organic soft tissue fossilized along with the bones.
  Thanks for letting me join the discussion.
  Kelly Milner Halls Freelance Writer www.kellymilnerhalls.com
Received on Thu 07 Jul 2005 02:55:03 PM CDT