It’s Pi Day! Which is a big day where I work. People get so excited about it, it’s almost a holiday! It would be more of a holiday if they gave us the day off, but at least they feed us…
As a professional engineer and lover of all things math, science, and technology, I have to admit I never took much interest in science writing. Sure, I do some technical writing for my job, and I wrote my fair share of reports in college. But that was all dry, dull stuff. Have you ever tried reading a paper in a scientific journal? Even if the research is fascinating, the writing is often mind-numbing. Passive voice and lengthy words tend to suck dry any enthusiasm the writer had for their subject matter.
However, after I discovered my love of writing fiction for children, I began exploring other forms of children’s writing. It started with the nonfiction stories in my favorite magazines—stories that I used to, as a rule, skip. After reading a few, I realized how engaging and entertaining narrative nonfiction can be. I then began flipping through dedicated nonfiction magazines for children. There’s a wide variety of them: nature, animals, history, world cultures. But my favorite so far are the STEM (science, technology, engineering, & mathematics) magazines.
When I found myself getting sucked into such a publication for 7-to-9-year-olds, I decided to stop reading and try my hand at writing this stuff.
The process was foreign to me. With fiction, you spend as much time as you need polishing your story, then send it off to the publication of your choice. Nonfiction is different. You choose the magazine first, then read their issue list; each issue has a theme and a deadline to submit your pitch. That’s right—instead of a complete article, you submit a pitch, which is basically a query letter for a nonfiction piece. The pitch must be well-written and attention-grabbing. It should also tell the magazine editor how long your article will be, and what qualifies you to write it.
You also need a resume—but the resume I used to get my current job wouldn’t do; I had to write a new one showcasing my relevant work experience as well as my writing credentials. You also have to submit nonfiction writing samples (tricky when you’ve never published any nonfiction). I ended up spending two weeks researching my topic, writing multiple first drafts of the article, crafting a new resume, selecting my best writing samples, and writing a catchy pitch (not to mention researching how to write a pitch, since I’d never done it before).
By the time I submitted my pitch, I felt a little stupid for spending so much time on something that would most likely get rejected. But I had also learned something important: I enjoyed the process. I loved writing about science for kids. And I knew, if and when I landed my first nonfiction article, I would have a great time and do a great job with it.
Much to my surprise, I ended up landing that first pitch and writing that article on biomaterials for ASK magazine (it comes out in September!). And I hope to continue writing on STEM topics for children. I never expected it, but I enjoy it as much as I do writing fiction.
If you’re considering writing about science, or any kind of nonfiction—whether for children or adults, textbooks or blogs—give it a try. It involves more creativity and fun than you’d expect, and it’s a fantastic way to broaden your skill set.