Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Nonfiction picture book narrative trajectory

I didn’t consciously notice this while writing it, but Bill the Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman doesn’t follow a traditional nonfiction picture book story arc.


Conventionally it’s this:


  • young protagonist finds calling
  • slightly older protagonist struggles to pursue calling
  • adult protagonist ultimately succeeds

Bill the Boy Wonder rolls this way:


  • slightly older protagonist finds calling
  • slightly older protagonist struggles to pursue calling
  • older protagonist succeeds on one level but dies poor, alone, and unheralded

Described that way, it sure sounds like a bummer of a story. But it has to be, because that is how it really happened. My job is to capture the truth as best as possible, even when that truth is sad. Even when the “hero” loses. For young people, there is, of course, value in that reading about that kind of life trajectory as well. (And there are some fun/inspirational moments throughout.)

Also unusually for a nonfiction picture book, Bill the Boy Wonder ends with the hope (and hint) that the story may not yet be over. I suppose this is what is meant by meta: in doing the book, the real-life “ending” may change.

I’m sure there are other exceptions to the traditional nonfiction picture book narrative arc, though none to come to mind. Do you know any?

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