Process Talk with Jen: Barry Wittenstein on The Day the River Caught Fire
Today Jen talks to Barry Wittenstein about his narrative nonfiction picture book The Day the River Caught Fire: How the Cuyahoga River Exploded and Ignited the Earth Day Movement, illustrated by Jessie Hartland.
[Posted by Jen Breach for Writing With a Broken Tusk]
[Jen] The climate crisis is an astonishingly contemporary issue. What led you to approach it from a historical perspective? Similarly, anti-pollution protests and the Earth Day movement gathered steam from numerous people and disasters, including the Santa Barbara oil spills, Rachel Carson's environmental science writing, and Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson's (D) bipartisan organizing. How did you choose the Cuyahoga River fire and Cleveland Mayor Carl Stokes as the focus of the book?
[Barry] When I was about 16, I heard singer/songwriter Randy Newman's song "Burn On." I was always a big Newman fan. I became fascinated by the song's topic: the Cuyahoga River catching fire. Fast forward 50 years, and I'm now writing picture books. Thinking, kids might be fascinated, as I was, about how water can burn. Now, I realize how the topic fits perfectly with the current environmental crisis.
“I had no idea where all the different paths researching the story would take me. ”
Photo courtesy of Barry Wittenstein
Many times (maybe all the time), I'll get an idea. Then, as I develop the concept, it leads me into unexpected areas. The story tells me how to write it. Does that make sense? I had no idea where all the different paths researching the story would take me. I learned that Mayor Stokes played a significant role. I knew about Rachel Carson, but did her story fit into my picture book story? Ditto with Senator Gaylord Nelson. And, on and on. You just keep digging deeper until you better understand all the dimensions of the story.
[Jen] You have written on a wide range of topics–the invention of sticky plasters, establishing Earth Day, racial integration in major league baseball, MLK's most famous speech, food aid in disaster zones. Which topic have you written about–published or not–that was the most personally meaningful to you? I feel like there is a difference between writing about something close to one's heart/something immediate in one's community and a cool story one heard about on an NPR podcast or a History Cool Kids Instagram post. What are your feelings on that?
[Barry] Great question. I never thought about this. Let me try to figure this out as I'm writing.
I would say it's less about 'something close to my heart' versus 'a story that grabs me by the throat and won't let go.’ A story I know I can tell in my – hopefully unique – way.
In both scenarios, I, of course, have to feel a connection to the story that a) I'll want to live with for a year or two, and b) I feel strongly about children needing to know.
I do feel very proud that I got to introduce the backstory to Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech to both children and adults [in Orbis Pictus winning book A Place to Land: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Speech That Inspired a Nation, illustrated by Jerry Pinkney]. But I also got a kick out of writing about the invention of Band-Aids.
[Jen] I read you say that you have more than 50 stories you have started that are languishing because you can't find the voice of/for the piece. What is the role for you of those unfinished pieces? Is there something in some of them that will lead to finished work? To other unrelated work? What would you say to a beginning writer fretting over their own languishing projects?
[Barry] Another great question. Sometimes (this happened with River), the book business or societal environment isn't ready to read about the subject you've written. Other times, it's the way it's written—the voice, the language used. Is it too humorous? Is it not heartfelt enough? Does the vibe match the subject?
For the authors out there who are spinning their wheels and fretting over languishing projects, you gotta keep on keepin' on. Finish one project, start another. Finish that and start another. Work on more than one manuscript at a time. Try writing in a different voice. A different genre. Some subjects that aren't hot today will be tomorrow. The writer you are today won't be the writer you are in the process of becoming. Maybe a year from now, you'll look back at a manuscript that didn't sell and think, OK, now I get it! I see what's wrong.
And be around other authors. Take classes. Personally, I've found Manuscript Academy, BBC Maestro, and Masterclass to be very helpful and affordable. But there's a ton of other places. Join SCBWI. Attend local and national chapters.
And don't give up.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Librarians rule.
[Jen] They sure do. Thank you, Barry.
