Sari Wilson http://www.sariwilson.net Published Graphic Novels: Forward, 54th!: The Story of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment; State of Emergency

What can you tell us about writing nonfiction YA in graphic format?

First, I’m a writer. So I really enjoy writing nonfiction comics for a YA audience because I think this group is so perceptive about their literature. They’re still connected to the live-or-die necessity of stories in our lives, how they allow us to make meaning of our world.

As a culture, we’ve moved away from the large tale—the heroic, the epic—toward the subtle, quirky, the sophisticated. Of course comics can be that—and are that—but one thing I like about the graphic form is that it lends itself to powerful visual imagery and to action sequences. One graphic book I published this year is about the 54th Regiment, an all-African American Union Army regiment that fought incredibly bravely in the Civil War. It was illustrated by Aaron McConnell, who did a great job incorporating historical reference and giving the story a vibrant humanity. It’s an amazing story that works really well in the graphic form.

Another book of mine, State of Emergency, combines prose and the graphic form to tell a story of two authors and Hurricane Katrina: Dave Eggers and Josh Neufeld (my husband!). We used graphic sequences from Josh’s book about Katrina, A.D. New Orleans After the Deluge, to retell parts of the story of Katrina survivors. It’s like a story within a story—and I think it works really well. I enjoy exploring how different formats for storytelling work together and are entwined.

How many rejections have you received in the course of your writing career? How did you deal with being rejected?

Hundreds. Literally. I have folders and folders. These books were a bit different, but for a lot of my stories I received more than 20 rejections before they were published. One thing I learned is to just keep going no matter what, because you don’t want to look back later and say, “If I had just kept trying!” That, and make charts for your submissions. When a rejection comes in, you just check a box and send out your story again.

What’s the most important thing you’ve learned as a writer?

To be open to the world in all its aspects and paradoxes. At the heart of stories is tension between things—counterpoint and opposition. That’s why we keep reading—to see if there can be resolution among the tensions, because that’s so difficult in all our lives.

What’s your best advice for people who want to write or illustrate nonfiction for teens?

Just do it. Try it. Fail. Try again. Then fail again. And find a writing community or group of some sort to help be your guide. Writing is solitary, but the writing life shouldn’t be.