OCEAN SOUP: A RECIPE FOR YOU, ME, AND A CLEANER SEA written by Meeg Pincus
The world around us is full of wonder and, unsurprisingly, also full of inspiration. As we all float together in the vast universe on our blue marble, it’s easy to forget that even the smallest action can add up.
And even the smallest microplastics can become a big problem.
I am so excited that Meeg Pincus’ book OCEAN SOUP: A RECIPE FOR YOU, ME, AND A CLEANER SEA illustrated by Lucy Semple is tackling this heavy subject in a lighter way. It’s a must-read for students (and let’s be honest, adults too).
As for a little more about Meeg: she is a kidlit nonfiction author who is a former newspaper journalist and scholar-in-training (both very handy for helping her research and dig in for her nonfiction books)!
Her other hats include book editor, library advocate, homeschool teacher, artist… and so much more.
And now...onto the interview!
Thank you, Meeg, for taking the time to share your journey and wisdom! I know there are so many people who adore rhyme and nonfiction and you wrote a book that is BOTH. Can you share the story behind your story? What sparked your story concept?
As a humane educator in 2015-2016 (going into local elementary schools teaching about caring for people, animals, and the planet), one of my favorite lessons was on ocean plastic and microplastics. I knew I wanted to write a book for younger kids about this problem and how to help solve it, which at the time didn’t exist.
I pondered various different stories about the people involved in ocean plastic science, but none of them felt quite right.
Probably in 2017, I kept thinking about the idea of “ocean soup” as one young kids would get, and a way to engage them in the topic. I tried to write it in prose, as a how-to “recipe,” but it was super awkward (see example below!).
Eventually, lines started coming to me in rhyming poetry. I resisted that, kept trying to ignore them and write it in lyrical prose. But it seemed to need the lightening-up of the heavy topic that rhyming poetry offered. So, I finally surrendered to the rhyming poetry calling to me, and dove in. It still took many permutations to figure out the POV and more, but Ocean Soup became a book in rhyming poetry.
Sometimes you just can’t resist the pull of the rhyme. How long did it take from idea to book?
Let’s call it five years. (One of my kids went from child to teen during the process!)
That’s so wonderful! What was your revision timeline?
2016-2017: Researched the topic of ocean microplastics and played with various ways to write the book
January 2018: Wrote a first draft, as Ocean Soup, in lyrical prose (then many more versions over next year, eventually moving to rhyming poetry)
Spring 2019: Enrolled in Renée LaTulippe’s poetry course for children’s book writers
Summer 2019: Polished up the rhyme and meter, got it to sub-ready manuscript
Fall 2019: Agent sent it out on sub
Oct. 2019: Offer received
Jan. 2020: Contract finalized (yes, it often takes this long!)
Feb. 2020: Hired Renée to consult on the rhyme and meter (while she was in lockdown in Italy!) before sending first revision to editor
March 2020: Completed text revisions for editor, in about four rounds (while the US went into lockdown!)
April 2020: Book announced in PW
May 2020: First character sketches received
June 2020: Back matter edits completed
July 2020: Full sketches received
August 2020: Expert scientist fact-checking completed; revised from his comments
Sept 2020: Full-color illustrations & cover received
Nov. 2020: Illustrations finalized
Jan 2021: Final proofread of full-color galley completed
March 2021: Publication
That is a cool journey, especially during the pandemic. Wow. What was the hardest part of revising?
When we got our expert scientist’s feedback to make certain parts of the science more explicit, I had to do that within a set meter and rhyme, in very few words, that matched the illustrations already in place. It took forever to figure it out!
(But it was so satisfying when I did!)
Did you have an ‘ah-ha!’ moment with your manuscript during the revision process? If so, what triggered it?
After I realized it really was OK for me to write Ocean Soup in rhyming poetry, my next a-ha was that I couldn’t actually write it as a recipe (in second person how-to style), as was my original idea. It just came off as sarcastic and didn’t work.
One day, trying once again to find my way into this concept, it hit me to write it as a story about how ocean soup came to be—the recipe that created it—with a recipe for change in the back matter. Bingo!
YES! What an amazing breakthrough. What advice do you have for other writers? Are there any resources you would recommend to help with the revision process?
Remember that the manuscript that’s acquired is still a draft! Be open and ready to revise it with your editor.
And try to enjoy the process; it really can be freeing to get creative (knowing it’s sold), and fun to collaborate with an editor who has the same goal as you, to make it a great book.
(Dark chocolate is probably my favorite resource to help with revising!)
I often eat dark chocolate for many non-revising endeavors so I’ll be sure to try it out when I sit down to revise.
And now, a snippet from one of the earlier drafts...
First lines of very first draft in prose, as a how-to recipe:
Who wants to make Ocean Soup? Do you?
It sounds fun, doesn’t it? And salty!
It doesn’t take much effort.
There’s a simple recipe…with ingredients we all know well.
First lines of very first draft in rhyming poetry, as a how-to recipe:
Would you like to learn how to create Ocean Soup?
Come on into our kitchen, I’ll give you the scoop.
It takes so little effort; it’s simple to brew.
Every step of this recipe’s stuff we all do.
...and the final words that went into the published book!
First lines of final/book, in rhyming poetry, as a story:
From afar the vast ocean appears pure and clean.
How it sparkles and shimmers—a beautiful scene.
But zoom in a bit closer and test a small scoop,
and you’ll see that, deep down, the sea looks more like…
SOUP!
Be sure to check out Meeg’s website and follow her blog, SolutionaryStories.com. You can pre-order signed copies from DIESEL, Meeg’s favorite local indie bookstore.
Thank you so much, Meeg!
I hope the readers that are rhymers take heart… sometimes, you just can’t resist the beat.