It can be tough to find writing tips that apply to you when you’re a nonfiction writer. Most guides are geared toward crafting an intriguing plot or developing fascinating characters. But when you’re writing nonfiction, you don’t have the freedom to come up with thrilling plot twists or quirky character details to make the story more interesting. You have to work with the facts at hand, which can certainly feel limiting at times.
Whether your goal is to inspire, educate, or inform, your nonfiction book needs to use creative methods to engage readers. Fortunately, there are plenty of strategies you can employ to turn a straightforward story into a completely compelling narrative. Consider using the following tips to make your nonfiction writing more engaging than ever.
Give Your Book Purpose
Coming up with a fascinating topic is a great start when writing a nonfiction book, but it’s not enough to ensure that your book will be riveting to readers. In addition, you need to figure out the purpose of your book.
What do you hope to accomplish by writing your book? Though you likely have personal reasons for writing, try to focus on a more general objective. Here are a few examples of nonfiction book goals you might have:
Inform readers about a critical issue.
Give readers the tools they need to improve a certain aspect of their life.
Create a written record of an important event or individual.
Share your personal story in order to connect with readers.
Put together a step-by-step guide for a particular task or challenge.
Once you’ve determined what your ultimate objective is for your book, be sure to keep it in mind whenever you’re writing. Try to write each chapter, paragraph, and sentence so that it contributes to that goal.
Ultimately, your book’s purpose is what will prompt readers to buy it. By ensuring that everything you write serves that purpose, you can better craft a book that readers won’t want to put down.
What is your book’s ultimate objective?
Find Your Niche
Now that you have a specific goal in mind for your book, it’s time to figure out what will set your book apart from the other titles in your genre. Look closely at books that cover your chosen topic to see what information they offer. Browse through the selection in bookstores and libraries to see what comes up when you search for titles on your theme.
You don’t want to rehash the same material that other authors have already covered. Instead, you need to find what’s missing from these other books. Perhaps they need more up-to-date information to reflect modern concerns and challenges. Maybe the books that already exist have failed to give enough attention to a certain demographic among readers. There might be a viewpoint on a particular issue that hasn’t been covered extensively yet.
It’s important to offer something unique to readers. Spend time searching for your niche and determining what new and interesting information your book will provide. In addition to giving your writing more focus, a niche topic can also be a great marketing tool for your book.
Tailor Your Writing to Your Audience
Before you start writing, it’s critical to figure out who your audience will be so you can tailor the content to their interests and understanding. Determining what types of readers you’ll have will also help you to narrow the focus of your book so it doesn’t become too broad.
Let’s say you’re writing a nonfiction book about real estate. Rather than trying to appeal to sellers and buyers in every type of market, figure out exactly who you want to educate with your writing. For example, instead of just writing a book about how to buy a house, you can focus on your book on a more specific topic, such as:
Buying a condo for the first time
Purchasing an investment property
Selling your house without a realtor
Each of these topics has a very specific type of audience, so you can tailor the content and the language specifically to their needs. As you write, consider whether you need to explain certain topics in more detail and what types of terminology your readers will understand.
Use Real-Life Examples to Illustrate Key Points
Just because your nonfiction book is informative doesn’t mean it needs to read like a textbook. You can infuse real-life stories into the chapters to make the content much more relatable and engaging.
Let’s go back to the example of writing a real estate book. If you’re writing about buying an investment property, talk to people who have done it and include their stories in your book. Provide details about their purchase price for the property and how they decided to set rental rates for each unit. Include details about why they wanted to purchase a property as an investment and what kind of results they had in the first years of owning it.
This type of example puts any abstract concepts or instructions into context for the reader. It illustrates what you’re trying to explain in a relatable way, making the material more interesting and relevant to the reader.
What obstacle will your niche find especially relatable?
Follow a Narrative Structure
For some nonfiction books, the narrative flow typically used for a fiction title may actually come in handy. Genres like memoir, biography, and true crime often have a more powerful effect when a traditional story structure is employed.
Thinking of your nonfiction topic in this way can be incredibly helpful for plotting out the book. Describe the people involved like they’re characters in a novel. Use evocative language to set each scene and describe the action. Define the plot and figure out where the climax of the action occurs, then follow it up with a satisfying resolution. This kind of storyline arc is one of the best ways to keep your readers on the edge of their seats while they read.
Incorporate Dialogue into the Text
Another fiction device you can use in certain nonfiction books is dialogue. Most readers naturally picture an actual person and hear the words spoken in their head as they read dialogue, which helps to bring your book’s topic to life in a fresh way.
Search for places where you might be able to show someone speaking in your book, such as:
For an informative book: Interview an expert on your topic.
For a self-help book: Talk to people who have tried a technique you’re recommending.
For a memoir: Include dialogue between characters in a flashback scene.
For a biography: Ask friends and family to describe the person you’re writing about.
There are ways to incorporate dialogue in just about every type of nonfiction book. Consider whether this storytelling device might make your writing more engaging to the reader.
Make Your Style Stand Out
Because nonfiction deals with facts and real experiences, writers often fall into the trap of presenting the information in a very straightforward way. But just like with fiction, nonfiction can be written with a wide variety of interesting styles and structures.
Writing about a controversial topic? You could separate the chapters like a debate, with the first presenting a “for” argument and next chapter detailing the “against” argument. The book could continue back and forth like this, allowing the reader to come to their own conclusions.
If you’re writing a memoir or a biography, there’s no rule that says everything needs to take place chronologically. Consider using flashbacks to reveal important details or give context to events that happened later on.
Even self-help books can have a distinctive structure that makes them more interesting to read. If you’re able to narrow down the topic into a manageable number of key concepts, consider putting a number in the title and arranging the text around revealing each of the important ideas or steps.
These types of stylistic choices can be a great way to set your book apart. Plus, a unique book structure gives readers even more reason to pick your book up and keep reading.
Separate yourself from the crowd.
Get Inspiration from Other Nonfiction Books
If you’re feeling uninspired with your own writing, there’s no better place to find motivation than by reading other books. Start by checking out some of the nonfiction titles that have become known for how the information is presented in a particularly fascinating and engaging way, such as:
A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer
The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson
Whether you’re writing a memoir, a true crime story, a self-help book, an informative guide, or any other type of nonfiction, you need engaging writing in order to make your book stand out. Use these tips to transform any topic into truly stimulating and exciting text. And if you need someone to bounce ideas off or share your pages with, consider hiring a book coach or a developmental editor who specializes in your genre.