How to Write Non-Fiction: How to turn a boring book into an engaging read
One of the challenges in writing non-fiction is to get the balance right. You don’t want a dry, academic tome, but neither do you want a fluffy book with no substance.
You also want to feel that your writing project is a creative experience and not a painful college assignment.
So how can you turn what feels like a boring book into an engaging read?
Share your story and your personal experience in your voice
“What makes non-fiction come alive for me are the personal stories and journal entries to illustrate a point. I love it when I’m reading a non-fiction book in a more conversational tone, as if I’m sitting down having a cuppa with a friend and learning something along the way.”
—Leeza Baric, from The Creative Penn non-fiction survey
If your book is boring, it’s probably because there is no story and no personality in it. You can only bring a subject alive if you make it real by sharing your story and personal experience.
Talk to the reader as if they were in the room with you. Share your emotion, your heart, your passion, as well as your knowledge.
I came up against these issues when I started writing this book. I felt bogged down in how-to information, and the writing was boring even me and not engaging my creative side at all.
Then I took a hard look at why I cared about this project, and how non-fiction has changed and improved my life. I considered why I love reading and listening to non-fiction, why my bookshelves and my Kindle overflow with non-fiction books.
I went back through my journals and found notes on various books and the turning points in my life that came after reading them. By sharing those memories, by tapping into that passion, I found the book again.
Finishing it became a creative challenge, and I discovered a renewed eagerness for the project. I hope you find the result useful!
Don’t be too academic
“Don’t use big words. They mean so little.”
—Oscar Wilde
Don’t write like an academic unless you are writing an academic paper or thesis — and if you’re writing something like that, then this is not the book for you!
The academic audience is completely different, and if you want to turn your thesis into a book, then you need to substantially rewrite it. After all, you’re trying to educate, inspire, or entertain a reader — not a professor or other specialists in your field.
Eliminate jargon and remove clichéd phrases that have become overused in your industry.
I used to work in management consultancy, and we would play Bingo at conferences with overused phrases like blue-sky thinking, scope creep, quick wins, out of the box, or whenever anyone mentioned a three-letter acronym (or TLA).
Every industry has these words and phrases.
You need to decide whether your audience understands them. If not, should you explain them or get rid of them completely?
Use active language and, if you’re struggling, use a tool like Grammarly or ProWritingAid to identify passive sentence structure, which is particularly common for academic writers.
“Experts writing non-fiction are prone to putting on a posh academic overcoat. The language can be dry, technical, and passive. Work hard to make your prose accessible and tell an engaging story. Shrug off that overcoat and let your passion shine through.”
—Dr Euan Lawson, my co-author on The Healthy Writer
Use quotes, images, illustrations, photos, or other visuals
Go beyond words on the page and think about other elements that can bring your book alive and convey your ideas in new ways.
I enjoy using quotes from books and from writers who take part in my surveys as it brings in other voices, changes the tone, and backs up my thoughts on the topic.
I used diagrams in my book Career Change to turn the process into a visual journey. More evidence of my consulting background!
You can create visual elements yourself, hire people on sites like Upwork, or license images, photos, or illustrations if you prefer.
Ensure you understand the intellectual property rights around use in a book if you are using other people’s work. Chapter 2.13 covers legal issues in more detail.
If you want to turn your book into an audio product, then also review chapter 2.15, as there are aspects you might need to adapt for that medium.
Questions:
• Is your book boring you? Will it bore the reader?
• Have you used academic writing, passive language, or too much jargon?
• What elements can you add to bring your book alive?
