How to Write Non-Fiction: Structure and organise your book
“Writing non-fiction is more like sculpture, a matter of shaping the research into the finished thing.”
—Joan Didion
Although non-fiction books don’t contain the classic narrative arc of novels, they still need to take the reader on a journey from beginning to end. If you jump around, you’ll confuse the reader, so structure and flow is critical to ensure they finish the book satisfied.
We all have different brains, and we all work in different ways.
If you have a structured mind that works in a linear step-by-step process, you might have an easy time identifying an organisational structure.
But if you’re like me, a discovery writer who moves in a non-linear fashion from one topic to the next and enjoys wrangling chaos, then I want to encourage you, too. You don’t need to nail your structure up front, just be aware of it and keep iterating as you write.
The structure of my non-fiction usually falls into place once I’ve written most of the book, and often changes during the editing process. I’ll have placeholders that disappear and sections that are absorbed into other chapters or expanded into new segments entirely.
If you’re ready to structure your book, these tips might help. If you’re writing memoir, I’ve covered structure in the next chapter as it’s a little different from other non-fiction books.
Think in parts or sections first
These broad sub-topics will help you fill in the blanks later, and perhaps you have some in mind already. Some books are easier to structure than others, so don’t worry if you can’t finish this process until later.
When I considered the flow of this book, it was obvious that I needed a section covering topics to consider before you begin writing, then one on the actual writing process, before moving onto elements of business. It’s a clear linear progression for the book and reflects the journey of an author over time.
When I co-wrote The Healthy Writer with Dr Euan Lawson, we struggled with the chapter order, as each could be read independently of the others. We kept working on the draft until we discovered the transformation for the reader, from Unhealthy Writer to Healthy Writer. We then restructured the book into those two main parts, and everything fell into place.
I struggled in a similar way with Pilgrimage, which combines elements of travel memoir and practical solo walking tips. I eventually settled on a more thematic approach that mirrored the pilgrim’s journey, while still delving into deeper topics along the way.
Outline your draft table of contents
If you’re clear on the overall structure, you can expand each section into chapters, breaking everything into more specific elements.
At this point, you might discover your book is way too big and ambitious, and you might decide to cut some aspects in order to make the book more targeted. This also leaves room to write more books in the series, so don’t delete anything, just move it to a separate project.
When I wrote Business for Authors: How to be an Author Entrepreneur, I had lots of ideas about the psychology of writing. That section ended up growing so big that I carved out the chapters, and they became the seed for The Successful Author Mindset.
When I have an idea for a book, I create a new Scrivener project and use the binder area to add ideas for chapters. These are often just one-liners when I start out, but then I shape the table of contents from those initial thoughts. Scrivener enables you to drag-and-drop chapters, which makes reordering them super-easy. Very useful since I never write in order!
Of course, you can use MS Word, Google Docs, Atticus or another word processing program, even a spreadsheet. Whatever works for you.
You could also use mind mapping, a visual way of organising information. Write the major topic in the middle of the page and then brainstorm outwards, creating hierarchical branching trees that go deeper into each sub-topic. There are lots of different software options for mind mapping, but you can also just use pen and paper to get the ideas flowing.
If you prefer to talk through your ideas, try dictation, covered in more detail in chapter 2.7. Or you could ask someone to interview you on your chosen topic with a prepared list of questions and use the transcript as the basis for your table of contents.
However you choose to work, you’ll need to come up with a coherent list of chapters at some point. You can add to and refine these as well as change the order later, so at this stage, just make a list of all the different topics under your sections.
Use sub-headings
If you want to take your organisation a step further, you can use sub-headings within each chapter to split the material into easily digestible chunks.
Many non-fiction readers skim through books, looking for the most pertinent and useful sections, and sub-headings help the reader find what they’re looking for. Of course, you can also add these in later.
Other possible sections
At this stage, you can use placeholder headings to collect other material. You can firm this up later as you work through the book, but it’s a good idea to note them down along the way so you don’t forget anything.
Optional extras could include case studies, checklists, exercises, tutorials, downloadable audio, video, or workbook pages, images, or illustrations.
Make sure you also keep note of resources, references, citations, and any other material used as part of the process. It’s much easier if you do this along the way, rather than waiting until you are done drafting.
At some point you’ll also need an author bio, as well as acknowledgments, and while you don’t need them immediately, it can be good to keep these updated along the way, too.
Use AI tools to help structure and organise
I’m a discovery writer, so I often start my writing process with a seed idea followed by extensive research. I read books, write notes, listen to interviews, as well as develop lists of ideas and snippets of paragraphs. It can be chaotic and nothing is in order.
I usually write at least three quarters of the book before the structure makes sense, and even then, I often restructure in editing.
That’s been my process since 2007, when I started writing my first book, Career Change. I enjoy wrangling chaos, but now there are lots of tools to help with structuring your material.
Google NotebookLM is a good place to start. You can bring in multiple sources from your own material as well as links to websites and videos — anything you want to use as a reference. You can then, with a couple of clicks, generate a table of contents for the whole collection, as well as a study guide and an audio overview, or you can just begin chatting with the material.
While I’m not suggesting you use any of the generated material verbatim, it’s a great start to help organise the material and begin to make sense of a large mass of information.
You can also prompt Google NotebookLM for help. Just type in the chat as an example:
I’m writing a non-fiction book on this topic — can you please create me a draft outline to help with my book structure?
NotebookLM will output a draft structure with links to your source material, which is a great way to find a logical flow through the content.
You can also return to your target market questions here, asking:
Who is the target market for this book? Please give me 10 different market segments and reasons why they might want this book.
You can use a similar prompt with ChatGPT or Claude or other AI tools, but Google NotebookLM will only use the source material you specify, whereas the other models will pull in material from other sources in their answers.
Questions:
• Do you find structure easy to impose or is it something that emerges from your writing?
• How will you structure your book? What are the top-level parts and how can you break those down to lead the reader through a coherent journey?
• What are the extra sections that you might consider as you write?
Resources:
• Scrivener software for organising research, planning, and writing: www.TheCreativePenn.com/scrivenersoftware
• Joan Didion quoted in “Joan Didion, The Art of Nonfiction No. 1,” The Paris Review, Issue 176, Spring 2006, retrieved 23 October 2024 — www.theparisreview.org/interviews/5601/the-art-of-nonfiction-no-1-joan-didion
• Google NotebookLM — notebooklm.google.com
