When should you write your book?

By Dennis Mellersh

You’ve decided that you want to write a non-fiction book, but have you fully thought through the reasons why you believe you want to do this?

Research indicates that more than 80 percent of North Americans say they want to know how write a book. But if you were to ask them “why?” it’s probable that many would not have a precise answer.

If you are planning to write a non-fiction book, there are a number of reasons you might want to do something different, at least initially, to communicate with your potential audience, than in immediately trying to write a book.

A book can take a long time to write, and if you are eager to get your ideas out to the world and test them, then you might want start with a blog ( this “website”, for example, is a blog) to get your message out.

With today’s online media tools, a blog can be set up economically (or even for free) in a relatively short period of time. And with contemporary content management systems, a blog is not difficult to administer or manage. You can do it without outside expert assistance.

The big difference between your potential blog and the book you are planning  is that a blog (which you could start today)  builds its impact gradually or cumulatively whereas a book, because of its critical mass, will have the eventual potential for a more dramatic and forceful impact.

With a blog you can set up your site and post your first article(s) in less than a day. Alternatively, Depending on the size of the book you are planning, it could be months before your book is complete, and then you still have to take the time to publish and promote it.

Ideally you could run both of these concepts in parallel. Develop your blog and run out ideas and concepts while also taking time on a regular basis to write the content for your non-fiction book (with the benefit of possible feedback from readers of your blog.).

Particularly if you are in the early stages of learning how to write, starting first with a blog is something you ought to consider.

You need to tell a story in non-fiction

By Dennis Mellersh

To write an effective non-fiction book that will hold the interest of your readers, you need to tell a story in your book, just as you would if you were writing a novel.

Research on learning has shown that people will remember the content of any instructional material (such as your non-fiction book) much better if they hear or read a story about it.
 

Basically, all good writing is, in some way, telling a story. In your case, the “story” is the narrative you construct around the ideas and facts you want to convey to your readers in your non-fiction material.
 

This does not mean that you need to write your book as if it were a novel or a short story, but it does mean that you need to use a story-like narrative voice in your writing.
 

This is obvious if you are writing a biography, or a history book, but it also holds true for how-to-do-it books and other instructional books. You need to modify the traditional narrative curve of fiction and use it to make your non-fiction book a more compelling read for your audience.
 

This might look something like this in order of presentation of the material that your book will discuss:

• Outlining the main theme of the content
• Describing briefly the subsets of the theme
• Your ideas/facts as the main body of the book
• Review of main principles and conclusion

To achieve a narrative voice, write the content of your book as if you were talking personally to someone who is interested in your ideas and knowledge of the topic. 

Writing like you talk, as if you were telling a story will not only make your book much more appealing to readers, it will also help your readers to better remember the information in your book.
 

This will help establish your reputation with readers as a reliable and interesting source of material on the non-fiction topics that interest them.