“The Secret of Creating Magnetic Non-Fiction! --An Expert's How to Write a Book Step-by-Step Guide”
Start writing non-fiction so powerful your reader literally can't put it down. Here's the technique that's as old as time and still works relentlessly!
by Steve Manning
There is a difference between good non-fiction and average non-fiction. And if you know the difference, you can take even modest non-fiction into the realm of best seller. And you can also claim the crown of the definitive presenter of that non-fiction. It's a strategy that harkens back thousands of years and worked as well within the caves of prehistoric man as it does in the living room, or anywhere else your reader picks up your book. Do it right, and your writing actually gets more and more easy. Do it wrong and it's an uphill struggle.
When I was just starting my writing career, I found myself taking a writing class in the basement of a library branch, about 20 miles from my house. It was held on a Sunday morning and I remember driving the first car I had ever owned through empty streets that just a few hours before had been teaming with life and excitement.
I had never been to this branch before so I drove by it twice before I finally saw the small sign. Only one of the three entrance doors was open. I knew that because I chose the two locked doors first. The whole morning had been a collection of premonitions that I shouldn't be there for one reason or another. Down the stairs and to the left, I found Larry Solomon, putting handouts face down onto the desks. Dressed in corduroy and cardigan, this was the guy who was going to change my life…
Ever since you were old enough to understand language, you've been entranced by stories. You begged your parents to tell you one at bed time, you read them to yourself as soon as you mastered reading, you gathered at the feet of the teacher when the story book was opened, you became mesmerized by television programs when you realized that every 30 or 60 minutes there was a new story about to start. So is it any wonder that the key to outstanding non-fiction writing is the presentation of one story after another. True, each of your stories has a point, a moral, a reinforcement of the information you're giving to the reader. But without the story, it's just data.
If you're going to write non-fiction, commit yourself to making your book a collection of stories. Even if you're light on the information your book will be a winner if you're heavy on the stories. The biggest selling series of non-fiction books, the Chicken Soup phenomenon, is ONLY stories. The reader is left to extract the vital information on his own.
You can have several varieties of stories in your non-fiction book. First, we have the first person story. Go back to the second and third paragraph of this article and you'll see an example of that. It's true, it happened, there's no fiction involved (at least from what I can remember) and it happened to you. It can also be bent to accommodate just about any point you want to make aside from the obvious one.
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Now, back
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Next, we have the second hand stories. These are the stories that happened to someone else whom you know well. "A friend of mine was walking down the street one day…" Please note that with all stories, the farther we get from you and your personal experience, the less your expertise shines. Don't misunderstand me. The stories are still valid, they still serve to instruct and inform (as well as entertain) the reader. They're as valid as any story. But because they didn't happen to you can't make them part of your personal wealth of experience.
Next we have the stories that actually happened, but you weren't involved at all. Think about newspaper stories. A minister convinces everyone that he can predict with Jesus will return.. On that date, everyone shows up, except the main character. The minister says he miscalculated and gives another date. Everyone shows up on that date, as well as many more. But still Jesus is a no show. Each time the date is changed, the number of people waiting grows. It's the basis of describing a specific human psychological behavior. It's also the basis of a major religious group.
Finally, we have the stories that are completely fabricated. Think Aesop's fables. Nice stories, we like to hear them, and they provide a credible foundation for non-fiction. Ironic, because they're solid fiction, without any pretense of being based in reality.
Stories, stories, stories. If you want to make your non-fiction appealing to the largest number of people, start thinking about putting as many stories into your work as you possibly can.
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Time for a little unabashed, self promotion: If you haven’t asked for my Free CD,
“How to Write a Book On Anything in 14 Days Guaranteed!” then you’re just plain nuts! The CD is free, just pay postage,
but you can bet this $100 CD will be carrying that price tag very shortly. How do you get it? Just order it
here.
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