The Only 3 Things You Need To Write A Successful Non-fiction Book
Updated: Jun 29, 2021
Written by: Leandre Larouche, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
We all have a message or knowledge we can share in a book, but we often overthink the process.
Most growth-minded people want to write and publish a book before they die. There’s sound logic behind the proposition: Individuals committed to their personal development read voraciously and accomplish amazing things. It’s only natural they would want to give back by imparting their knowledge in a book.
The problem, though, is the dreadful writing process. Before you can proceed to publish your book, you need to have a publishable manuscript. For many people, putting thoughts together coherently into a book is intimidating. But it doesn’t have to be that hard. There are only three things to write a successful nonfiction book.
An Audience—Or a Community
Anyone who knows anything about writing will tell you that you need a target audience. But what does this mean concretely? The best way to think about it is to think of your audience as a community you are having dinner with. Every community is bound by interests, pains, desires, and problems.
The mistake most people make when writing is trying to talk to more than one community at once. You can’t attend two dinner parties at once without breaking the laws of physics. Likewise, you can’t write for more than one community without breaking the laws of writing.
Once you know which community you want to have dinner with, you need to figure out what conversation the community is having. Sure, you can start a new conversation, but you are less likely to pique your audience's interest. A safe bet is to enter the conversation that’s already happening.
Concept—Or a Good Idea Well Packaged
What makes a book memorable isn’t the content so much as how the content is packaged. How you package your content is your “concept.” Think of bestselling books like Robert Kyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Kyosaki’s book is memorable because it shows a clear image.
To find a concept that suits your ideas, you need to think conceptually. Relate your ideas to stories, objects, shapes, colors, etc. Think of a concept as the overarching theme to the metaphorical dinner party. As a matter of fact, the idea of a “dinner party” to talk about writing is a concept. By thinking about your ideas from a more conceptual level, you can find ways of expressing your thoughts that stick to your audience.
A book concept is not simply what we see on the cover page. It’s also what we find inside. Make sure you are congruent with your concept at every level of your book. There are two common mistakes an aspiring author can make. The first mistake is to write content that does not live up to a promising book concept. The second mistake is to write none-to-second content for a poor book concept. While the former disappoints readers, the latter kills sales.
Questions—The Right Place to Start
Writing can be difficult because we try to find all the answers before getting started. If we don’t have the answers we’re looking for, we feel stuck and unable to make progress. But being the author of the book doesn’t mean you need to have all the answers right away. You are on a journey just as your reader is. It makes sense to start with questions.
If you think about it, you can turn any sentence into a question. Furthermore, you can turn every argument into a question. For example, I could turn this article into the following question: “What are the three things you need to write a successful nonfiction book?” In fact, that’s how I began writing this article. I asked myself a question readers might have, and I answered it.
If you start with questions, you’ll never run out of things to write about. Of course, your book must end at some point, so you can’t write to no end. Early in the writing process, you need to figure out the one big question you seek to answer and which smaller questions contribute to it. Get the right questions in the right order, and you will never worry about writer’s block again.
The Fun Can Start
Once you have your audience, your concept, and your questions, you are ready to write your book. With these three elements, you are unlikely to ever meet writer’s block because everything is laid out in front of you. Moreover, you won’t feel as much pressure and confusion because you’re not trying to find the answers without precise questions while writing.
The reality is that writing isn’t difficult in and of itself. Most people have the same ability to write, thanks to their executive functions. (These are different mental skills required to perform such a task). However, for many people, the writing process triggers negative emotions (through the limbic system). These negative emotions restrain our ability to focus and to perform a writing task effectively.
To beat the negative emotions, you need to outline its elements, namely, your audience, your concept, and your questions. From there, whether you complete the book is a matter of habits and accountability. Still, you have one less obstacle in your way. You can finally start writing your book without the overwhelm.
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Leandre Larouche, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Leandre Larouche is an author, speaker, and writing consultant based in Toronto, Canada. He is the author of Hétérochrome (2017) and three upcoming nonfiction books, Write a Book That Matters, Architecture of Grammar, and The End of Nonsense, all of which are scheduled to come out in 2021.
Though he grew up in French in Saguenay, Québec, Leandre has been writing in English for the better part of the last decade. He studied English literature and professional writing at Concordia University, where he also worked as a writing assistant and developed a unique writing methodology.
Léandre Larouche was a 2019-2020 Fulbright fellow at Lycoming College in Williamsport, PA. Upon coming back to Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic, he founded Trivium Writing Inc., a consulting agency that helps thinkers get their wisdom out in a book through innovative writing frameworks.
