A Simple Blueprint to Help Non-Fiction Writers Reduce Misunderstanding

If you are a non-fiction writer, your biggest enemy is misunderstanding.

The reality of writing is that all readers will misunderstand your writing to some extent. Your job, as a non-fiction writer, is to the limit this misunderstanding.

One good way to do this is to clearly set out what you intend to do in each chapter.

I suggest you follow this simple blueprint:

Start each chapter by outlining what the reader will learn in the upcoming chapter.

This should not be a detailed summary, just a list of the key elements you need them to digest and understand.

For example, here’s the opening section to a chapter in our free ebook about How to Write a Fiction Book Proposal…

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In this chapter you will learn how using a tag line will help you quickly convey the essence of your book without a long and complicated explanation. It will also help you to avoid agents and publishers misunderstanding the nature of your work.

In the previous chapter we looked at the Four Paragraph Method and learned how applying the framework will ensure you provide all the information needed by agents/publishers to make an informed decision about your book. In this chapter we will look at the first paragraph and examine the role of the tag line.

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End each chapter by summing up what the reader has learned.

At the end of your chapter you should provide a brief conclusive chapter, which drills home the key elements. You should also add a line or two, in which you tell the reader what they will be learning in the upcoming chapter.

A nice addition is to also add a bullet point list of the key points the reader should have taken from the chapter.

In short, get into the habit of telling the reader what you will be teaching, and then teach the reader, and then tell them what you have taught.

Here’s the closing summary section from the same ebook…

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• It is difficult to simplify complex ideas without a frame of reference.
• A schema is a common understanding of a term or phrase.
• Three steps to a tag line: Describe the essence of your book, What book is like your book? and What is different?

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Categorised in: Better Writing, Technique

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