How to Write Great Stories in Non-Fiction

A well crafted story can inspire, uplift and even transform the way a reader sees the world. And nonfiction books aren't any different just because they rely on true events. If you're looking to craft an engaging, page turning story in your nonfiction book, then this video is for you. Hey there. I'm Julia Book Broad, Founder of Book Launchers, your professional self publishing services team. Here at Book Launchers, we rely on our hashtag NoBoringBooks1 when we are helping our authors write their nonfiction books. Whether it's a business book on how to work with software engineers, a relationship advice book, or a guide to help you get your children into medical school, the foundation of a great book is a well crafted story that readers will find captivating and relatable. So, with a little help from the writing team at Book Launchers, here are five story writing tips to help you write a great nonfiction book that tells a great story. Tip number 1 Start your story like you're telling a friend this story. I'm stealing this first tip straight from a session with our very own Master of manuscripts, Kelly Reagan. She said, imagine you're talking to a friend. When you tell your friend what happened that day. You don't start with what you had for breakfast, what you were wearing, and what the weather was like. You just cut to the chase of what you have to say. For example, you might say, I was at the bank today and it was robbed, or I broke my leg, or he got food poisoning and went to the hospital, or the bank called and they're foreclosing on the house. You can fill in the backstory and supporting details from there, but jumping right into the action is essential because it grabs your reader's attention from the start. It sets the stakes high right off the bat, and it leaves your readers curious about what comes next. And that means they're going to be a lot more likely to keep turning those pages to find out. Tip number two Become a story collector. Keep a log of stories. They don't have to be your stories, although I want you to keep a log of those too. Keep a log of stories that showcase examples of something you believe in or teach or want to highlight in your book. Pay attention to the world around you. Did you read a cool story in the newspaper? Maybe you were listening to a speaker and they shared a fascinating historical account you've never heard before? Even a great TV show can provide a story that can help showcase a concept that you can use. Fables and fairy tales or myths can also work. Pay attention to the world around you and start collecting stories that resonate with you. You can also test them on people and see which ones stick. Your personal stories are usually the best ones for your book, but you should also have a mix of client stories, other people' stories, anecdotes, and case studies to make your book feel fleshed out and keep it interesting. And a story doesn't have to be long to add value. In fact, short stories in nonfiction tend to be the best to highlight a point, although you can weave a longer story into the book as well. So pay attention when you're walking alone at night. What happens when you're at an event? What conversations do you have? Just start watching and listening carefully and assume that role of story collector. Tip number three Create some story structure, but you don't need to get too fancy. Even in nonfiction, your story needs a character in a problem. Maybe that character is you, or maybe it's a client or a family member. There's usually a decision to make or some sort of struggle or obstacle to overcome. You're not necessarily putting together a narrative which is a sequence of events. Instead, focus on your character's path to getting what they want and what happens on the way there. In my book, Self Publish and Succeed, one of my stories was about when my son and I came face to face with a bear. That was a real obstacle in getting us to the park. Many of the stories I showcase are more mental obstacles. Obstacles though, not four legged ones. And the mental obstacle is often harder to overcome than an actual physical one. You have to set it up. What does your character want and what's the struggle to get there? And because this is non fiction, you don't need to do a ton of character development or world building, but you do need to give some descriptors to add more depth to your story. To do that, it helps to just answer a few questions in the story, what does your character want and why? What has your character tried to do to get the outcome they want and what's stopped them in their tracks or gone wrong or just been bad or unexpected? These things of course can be internal or external, real or imagined, or a combination of all of the above. And then of course, do they achieve the outcome, whether they do or do not, what is learned and what changes as a result of that struggle? Tip number four Only tell stories that fit your hook. Only tell stories that your reader needs to know in order to achieve the outcome you want for them. At the end of this book, you can have an amazing, unbelievable story that you want everyone to hear that doesn't mean you should share that story in your book. If you can't tie it back to the hook of your book, it won't serve the book and it won't serve your readers. So save it for the next book. Still struggling to nail down the hook of your book? We talk about that all the time on this channel, so make sure you've subscribed to the channel and turn those notifications on so you can get all the great content. Plus, when you comment the day a video is released, you can get entered to win some sweet noboringbook swag like our hashtag noboringbooksmug or our oh so soft journal. No matter whether the story is great or not, if you can't find a tie in to your hook, it's gotta go. Last but certainly not least, tip number five. This is another epic one from Kelly, our master of manuscripts. Kelly gave a simple but impactful strategy for telling a great Tell the truth in nonfiction, Authors often tell only part of the story to try to make their readers feel or think a certain way. Maybe you said something inappropriate or made a decision that you're not proud or you failed miserably at something. You probably don't want your readers to judge you or think of you negatively, so you gloss over certain details or pretend they don't exist. Sometimes it's hard to put those uglier things down on paper, but if you leave them out, the book will feel flat. You have to tell the truth and all of it to really put together a dimensional story for your readers. This also goes back to a lesson I learned from the great Hollywood story expert Robert McKee. Stories get their energy from the negative. That negative is probably the very thing that embarrasses you or brings you shame, something that you want to hide. But through that emotional struggle of your negative is exactly where your readers will feel true connection and relate to you beyond that page. You don't want to write a boring book, do you? Heck no. And this video right here will help you craft that all important title and subtitle for your book so it sells. And that gives you some great hook examples too. And this video right here is how to save 1,418 hours writing your book. Pretty sure that's an important one for you, unless you have nothing but time on your hands. Either way, let's keep hanging out. So click on to the next video and I'll see you there. Coffee's on. Oh, and I've got some rum for you too. Tobias Cheers.