Non-Fiction Book Writing Tips for Better Reader Engagement

Great nonfiction writing doesn't have to be complicated or require a lot of writing experience, but it can be improved by using a few literary devices to help your words flow and your reader enjoy your writing. If you want to write a more engaging nonfiction book with just a few little added techniques, then this video is for you. Hey there, I'm Julie the book broad from Book Launchers. We're your professional self publishing team helping you write, publish and promote a nonfiction book that will help you have a huge impact on your readers and done right will help you grow your brand, build your business, and make you money. The best part? You keep all rights and royalties. Straight up I am not a literary expert. As a kid I wanted to be a writer, but I actually struggled a little bit to get good grades in high school English and I was told writers don't make money. So I did an undergrad in business and a master's in business. In business school, I was trained in the art of using jargon to make you sound smart. But when I got in the real world and I started studying influence and persuasion and copywriting, I realized that my big words and fancy phrases were actually doing the opposite of what I wanted. So my biggest tip that I can offer isn't a literary device at all. It's to simplify your writing. Remove the jargon. Avoid big words that can be replaced by simpler words. You don't need to be a sesquipedalian to write well. In no specific order, here are my actual five tips to layer into your writing to engage your reader just a little bit more in your nonfiction work. Tip number one or device number one is consonants. Truth is, I didn't actually know what this one was called, so I had to google it to find the name. But it was a cool one and I wanted to include it. It can create a bit of flow to your writing that keeps a reader engaged. What it is when you have repetition of sounds throughout a particular word or phrase, kind of like rhyming, it gives your writing rhythm if you can incorporate it and it can actually make your writing stand out. Okay, my speaking doesn't stand out though it can make your writing stand out better than my speaking consonants. Gives your writing some rhythm if you can incorporate it. And it absolutely can make a standout chapter, title or subtitle. A couple of examples. You have to lift it while you shift it or he won't eat much meat. Or two that I'm sure you've heard before. Pitter patter and cheers and beers. If you can Find them, use them. Device number two A simile, which is a figure of speech that compares two different things using comparison words like, like, or as. I like similes because your reader will visualize your writing and digest information better when it's compared to something people will commonly know. This is a great tool in your writing and in your book descriptions and subtitles or possibly chapter titles. As an example, he ate as ravenously as a stray dog that hasn't seen food in a week, or her hair stood up like she'd been struck by lightning. Just because a book isn't about a business topic doesn't mean it shouldn't read like the latest John Grisham or Michael Connelly book. No pressure. Device number three Figurative language. I'm kind of cheating here because this is a catch all, but similes aren't the only powerful language tool for creating visualization and understanding. Metaphors, personification, hyperbole, symbolism. These are all open season to make your writing more engaging, dramatic, and just interesting. He has a heart of stone. Is this pretty common metaphor? As an example, here's an example of personification. Julie heard the last cookie calling her name. Those cookies, they always talk to me. I could then be eating cookies. Here's an example of a hyperbole I told you that your book needs a great hook at least a million times. I think I put on my mother voice for that one. These literary devices have been around since dinosaurs walked the earth. I kind of get symbolism and metaphor confused. So just to explain those ones, a metaphor is used to compare one thing to another based on shared characteristics. Symbols can, but don't need to have any characteristics in common with what they represent. Ultimately, you don't have to force this, but if you can use them, it's fantastic to help your writing. Literary Device number Foreshadowing Foreshadowing is when you tease the reader that something's going to happen in the future. Foreshadowing can be subtle in fiction, but in nonfiction, it's quite direct. I like to think of it more literally in nonfiction, like you're opening a loop in the mind and letting them know that you're going to close that loop later. This is just as an example, a way to open a chapter you're about to learn the single most important step to writing a book that doesn't bore your readers to tears. That's foreshadowing what's about to come. Or you can also let someone know. Right now, you're uncovering the secret to researching keywords that will crush your competitor in Amazon. In chapter four, you're going to find out how to creatively craft your book description to use those same words to sell your book and get the attention of search engines. If you're thinking about your reader while you write, this will come fairly naturally. And while you don't want to do this constantly, I think it's a great technique to keep a reader flipping the pages in your book and reading all the way to the end. I'm currently reading Limitless by Jim Quick and he does this a lot. He explains the importance of something, and then he lets you know that you're going to layer on something else in a later chapter to build on what you just learned. Number five Alliteration. This one is my personal favorite. I love it for titles, chapter titles, subtitles, and well, whenever you can do it without being cheesy. Maybe it's because my dad always says this to my son Jackson. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. That's an alliteration. But here's a few others. The five Best Techniques to Beat Boring Books Learning Lovely Literary Devices for Better Writing so alliteration can be a really fun way to just add a little life to your book. Go ahead and try it. And there's one literary device that I think is overused in nonfiction. I'm not saying you should not use it, just you should watch out for its overuse. And that is the rhetorical question. A rhetorical question is a question asked for effect. You aren't actually expecting an answer or wanting an answer. I mean, they're reading your book so they can't answer. But questions like do you want to make more money? Do you want to lose weight? Would you like to be the recognized expert in your industry? Do you want more clients? Do you want me to stop asking questions and just give you tips? Right. I made my point. I think rhetorical questions used sparingly can have a powerful impact, but you're usually better to be direct about it. Say you want to make more money and have more clients. That's why you picked up this book. That was smart, because that's what you're about to learn. Alliteration is my personal favorite literary device that we talked about today. What's yours? I'd love to hear about it. Or hear your best example. Let's chat about it in the comments below. And when you comment, the day a video is released, you'll be entered to win some sweet book launcher swag like our oh so Soft journal or our NoboringBooks mug which Coffee, tea and hot chocolate are all proven to taste better in it. We have new videos every Tuesday and Friday. You are really quite cool to hang out with. Would you to spend a little bit more time together today? YouTube recommends this video for you. I think you also might really enjoy this video on starting your chapters in a more engaging way. Either way, click to your chosen video. I'm putting the coffee on and I've got decaf available for you too, Mr. Kevin McGuire. I will see you there.