Julie Broad shares how to write non-fiction chapters that grip readers: open with your juiciest personal story, not background. Use emotion and your own expertise to beat AI-generated content. Think of each chapter like a great song, with unexpected analogies that stick.
Chapters
Open up with action and emotion. Instead, start with the juiciest part and work backwards. If your book is about overcoming burnout, start with the gruesome story you have on how burnout nearly killed you. A lot of books might start off going burnout is killing the workforce, and the solution isn't to help your employees work less. It's okay, so why don't you try saying something like I was lying on the bathroom floor at 2am My laptop was still open, that email was half written and I couldn't get off the floor. I My whole body felt weighed down. And that's when I realized I can't keep going like this and enter your burnout story. Another thing is to use AI, but don't write like AI writes. In a world where everyone is using AI for everything, it's never been more important to be a human. This means you need to bring in your personal stories, your expertise, and yes, your emotion. Because the very thing that will make your book unique and something that will have people talking is. Is you. Speaking of standing out in the crowd, make every chapter something that stands out. Don't be like that album that we all bought where there was only one good song. Make every chapter a great song. As you finish a chapter, ask yourself, would this make a Great article for LinkedIn or Medium? Or would it be a great talk that you can stand on stage and give this chapter as a talk? All right, final thing. Use unexpected analogies. Let's not use the old, tried and true analogy. You can. You know, one of the ones that comes to mind is creativity is like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. Well, instead of saying that, find your own version. Creativity is a toddler. Wild, unpredictable, and always better when you let it play. So find your own way to say things. You know another one in the writing world is the pen is mightier than the sword. Instead, you could say, tweets topple tyrants faster than tanks. Now your ideas are going to stick. Writing a nonfiction book that stands out? It's not about dumping knowledge. It's about crafting an experience for your reader.
