How do you start writing a nonfiction book? An Outline Method For Your Nonfiction Book is the way to start! No matter what nonfiction book genre you are writing under or whether you are an entrepreneur, CEO, businessperson, mom, or just a regular person with an amazing story, you need a book outline. Or you can always hire a writing coach or ghostwriter to help get your story on paper.
This article is designed to help you find the best outline method for your nonfiction book.
Match An Outline Method To Your Nonfiction Book
The book outline you choose depends on what type of business book you plan on writing. This might sound obvious; however, it can be hard to see which book outline will help you finish writing your business book or nonfiction book when you are lost in the details. So, let’s take a step back and look at the four main types of nonfiction structures:
- Transformational Memoir
- Chapter-by-Chapter Book Outline
- Thought Leadership
- Collection Of Interviews
Transformational Memoir
The type of nonfiction or business book that uses this outline is based on the author’s story. Here, the author tells their own story of personal transformation, where they walk readers through their experience. The goal here is for readers to relate to the story and learn something from it. This structure can be a powerful way to get your message across.
If you plan to write a transformational memoir, then the best type of book outline to follow is a “Simple Book Outline”.
For this outline, you will want to begin by taking a piece of paper and listing out the main points in your story along with the lessons you learned from each of them. Next, you will want to organize that list. You can either organize it chronologically or split it up into themes and ideas. Both these routes are valid and depend on the subject matter.
Step-by-Step Change Guide
The type of nonfiction or business book that uses this outline often centers around coaching. It is where the author helps readers make their own transformation. I find this structure to work best if you turn your signature coaching or consulting program into a book. This nonfiction book is excellent and will help you gain a whole new audience and customer base while also helping you gain more credibility.
The outline that works best for the “Step-by-Step Change Guide” nonfiction book structure is the ‘Chapter-by-Chapter Book Outline”. The “Chapter-by-Chapter Book Outline” is a more detailed version of the “Simple Book Outline”. For this book outline method, you will first create a complete chapter list, with titles of each chapter, and then write down each chapter’s key points.
Thought Leadership Book Outline
You have probably read a few Thought Leadership articles in the media. I have also written a few for Huffington Post and my authors have had Thought Leadership articles published in Forbes, Inc., and others. A Thought Leadership book is slightly different from the article version as it is a much longer format. A Thought Leadership book is where the author describes what they know and their opinions around it. The goal is to get readers to take action after finishing the book.
I find that a Thought- Leadership-structured book is a bit more difficult to plan outlines for, as the structure is more varied. For this structure, I would recommend picking a book outline based on your writing style instead. Feel free to reach out if you would like more guidance on structuring a Thought Leadership book- as these types of books need a more custom approach.
Collection Of Interviews Outline
The type of nonfiction or business book that uses this outline uses interviews to support its ideas to give more explanations. This structure for a nonfiction book is great if you love talking to and meeting new people. The best book outline for this book structure is one in which you create a new chapter for each interview or theme. For instance, if your book is about animals and you are interviewing various zookeepers, you might want to take a theme approach. However if you are interviewing people who have different areas of expertise around a theme, such as medical professionals talking about cancer, then a chapter-per-interviewee approach would work better.
Each of these four nonfiction or business book structures have overlap. However, rarely does a business book fit into more than one of these categories.
How To Prepare To Outline Your Nonfiction Book
Once you know which outline method for your nonfiction book you want to go with, it is time to fill in that outline. To make filling out the book outline feel less daunting, imagine giving out a brief face-to-face presentation or workshop to your targeted reader. Your outline should then derive naturally from that imaginary presentation.
To deliver that imaginary presentation, here’s what you need to nail down:
- How can you set the stage in 60 seconds?
- What are the 5 to 10 most important high-level key points you want to make?
- What are the 5 to 10 best examples and/or case studies for each point you’re making?
- How can you wrap everything up in 2 minutes so that the client (aka reader) is ready and willing to take action right now?
Preparing For Success As A Nonfiction Writer
When writing and creating an outline for your nonfiction book, it is vital to understand the “why” behind it. Why do you want to write your book? What is the objective? What does success look like for you?
Here is a list of reasons why people write nonfiction books:
- To leave a legacy:
Some future authors want to publish a book to check it off from their bucket list and leave a lifelong treasure and memory for future generations.
- To inspire or help others:
This is where a future author has a great story and wants to use their experience to teach and guide people towards success.
- To improve credibility and authority:
Writing a book is an excellent way of showcasing your knowledge. In a nonfiction book, you can include case studies, research, and your own thoughts.
- To generate new leads:
Books are great marketing tools to generate new leads and sales. Think of a nonfiction book as a business card.
- To win speaking events:
Being an author increases your chances of getting paid speaking gigs. Plus, speaking gigs are a great way to engage with your target reader and sell more books.
- To make money:
Making money from your nonfiction book requires long-term marketing and can help grow your overall business.
Take some time and decide which of the above reasons apply to you before you start writing your full book. Maybe your goal is to achieve all of the reasons listed, or maybe you are writing for just one of those reasons. No matter, it is important to understand what your goal is before you start writing. Remember, knowing what you want to achieve makes it easier to achieve it.
How does an outline help you finish writing your nonfiction book faster
Well, creating a book outline will help keep your writing more focused and consistent. The book outline will prevent you from getting writer’s block and will stop you from going on any tangents.
An outline for your nonfiction book allows you to have one place where you have everything you want to say, in the order in which you want to say it, and reminds you where you are in your story. The book outline is also the perfect place to move ideas around until you are happy with the flow and order. It is a lot easier to shift an outline around than a finished book.
The conclusion To How to Choose An Outline Method For Your Nonfiction Book
I have found that the best reason to use a writing outline for your nonfiction book is that you will finish your book faster. Why? Well, just like starting a business, you need a plan first. So, you need to treat your nonfiction book like a business. Remember, the book itself is a product and needs a plan before you start building it.
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