Seven Steps to a More Compelling, Engaging and Readable Book
Making Sure Your Book Gets Read, Referred, Talked About, and Bought More!
(Excerpted from The Well-Fed Self-Publisher: How to Turn One Book into a Full-Time Living, by Peter Bowerman. Fanove, 2006. www.wellfedsp.com).
How many best sellers have you ever read that were dry, boring, or uninspired? Not many, Id wager. Write an interesting, compelling book, and youll be ahead of the pack out of the gate. Sure, some people are inherently gifted when it comes to wordsmithing, but anyone can improve their skills by following a few simple guidelines. And remember whats at stake nothing less than the success of your book.
The suggestions that follow are all about making your writing more clear, concise, conversational, coherent, and compelling all of which, incidentally, is about considering your audience.
Write like you talk (at your best...)
I keep this rule front and center when I write, which is probably why my books have earned such high marks for their readability. For some inexplicable reason, many verbally articulate people often seem to be taken over by some alien power that compels them to adopt an awkward, stilted, wooden tone when it comes to writing.
When people read anything, I say theres a voice in their mind narrating those words to them. As such, read everything you write out loud, and make sure it has an engaging, conversational tone (within reason, depending on the subject matter). If it doesnt, work on it until it does. And dont be afraid to use plenty of contractions; theyll make your copy infinitely lighter and more conversational. Its true. Youll see.
Give your audience credit
Dont overwrite. We all know the good feeling we get when someone we respect highly for his or her intelligence assumes were just as smart. Want to win over readers? Assume theyre bright enough to catch on without spelling it all out like you would to a 10-year-old. Itll flatter them, and a flattered reader is an interested reader.
Sure, there are times when you have to write to a lowest common denominator, and yes, clarity is next to godliness, but dont overdo it. And remember: if youre writing a how-to guide, address your readers directly as you, not the third-person them.
Make every word pull its weight
I once heard an exceptionally useful writing tip: If a word doesnt move the story forward, cut it. Words should not be used to showcase your ability to fill up white space, or as a forum for flexing your linguistic muscles. Words are the building blocks of a story. Dont just have them parading around, impressed with themselves, leaning on their shovels watching other words work, or taking up space in some other way (like Im probably doing here...).
We could learn a lot from public signage. Not Responsible For Lost or Stolen Articles. The Were upfront is understood. Keep Off Grass. Not You Need to Yield. Not Yield to Oncoming Traffic.
Make your writing disappear
When you write something, your goal should be to disappear from the process. Readers should just get the idea, without even noticing the words. Words should be the vehicle of a thought or an idea, not a distraction. Its like two workers. One quietly and effectively does his job right the first time, without drawing attention to himself. The other makes a big show of what hes doing, and being more concerned with having everyone know what hes up to, ends up doing a mediocre job.
Cadence is everything
Whats wrong with this paragraph?
The first step of our business process is to understand your goals. We follow that by determining the best avenue to get there. Our solutions always end up being simple, direct and effective. And the feedback weve received has been uniformly positive.
All the sentences are roughly the same length. Big problem. Its too mechanical. This is NOT a good example of Write like you talk. Mix it up. Short and long. Like Ive done in this paragraph.
Start in the middle
I start off many chapters of my books with a story that drops the reader right in the middle of things. It just makes for more compelling reading. This device has become second nature to me, and given how easy a way it is to make writing more interesting, Im not sure why its not used more. Once youve grabbed the readers attention, you can continue on with a more conventional approach. Its more effective, its more engaging, and its a heckuva lot more fun to write.
Focus on the Reading, Not the Writing
Two meanings: 1) Focus on the sound and flow of the piece as its being read so it reads naturally, free of excess words, awkward syntax or robotic rhythm, and 2) (more global) Always write with the reader in mind, and try to appeal to that particular reader; dont just focus on the words for their own sake.
Succeeding with your self-published book is a lot of work, but its far easier if you write that book with a more interesting, engaging voice one that draws readers in, keeps them reading, and then has them tell others about it!
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Cant land a publisher? Do it yourself, and make a living from it! Check out a free report on self-publishing at www.wellfedsp.com, home of author Peter Bowermans award-winning 2007 release, The Well-Fed Self-Publisher: How to Turn One Book into a Full-Time Living.
About the Author: Peter Bowerman is the self-published author of The Well-Fed Writer titles (www.wellfedwriter.com), multiple-award winning selections of Book-of-the-Month Club. Over 50,000 copies of his first two books in print have earned him a full-time living for over five years.
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