Last month we looked at structuring your fiction story. This month we’ll look at structuring nonfiction.
While nonfiction has no plot, you still must ensure that your topic flows in an organized manner from beginning to end.
Does your subject matter fit a chronological arrangement? Perhaps it better fits a topical structure or even a step-by-step flow. Maybe there are overall themes that serve as sections/parts for your book and specific topics that fit under each theme.
For example, in my upcoming book Self-editing & Publishing Tips for the Indie Author, I arranged my information into the sections of publishing, editing, marketing, and business. Under each section are chapters specific to those themes.
In my book Carried by Grace, everything falls into a chronological order because that’s what made the best sense for the the subject matter.
Brainstorm the specific topics you plan to write about to help you determine the best overall structure for your book. Look for commonalities among the topics that might serve as sections.
From there, I recommend at least a bare bones outline—list the topic for each chapter (one topic per chapter) in the order they need to occur. Doing this will help you see if you have the correct order.
Do you mind map? Try mind mapping the book. Here’s a blog post I wrote on mind mapping fiction, but you can easily adjust this for nonfiction as well.
Next, ensure that your chapters…
- hook the reader
- wrap up well
- transition smoothly to the next chapter, and
- provide take-away value.
Overall, I think structuring nonfiction is much less complicated than fiction. But if you have any questions, put them in the comments or email me.