Non- Fiction Book and Article Devices

There are four devices you need to master to write most books or an article. They are Exposition, Quotes From Authorities, Anecdotes or Examples, and Statistics. Once you master these, you can write almost any kind of non-fiction like a pro.

Exposition or Explanation

You, the author just put your thoughts down on paper. Generally you start with a heading topic and fill it In.

Example 1:

Here is a heading from one of my books. You've seen this before.

 Understanding Magazines as a Business,

 I started by saying, "Lets first understand what magazines are. They aren't, as some writers seem to believe, a place to show off a writer's work. Magazines are businesses in which someone has invested money in hopes of making more money in return.

Example 2:

(The point) Geographic Setting

(The narrative) Lake Tahoe is the largest sub alpine lake in North America. At 22 miles long and 12 miles wide it is a beautiful expense of deep, blue water. What makes it so intensely blue? It's depth. At its deepest point Lake Tahoe plunges to 1645 feet with an average depth of approximately 900 feet. With its huge surface area, that's a lot of water. Tahoe is blue, also because it is so clear and clean. The clarity is primarily due to the fact that the basin around the lake is fairly small, the water very cold, and the soils and vegetation have prevented nutrients from entering the lake where they increase algae growth.

So, just tell your readers about the topic. If your were writing a book on plumbing, or how to lay tile you could just talk to the reader. But for books on broader topics you need to prove what you say, and you do this with, (1) Quotes from Authorities, (2) Examples or (3) Anecdotes and Statistics.  Lets look at this

Quotes From Authorities

You find this device used frequently. Make a statement and then prove it with quotes from authorities.  These can take on several forms. They can vary from informal quotes from someone like the old ranger to quotes from an authority like Colin Powell.  You can also use multiple quotes. Here are some examples

Example 1: from Making a Difference, Sheila Murray Bethel. 

(The point) The Right Motives or the Right Moves.   The vast majority of successful businesses are based on ethical behavior and standards.

(The quote from authorities) When I discussed ethics with Bill Weiz, vice chairman of Motorola, Bill said, "Ethics is the most important leadership quality because you have to have that play in the game at all. Honesty and integrity are required of everyone in a business or a company, but most especially the leaders. After that, the other (leadership qualities) become critical. But first everyone in the system must have high standards." All organizations have rules and regulations by which they operate, but our policy manuals alone are insufficient and imperfect decision-making tools. They're effective only when we use them in combination with ethical judgment.

Example 2: From 12 Steps to Mastering the Winds of Change, Erik Olsen

(the Point): Understand that Setbacks Can Make You Stronger.

(the quote from authorities) In 1986 actress Jill Eikenberry completed the pilot for a new television show, "L.A. Law." She and her husband, actor Michael Tucker, felt excited about the prospect for the show. They planned to leave their home in New York and move to L.A. if NBC accepted the pilot.

            Suddenly their rosy future turned dark. In May, Eikenberry's doctor told her she had breast cancer.

            "The news came completely out of the blue," Eikenberry told me. "At first I thought I was going to die and that was it. I spent some time just lying on the bed and crying, unable to imagine how my family was going to get along without me." …….. Eikenberry told me how it was for her. "I just had to keep on keeping on," she said. " And today everybody says, 'Oh that must have been so hard for you.' And it was. But if you have something else you have to do it helps."……

            Jill Eikenberry kept on keeping on and discovered that change and setbacks really can make you stronger.

Example 3: Making a Difference, Sheila Murray Bethel

(The point) The Right Motives or the Right Moves

(The quotes from authorities): A young executive recently said to me, "How can I worry about ethics when we are involved in a hostile takeover and we're fighting for our existence?" My answer was, "You don't have to put ethics on the shelf while doing corporate battle. Without ethics, even if you win, you lose." Every time we say or do something unethical we chip away at the foundation of our moral character. The more we are unethical, the easier it becomes. We diminish ourselves and out ability to make a difference."

Anecdotes or Examples

After you have established the point of a particular section, then you can use an example or an anecdote to prove that point. This, in effect, is often a little story that proves your point.

Example 1: Here is an example from Linked For Life by Marvin Todd. Marvin's subtitle was:

You Did Not Choose Them--They Are a Non returnable Item. 

You can simply start with an example or anecdote that illustrates the main point like this. .

Six-year-old Sandy says the worst day of her life was the day her brother, Theodore, was born. Sandy will come to both love and hate Theodore, and he will admire her and look to her for leadership. She will be won over by him, come to appreciate him as he learns to appreciate her. He was an intruder in her safe world and, if she could, she would have "returned" him to his own world.  

This example goes for another 4 paragraphs, but the point is made at the end of the first paragraph

Example 2: Cutting A New Edge: Making a Difference, Sheila Murray Bethel

We now illustrate this topic with an anecdote.

            Many risk takers have been called "crackpots" at some time. King Camp Gillette was one such man. He risked ridicule and changed the way we think about one of our most common tools. He had what everyone called a cockeyed invention. They said his idea was insane. He could find no investors. No mechanic would take on the project to make a prototype. Experienced cutlers, metal workers and even experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said it just couldn't  be done: No one could make a razor sharp enough to give a good clean shave and cheap enough to be thrown away when dull. It took Gillette four years to produce the first disposable blade and six more to get it on the market. The first year Gillette sold fifty-one blades at $5 each. The second year, he sold 90,844 blades. Gillette changed the concept of shaving forever. In 1948 Gillette told Advertising & Selling magazine that, "If I had been a technically trained engineer, I would have quit."

So if you are an aspiring writer of non-fiction, master these. They will carry you a long ways

Example 3. John Neasbit: MegaTrends The heading is THE SHIFT FROM MONEY TO ELECTRONICS. We are going to prove this topic with an example here it is. Make your statement and then prove it with an example.

(The point)       "Another thing to think about: After the shift from barter to money, people create business that had only to do with money as money, and we have always been inventive about that for centuries, charging interest being the primary example.

            Now, with the beginnings of the shift from money to electronics, people are going to create businesses that have only to do with electronics as electronics.

            For example: The Bank of New York is selling something it calls "Checkinvest" to companies with sales between $500,000 and $10 million.  The service automatically...and electronically transfers every dollar, every day over an agreed minimum to a money-market fund back to the checking account whenever it falls below the minimum.  For this service, Bank of New York Charges $100 a month."

Statistics

The fourth device a lot of authors use to prove a point are statistics. Here is an example from The Third Wave, Toffler.

Example 1: A Pentagon of Pressures

(the point) The redefinition is not a matter of choice, but a necessary response to five revolutionary changes in the actual conditions of production.  Changes in the physical environment in the lineup of social forces, in the role of information, in government organization, and in mortality, are all pounding the corporation into a new multifaceted, multi-purposeful shape.

            (the statistics) The first of these new pressures springs from the biosphere.  In the mid-he 1950s when the Second Wave reached its mature stages in the United States, world population stood at only 2.75 billion.  Today it is over 4 billion.  In the mid-1950s the earth's population used a mere 87 quadrillion BTU of energy

Example 2: Keep it Simple

The Declaration of Independence has only 1,322 words, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address has 268 and the Lord's Prayer has 56 words. It doesn't take volumes to make an impact on people's words. It doesn't take volumes to make an impact on people's lives. The leader who understands the art and genius of simplicity has a rare gift.

Example 3: Sheila Murray Bethel, Making a Difference

Making a difference is not something that just happens; someone, somewhere has to make a decision based on certain value judgments. There are corporate leaders who have decided to spearhead some creative and wonderful programs that benefit individuals, cities, and the country as a whole. Their corporations are giving back to a society that has given them so much opportunity.

American Express decided to do their part. In November 1986, they collected three cents for every restaurant meal charged on their credit cards in New York City restaurants. The money was then donated to Citymeals-on-Wheels, a program that delivers food to the elderly and homebound. Amex collected more that 1.6 million three-penny chit donations.

Searle and Company, drug manufactures in Skokie, Illinois, wanted to make a difference. They knew that many of the heart drugs they produced were very expensive but vital to the survival of the patient. The doctors that prescribed the drugs said, "I'm sitting across from my patient and I just know they won't fill the prescription because they can't afford it." The board of directors said, "We have to do something." They decided to design a program to help alleviate the financial burden of the poorer heart patient. When a doctor prescribes one of their heart drugs to a poor person, that patient can then receive the drug free of charge for life if necessary. In 1988 Searle provided 100,000 of these prescriptions.

You can use one of these devices alone or several of them together It depends on the material itself. You mainly have to decide how it feels.

Now here is an demonstration of back to back examples and statistics combined

Change Direction When Necessary: 12 Steps to Mastering the Winds of Change, Olesen

(The point) Sometimes "toughing it out" isn't enough. Our culture puts a premium on forging ahead whatever the obstacles.

(The anecdote) In 1951, Lillian Vernon, then a pregnant twenty-four year old housewife, invited change into her life. Vernon took the money she'd received from wedding gifts and bought a supply of belts and purses. She placed a $495 ad in Seventeen Magazine, offering to personalize the items with the customer's initials. Hoping to earn $50 a week with her new business, Vernon was surprised when the ad brought in orders totaling over $32,000.

            Over the next few years, Vernon continued to run small magazine ads, expanding her product line to include personalized combs, blazer buttons and collar pins. Within a few years, she'd built a mailing list of more than 125,000 customers. Then Vernon published and mailed her first catalog to that list--sixteen black-and white pages--and the business began to grow even faster.

(Quotes from Authorities)         In the 1970s though, the good times came to an abrupt halt. " We had a period of much too rapid growth," Vernon told me. "It taxed all of our resources. We over expanded and ran out of cash. We couldn't get the orders out." …

            Vernon decided she'd change direction and try a new approach. "we tightened our belts." … Vernon's customers got their orders. They remained loyal to the company and eventually things did turn around.

Everything You Need to Know About Book Titles

A title is a title, right? All titles get changed anyway.  That happens but all authors need to come up with the best title possible for other reasons. When you go to the bookstore how do you select a book to look at? Of course it’s the title and the cover.

Let me give you an example. What if I came up with the title Men are logical, women strange.   I wouldn’t get any attention, and the editor I sent the query or proposal to probably would’ read any further before rejecting the whole idea.  But if I keep the same principle and create a better title a publisher might buy it. This title M en are From Mars, Women From Venus, using the same idea became a best seller.

Now let’s try another one. We come up with Success through bullying other people. That may be what the book is about but it is a terrible tile. So, after a lot of thought we change it to Winning Through Intimidation. Now we have a title that commands attention and sold millions of books.

Often the acquisition editor will not read beyond the title so it needs to grab the editor's attention, be appropriate for the publisher, offer an interesting, attention getting angle, and piques the acquisition editor’s curiosity.

Here are the various types of titles you can use.

The How To Title: This title states the premise clearly and offers the reader something he or she can use. Here are some examples:

• How to Flatten Your Stomach   

• The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need  
• How to Fight Fat after 40
• How to Get Rich and Stay Rich  
• Organizing from the Inside Out.
• The Gentle Craft of Beekeeping  
• Negotiating to Win   
• Mastering Executive Stress
• Awakening the Body 
• Thriving on Chaos
• The Successful Woman 
• Shopping For Health Care Plans       
• Get in Shape, Stay in Shape 
• Growing Up With Divorce 
• The Girl's Guide to Hunting & Fishing

Turning A Common Phrase: This title takes a common phrase that we are all familiar with and turns it to accommodate the subject of your book. Examples:

• Happily ever after
• Knowing Where the Heart is
• How to Get Happily Published
• A Walk in the Woods
• Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk
• Leap of Faith
• Angels and Demons
• The Smoking Gun
• Pipe Dreams                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

The Paradox Title: Use a statement about your book that seems contradictory or unbelievable. Examples:

• Something Under the Bed is Drooling
• How to Swim With Sharks Without Getting Eaten

Opposing Elements: The Thrust/Counter Thrust Principle: titles that attract attention often use contrasting words... words that don't fit together, but express the exact thrust of the book.  Advertisers use these principles all the time. One of the most popular Volkswagen ads, for instance, compared the Volkswagen (a very reliable car) to a lemon (the symbol of a very unreliable car). This one won a lot of awards.   Book titles use two ideas that don't fit together. Here are a few examples.

• How to Be Your Own Best Friend
• The Ape and the Sushi Master: Cultural Reflections of a Primatologist
• Some Men are More Perfect Than Others
• Don't Think, Smile
• Am I greedy If I Want More?
• When Bad Things Happen to Good People
• Tough Times Don't Last, Tough People Do
• How to Get From Monday to Friday in 12 Days
• Houseplants for a Purple Thumb
• Older Men, Younger Women 
• Don't Die Broke
• Auto Repair for Dummies
• How to Eat like A Thin Person
• The Frugal Gourmet
• Ten Things I Wish I had Known Before I Went Out in the Real World
• Rich Dad, Poor Dad
• Staying Up, Up, Up, in a Down, Down, Down World
• It's Not The Big That Eat the Small, It's the Fast That Eat the Slow

State the Premise of Your Book in a Few Words: This title can be difficult to come up with, but effective. Examples:

• A Separate Place: A Family, a Cabin in the Woods, and a Journey of Love and Spirit
• Rookie Cop: Deep Undercover in the Jewish Defense League
• American Dreamscape: The Pursuit of Happiness in Postwar Suburbia
• The Best American Science Writing 2000
• Tutankhamen: The Life and Death of a Boy-King
• Our Boys Speak: Adolescent Boys Write About Their Inner Lives
• Sacred Monkey River: A Canoe Trip With the Gods
• Divorce Your Car: Ending the Love Affair with the Automobile
• Great American Sex Diet: Where the Only Thing You Nibble on is Your Partner
• The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
• Claim Your Inner Grown Up: Four Essential Steps to Authentic Adulthood
• The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
• Self-Matters: Creating Your Life from the Inside Out.
• When It Was Our War: a Soldier's Wife in World War II
• All Shook Up: How Rock 'n' Roll Changed America

Who You Are Writing For?

I don’t care what you are writing: articles, non-fiction books or a novel. You need to know who your audience is and what he or she is looking for before you start writing. I have, for instance, been working on a book called Hiking after 50. Who is my audience? As I break it down, the aging baby boomer and seniors from about 60 into their 70s. One of the things I know is that this age group is hiking in record numbers and belong to hiking groups nationwide. Many live in retirement villages around the nation. Most are hiking to enjoy the outdoors and stay fit.

The aging baby boomers are almost defiant about this. They vow to never grow old and to keep challenging life. They also say today’s 60 is like the older generations 30. I know enough to never call them seniors. As you can see when writing a book you need to keep this is mind all the way through.

How does this work for articles? Same thing. I picked up a copy of the weekend newspaper insert, USA Weekend If I want to write an article for them I ask who am I writing for and how do I slant my query.

The issue I looked at had a health article titled  “The 10 most exciting New Developments to Help Your Parents Live Longer, Healthier Lives” So? What does this mean?  Think about it. This is a magazine for 30 somethings who are starting to worry about their parents. They have young children. Live in fairly nice houses and make a good income. In short they are generation Xers.

If I want to write an article for this magazine I must write for this audience.

In thinking about this remember that people have different vocabularies, value systems and levels of understanding.

So before you start, always ask yourself these questions.

What kind of a job does my reader have?

How old is he or she?

How much does this reader make?

Did he or she graduate from high school? College?

How many children are in the family?

Is the reader married, single or divorced?

What does this reader do for fun?

What political party does he or she belong to?

What kinds of magazines or books do they generally read?

What else do I need to know to write for this reader?

Once you answer these questions, you then write directly for that reader. If there is anything that will help insure a sale this is it because your book or article will talk directly to your reader.