- Great nonfiction writing
doesn't have to be complicated
or require a lot of writing experience,
but it can be improved by using a few literary devices
to help your words flow and your reader enjoy your writing.
If you wanna write a more engaging nonfiction book
with just a little edit techniques,
then this video is for you.
(upbeat music)
Hey there, I'm Julie The Book Broad from Book Launchers.
We're your professional self publishing team,
helping you write, publish and promote a non-fiction book
that will help you have a huge impact on your readers,
and done right, will help you grow your brand,
build your business and make you money.
The best part, you keep all rights and royalties.
Straight up, I am not a literary expert.
As a kid, I wanted to be a writer
but I actually struggled a little bit
to get good grades in high school english
and I was told writers don't make money,
so I did an undergrad in business
and a masters in business.
In business school,
I was trained in the art of using jargon
to make you sound smart.
When I got in the real world
and I started studying influence
and persuasion and copywriting,
I realized that my big words and fancy phrases
were actually doing the opposite of what I wanted.
So my biggest tip that I can offer
isn't a literary device at all,
it's to simplify your writing.
Remove the jargon,
avoid big words that can be replaced by simpler words.
You don't need to be a sesquipedalian to write well.
In no specific order, here are my actual five tips
to layer into your writing
to engage your reader just a little bit more
in your nonfiction work.
Tip number one or device number one, is consonance.
Truth is, I didn't actually know what this one was called.
So I had to google it to find the name,
but it was a cool one and I wanted to include it.
It can create a bit of flow to your writing
that keeps a reader engaged.
What it is?
When you have repetition of sounds
through out a particular word or phrase,
kinda like rhyming,
it gives your writing rhythm if you can incorporate it,
and it can actually make your writing stand out.
Okay, my speaking doesn't stand out though.
It can make your writing stand out better than my speaking.
Consonance gives your writing some rhythm
if you can incorporate it,
and it absolutely can make
a standout chapter title or subtitle.
A couple of examples,
"You have to lift it while you shift it",
or "He won't eat much meat."
Or two that I'm sure you've heard before,
"Pitter Patter and cheers and beers",
if you can find them, use them.
Device number two, a simile,
which is a figure of speech
that compares two different things
using comparison words like like, or as.
I like similes,
because your reader will visualize your writing
and digest information better
when it's compared to something
people will commonly know.
This is a great tool in your writing
and in your book descriptions,
and subtitles or possibly chapter titles.
As an example, he ate his ravenously as a stray dog
that hasn't seen food in a week,
or her hair stood up like she'd been struck by lightning.
Just because your book isn't about a business topic,
doesn't mean it shouldn't read
like the latest John Grisham or Michael Connelly book.
No pressure.
Device number three, figurative language.
I'm kind of cheating here 'cause this is a catch all,
but similes aren't the only powerful language tool
for creating visualization and understanding metaphors,
personification, hyperbole, symbolism,
these are all open season
to make your writing more engaging, dramatic
and just interesting.
"He has a heart of stone",
is this pretty common metaphor as an example,
here's an example of personification,
"Julie heard the last cookie calling her name."
Those cookies, they always talk to me.
I could then be eating cookies.
Here's an example of a hyperbole.
"I told you that your book needs a great hook
at least a million times",
I think I put on my mother voice for that one.
These literary devices have been around
since dinosaurs walked the earth.
I kinda get symbolism and metaphor confused.
So just to explain those ones,
a metaphor is used to compare one thing to another
based on shared characteristics.
Symbols can but don't need
to have any characteristics in common
with what they represent.
Ultimately, you don't have to force this,
but if you can use them,
it's fantastic to help your writing.
Literary device number four, foreshadowing.
Foreshadowing is when you tease the reader
that something's going to happen in the future.
Foreshadowing can be subtle in fiction,
but in nonfiction, it's quite direct.
I like to think of it more literally and nonfiction like,
you're opening a loop in the mind
and letting them know
that you're gonna close that loop later.
This is just as an example, a way to open a chapter.
You're about to learn the single most important step
to writing a book that doesn't bore your readers to tears.
That's foreshadowing, what's about to come.
Or you can also let someone know,
right now you're uncovering the secret
to researching keywords
that will crush your competitor in Amazon.
In chapter four,
you're gonna find out how to creatively craft
your book description to use those same words
to sell your book and get the attention of search engines.
If you're thinking about your reader while you write,
this will come fairly naturally.
And while you don't want to do this constantly,
I think it's a great technique to keep a reader
flipping the pages in your book
and reading all the way to the end.
I'm currently reading "Limitless" by Jim Kwik,
and he does this a lot.
He explains the importance of something
and then he lets you know
that you're gonna layer on something else
in a later chapter to build,
on what you just learned.
Number five, alliteration.
This one is my personal favorite.
I love it for titles, chapter titles,
subtitles and well,
whenever you can do it without being cheesy.
Maybe it's because my dad
always says this to my son Jackson,
"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers."
That's an alliteration.
But here's a few others,
the five best techniques to beat boring books,
burning lovely literary devices for better writing.
So alliteration can be a really fun way
to just add a little life to your book, go ahead and try it.
And there's one literary device
that I think is overused in nonfiction.
I'm not saying you should not use it,
just you should watch out for its overuse.
And that is, the rhetorical question.
A rhetorical question is a question asked for effect,
you aren't actually expecting an answer
or wanting an answer.
I mean, they're reading your book, so they can't answer.
But questions like, do you want to make more money?
Do you want to lose weight?
Would you like to be the recognized expert in your industry?
Do you want more clients?
Do you want me to stop asking questions
and just give you tips, right?
I made my point.
I think rhetorical questions used sparingly
can have a powerful impact,
but you're usually better to be direct about it
and just say you wanna make more money
and have more clients,
that's why you picked up this book, that was smart,
because that's what you're about to learn.
Alliteration is my personal favorite literary device
that we talked about today.
What's yours?
I'd love to hear about it or hear your best example.
Let's chat about it in the comments below.
And when you comment the day a video is released,
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You are really quite cool to hang out with.
Would you like to spend
a little bit more time together today?
YouTube recommends this video for you.
I think you also might really enjoy this video
on starting your chapters in a more engaging way.
Either way, click to your chosen video.
I'm putting the coffee on
and I've got decaf available for you too,
Mr. Kevin Maguire.
I will see you there.
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