Reading competitive authors can teach new writers a lot about establishing a strong foundational structure. Many rely on consistency when mapping a how-to. This structure helps readers quickly navigate through a book to find the information they most need. How-to authors are masters at consistent organizational flow. Dissect the “Structure of Chapters” section in this how-to I edited to see what I mean.
Regardless of the subject matter, the goal of a good how-to is to ensure that a reader’s page-by-page navigation is so helpful that the experience becomes a pleasure they recommend to others. Readers don’t want predictable content — the death knell of many a self-published how-to — but they appreciate being able to quickly identify how to use an informational resource.
So, how do you establish a consistent chapter structure when you have so much information about your expertise to share? Where do you begin?
Establish your table of contents, your TOC.
- What specific problem will each chapter cover?
- Take the time to write a brief summary for each chapter.
- Take a page to explain what the chapter will cover, how you plan to cover it and why it’s important to cover.
- What do you want readers to reflect upon before they read each chapter? Save that brief intro to launch your chapter.
Consider consistent subheads in each chapter.
- Consistent subheads are like ID tags that provide easier navigation for readers.
- Strive for a fairly consistent number of subtopics and global subheads you choose per chapter.
- Consistency helps you, as the writer,
- focus on the most pressing issues per topic
- identify and avoid subtopics that are too similar
- see the light at the end of the tunnel and finish your book
Include relevant, up-to-date support.
Once you get to the heart of each chapter’s issue, choose relevant support to for believability. Choose them with care and discernment. With the strategies you provide, can readers easily examine and tackle the problems you know how to solve? Which chapters need:
- real-life scenarios
- compare-and-contrasting examples
- evidence-based research
- sequential steps
- quick tips to make things easier
- workbook lists
- illustrations, charts, graphs
- daily action items to practice
Rely on consistency. Enjoy the payoff book mapping delivers.
Design each chapter to help your readers in practical ways. That includes keeping chapter patterns familiar. Add different elements and types of examples per topic. Whenever you can, identify where readers find specific information and answers, whether under a designated subhead handling that part of the process or in a larger resource section.
Ironically, the introduction to your book may be the last thing you write. Tell readers what they can expect from your how-to and how to use the book. Then explain your unique message. By now, your chapters will be structured enough to help them navigate forward while the ground rules have a solid foundation to help readers get the most out of the expert advice you have to offer.