How non-fiction bestsellers are written: 5 creative techniques

Why do some books make it to the bestseller lists?

And others don’t?

It starts of course with a good idea.

Then there’s book marketing.

But how a book is written matters a lot, too.

The smartest non-fiction writers know how to captivate their audience and how to communicate their ideas with power and pizzazz.

They harness 5 powerful creative techniques to write their bestselling books.

Want to know which?

1. Stories in miniature

Stories in non-fiction?

Yes, yes, yes.

Without stories, non-fiction becomes rather dry and dull.

Stories make ideas come alive; they captivate your audience, add drama, and keep people reading; they add sparkle and interest.

And last but not least, research shows that stories provide context and therefore make ideas easier to comprehend and remember.

Adam Grant’s book Hidden Potential showcases how to captivate readers with non-fiction writing. Throughout his book, Grant tells stories to explain and entertain.

For instance, in his chapter on perfectionism, Grant tells the story of award-winning architect Ando to explain that excellence doesn’t equal flawlessness:

When Ando designed his second house, the entire lot was less than 200 square feet. The constraints of the space meant that even if he sought perfection, it would be unattainable.

He had to settle for a design with some fundamental flaws. He built a tiny concrete box without any windows—there was only a skylight at the top.

Stories work best when we take readers by the hand and let them walk with us into our stories. Note how we can imagine standing in that house—a tiny concrete box. We see no windows, until we look up and see the skylight.

A good non-fiction book requires at least one miniature story per chapter. So, look for a stories that help explain your ideas and breathe life into your ideas.

2. A large dollop of substance

A story engages us emotionally and helps us remember.

But we need some substance, too—a connection to the bigger picture. That’s what data and research results are for.

Here’s Adam Grant again:

Extensive evidence shows that it’s having high personal standards, not pursuing perfection, that fuels growth. Many people interpret that as advice to shift from be the best to do your best. But aiming for your best is not the best alternative. Across hundreds of experiments, people who are encouraged to do their best perform worse—and learn less—than those who are randomly assigned to goals that are specific and difficult.

This brief description of the research makes me curious. I would have liked Grant to dwell on the research a bit longer: What drove the researchers? What happened exactly? Behind each piece of research there’s an interesting story, too.

But, of course, these short summaries in Grant’s book work, too. They show us that his ideas are backed up by research.

Remember, stories add emotion; data add substance.

3. A splash of color

The best way to add color?

Use metaphors. They add both power and pizzazz to your writing:

• Power because they help explain abstract ideas more clearly, making them easy to remember.
• Pizzazz because they make your writing more interesting and unique.

Here’s Grant again:

If perfectionism were a medication, the label would alert us to common side effects. Warning: may cause stunted growth.

The power of metaphors lies in the concrete imagery—like the label on a medicine bottle. Abstract ideas are hard to remember but concrete images are sticky.

I love the imagery at the end of the chapter on perfectionism, too:

After the earthquake rocked Kobe, Ando wanted to preserve the artifacts of the past and renew hope for the future. On the waterfront overlooking the mountains, he designed an art museum. The deck features a sculpture of his own: a giant green apple. “In life, it’s better to be green—and the greener the better,” Ando declares. “The green apple is a symbol of youth.”

Ando is now in his eighties, and his youth is reflected in his ongoing desire to grow. Aspiring to stay green is a commitment to continued growth, to staying unfinished. An apple that isn’t ripe is not fully formed—it’s incomplete and imperfect. That’s what makes it beautiful.

In every chapter of his book Hidden Potential, Grant uses metaphors, and it’s fab.

How to dream up metaphors for your book?

First, pick a field you’re interested in, like parenting, sports, cooking, or gardening.

Next, try comparing things at the same level: A process to a process, a thing to a thing, or a role to a role.

Lastly, add sensory details to make the metaphor more vivid—like Grant did with the medicine bottle and the green apple.

Metaphors are the spices of your writing.

4. Your secret sauce

We often see writing as a monologue.

A writer is sharing their thoughts with us, right?

Not quite. Good writing is a conversation, and that requires your presence as a writer. Your stories, experiences, and opinions help you connect with your readers.

Grant writes about dealing with perfectionism in his diving practice:

Eric told me that when announcers rave about dives getting perfect 10s, they’re making a mistake. There’s no such thing as a perfect dive. Even in the Olympic judging rules, a 10 doesn’t stand for perfection—it stands for excellence. He was teaching me the art of wabi sabi.

The lesson hit home: I didn’t need to be perfect. I just needed to aim for a clear, high target.

Eric worked with me to set goals for each dive at the edge of my abilities. On my bread-and-butter basic dive, a front dive pike, we started off aiming for a 6.5. But on my more complicated, shaky flip with a twist, all I needed was a 5.

And if I was learning a new dive, we’d settle for anything above a 0. In other words, not a failure: I’d made the dive.

Readers want to know who they’re having a conversation with, and Grant obliges: He shares his personal stories—not just to connect but also to explain his ideas.

Do you leave a piece of yourself in your writing, too?

5. A final kick

Like the spicy kick of chili peppers, soundbites reinforce key messages, letting them linger in your mind.

Adam Grant is a master of soundbites. For instance, the subheading for the chapter on perfectionism is a great soundbite:

Finding the Sweet Spot between Flawed and Flawless

I like the phrase sweet spot; it’s concrete and sensory and has a positive connotation. It’s where you’d like to be, right? And then the contrast between flawed and flawless adds drama to this subhead.

We usually think of mastery as striving for excellence, if not perfection. But Grant turns this idea on its head:

The more you grow, the better you know which flaws are acceptable.

This soundbite summarizes the story of architect Ando in one memorable line; it’s the essence of how to deal with perfectionism according to Grant.

Can you summarize the key idea of a book chapter in just one memorable line, too?

A recipe for writing a non-fiction book

Writing a book can feel like an impossibly big task.

But you don’t have to do it all in one go.

Get your ideas on paper first, then work on each of the techniques discussed, chapter by chapter.

Add a story. Find some data. Dream up a metaphor. Formulate a sound bite. And leave a piece of you in your writing.

The key to is to keep momentum going.

Do some work daily-ish, and you’ll be surprised how far you’ll get. Paragraph by paragraph, chapter by chapter, your book will sprout, grow, and flower.

Eventually, your book—your baby—will captivate and inspire your readers.

Happy writing!