I’m a writer who uses AI to help. I’d never let AI write for me (I’m too proud, it writes boring prose, and it makes mistakes). But there are still times when a tool like ChatGPT can do things that would be much harder any other way — especially on rote, tedious research tasks. Turning…
A case study is a story. That tells you everything you need to know about how to research and write it. Specifically: do not interrupt case study stories with any other type of content. What you read here comes from experience researching, interviewing, writing, and publishing more than 100 case studies in business books, as…
Case studies will make your business book more credible and readable. But they don’t all have the same impact. After writing more than one hundred case studies in my own books and editing hundreds of others, I’ve developed this set of criteria you can use to evaluate your own case study list. More is better,…
In Medium, Stian Westlake rails against “The Tyranny of Malcolms,” that is, those Malcolm Gladwellesque anecdotes people often use to open nonfiction book chapters. Since I’ve written (both in this blog and in my new book) that you should consider opening your chapters with a story, I feel compelled to explain why it’s still a…
A great collection of case studies and stories are what make business books come alive. But if the protagonists of your stories all look alike, you’re limiting your audience and constraining your insights. An expansive view of diversity The purpose of case studies and other stories in your book is to allow your reader to…
Are you contemplating starting the journey to writing a new book? It’s intimidating, I know. If you have some idea of what you want to write, here are five steps you can take to move that idea forward. 1 Talk to smart people Who do you know that’s knowledgeable about your topic? If you’re writing…
Business books are made of ideas and frameworks, stories, proof points, argumentation, and advice. That’s what you need to build one. So what does it take to assemble all of that? Let’s examine a 50,000-word book, which is typical these days (somewhat shorter than in past years). A hardback typically has 250 words per page,…
Like bacon, stories will make everything you write more compelling. They are the most important element of your nonfiction book. (If eating bacon is offensive to you, this metaphor won’t work for you, so don’t read on.) Here is why stories are like bacon: A little goes a long way No one wants a meal…
Business book chapters are made out of ideas, stories, research, argumentation, and advice. To be readable, you need to maximize the stories and advice. Very simple: look at the chapter draft you wrote. Measure the number of words dedicated to each type of element: Ideas and frameworks. Principles you use to make your points. Stories….