1. Become a good listener
At a recent writing workshop, I listened to the many questions members of the audience asked about writing and publishing their books. A few of them are
· Do we need to finish a book before submitting it to a publisher?
· How do I go about organizing the information I've been writing for years?
· What's involved in self-publishing my book?
· How do I know if I can trust an editor with my manuscript?
· How do I decide on the topic of my book?
People reveal a lot about themselves as they speak and especially when they ask questions. If you are a good listener you learn a lot about people, their intentions and their underlying messages. By listening to their questions about your topic area you know what parts of your topic you most need to cover.
A good listener is an active listener. Trial lawyers use active listening when they connect pieces of seemingly unrelated testimony to formulate questions and lure a witness into a damming admission. I'm not suggesting that you become devious but listening actively can help you better understand others and more importantly be able to target your writing to the exact solution the reader needs.
As an active listener, be attentive to what the speaker doesn't say. It's as important as being attentive to what he does say. Look for non-verbal cues such as facial expressions and posture to get the full gist of what the speaker is telling you.
2. Stimulate people to give you helpful answers
A successful hunter must point his weapon at the target before he pulls the trigger. The extent to which he can get the prey in his sights and keep it there is the extent to which he will hit his intended target.
Likewise, to become a successful nonfiction author, you must give people the answers and solutions to their problems, concerns, and pain. To do that, you must find out what these are.
Ask questions that help you understand the needs of your readers, your audience or your social media fans.
You can ask an open-ended question like
What do you struggle with most in trying to [lose weight, write your book, save money or whatever is your topic]?
If you decide to give options, it's important to give an "Other" option so they can add what you couldn't anticipate.
When you are in a live conversation with the potential reader, follow-up questions can be very telling. For example, if someone indicates that he struggles with getting started on a diet, what do he means specifically: finding a program that works, working with a program she owns but deciding how to fit it into her life, is she between a liquid diet or one that involves food, or fear of feeling deprived or having to spend extra money on special foods. Knowing specifically which of these concerns the reader will help you address your writing directly to those
