Key to Writing Success: Go with the Flow

Flow is critical to your book selling and to bringing your readers back to you for more. Flow means: 1. move easily and smoothly 2. Continuous movement.

Flow in writing is the process of making the reader's experience a positive and rewarding experience. In order to accomplish this, YOU as the author must do everything in your power to keep the reader reading the contents in the book.

For non-fiction and entrepreneurial writers in particular, your objective is to solve a person's problem with the material in your book. In order to do that you must provide the incentives, cues, experiences, and transitions that compel the reader to keep reading.

This can be accomplished in a variety of ways. The important point to remember is to think “flow” and to always write your content from the reader's perspective.

There are two types of flow:

Aesthetic Flow—ways and means to keep the reader reading the book

Structural Flow—the formal organization of the contents of the book

Aesthetic Flow

Consider the following as suggested methods of maintaining flow in your book. These are but a few examples.

1. Organizational Flow

• Point form outlines
• Table of Contents (much more about this later)
• Questions and Answers (more ideas later)
• Headings and Sub-headings
• Breaking up of long text passages (e.g. with graphics, pictures, clip art, quotes, text boxes, line section dividers, text borders, summary statement, personal anecdotes)
• Consistent formatting of page content throughout the book
• Using topics, sub-topics, sub-sub-topics
• Following a chronological order of presentation
• Use of white space—not "crowding" the text

2. Progression Flow

• Logical
• Sequential
• Step-by-step
• Easy to difficult
• Novice to expert
• Start to finish

3. Graphics Flow

• Flow charts
• Planning diagrams
• Graphic organizers
• Examples and samples
• Indices
• Maps
• Schematic diagrams
• Structural outlines
• Graphs
• Charts
• Flow sheets
• Spreadsheets

4. Writing Flow

• Use words with few syllables
• Tell stories (especially ones about the author's experiences)
• Hook the reader with introductory statements for each chapter
• Include summary statements at the end of sections of text
• Connect one section to another with transitional paragraphs
• Keep the Readability Level at the Grade 7-10 level
• Use simple sentences
• Write in short sentences
• Keep paragraphs small (3-6 sentences—not 10+ sentences)
• Use active voice
• Include checklists
• Involve reader using questions, fill in the blanks, sentence completion, surveys, questionnaires, comment sheets….
• Create point form summaries and lists to reduce the reading and break up text
• Use repetition to help the reader anticipate the organization and be ready for it (e.g. a quote to begin each chapter that summarizes the message)

There are plenty of other ways to maintain the flow of reading in your book. If nothing else, you now have plenty of food for thought.

Structural Flow

The structural flow of a book is the way that the material in the book is organized. Two factors affect the method of organization.

The first is the presentation of the contents from the reader's perspective. Your target market (reader) is more important than you. Always remember that. You are not an effective writer if the intended audience doesn’t want to read what you have written.

The second is the background that you bring to the authoring experience both as an expert on the chosen topic and your own personality. Don't try to be something you aren't. Your book is your story—both personal and professional. You must decide, among the myriad of choices, how best to effectively present the material to your reader. A term we have coined is the author's UPP (Unique Personal Proposition). This is YOUR unique approach, background, experiences, and philosophy that you bring to the topic. Your personal story around your topic carries a great deal of weight in building reader confidence. This helps convert the customer to a client, and that’s what you want—people who will come back to you for your expertise again and again. But they’ll never do that if your book doesn’t have good flow.

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