Will You Just Write Nonfiction or Will You Impact Readers Next Year?

As a nonfiction writer, you have a unique opportunity to do more than just tell a great tale. You can impact readers in a truly significant way. You can provide content that changes lives, communities, organizations or the world. That doesn’t mean you can’t tell stories; many nonfiction writers tell phenomenal stories based on their own experiences or on facts. In the process, however, they also inspire readers to take up important causes, to change in significant ways and to solve large and small problems of all sorts.

What Do You Want to Accomplish?

As you enter the New Year, it’s important to consider your goals as a nonfiction writer.

• Do you simply want to land paid writing gigs or a particular type—or any writing gigs—or publish a particular type of book—or any book?
• Do you want your written work actually to impact your readers in some positive manner or doesn’t that matter to you?
• Are  you happy working for hire or being a ghostwriter, or do you want to pick and choose your topics based on your values, your purpose or mission or the information you feel is important to share?

These are important questions to answer. I prefer, for the most part, to write articles and books (even to edit books) that revolve around certain topics and that serve others. The topics tend to be those that I feel I’m expert in and passionate about. I try to focus topics in ways that help my readers. That doesn’t mean that I don’t sometimes sway from this path, but I try to ask myself if the work I take on or choose to do is “on purpose.” Is it helping me reach my goals and is it impacting my readers positively or meaningfully?

How to Impact Readers by Writing Nonfiction

You can impact readers in a variety of ways by writing nonfiction. For instance, you can:

1. Start a blog about a worthwhile cause.
2. Start a blog to begin a movement.
3. Start a blog about a particular type of positive action you’d like readers to take (like a diet, exercise routine or daily meditation).
4. Start a blog to help people get solutions or find answers.
5. Start a blog to inspire people, organizations, communities to some sort of positive action.
6. Write and publish articles to raise awareness about an issue.
7. Write and publish articles to support a cause.
8. Write and publish self-help articles to help people improve their lives, relationships, work, health, etc.
9. Write essays to inspire readers with your experiences.
10. Write and publish a self-help book help people improve their lives, relationships, work, health, etc.
11. Write and publish a book to support a cause.
12. Write and publish a book to start a movement.
13. Write and publish a book that provides answers or solutions.
14. Write and publish a book to inspire readers with your experiences.
15. Write and publish a book to raise awareness about an issue.
16. Write a book to inspire people, organizations, communities to some sort of positive action.

Serve Your Readers

If your goal is to use your nonfiction writing to impact your readers in a positive, meaningful manner, or to make communities, organizations or the world better in some way, you not only write, you serve. That’s enormously important. You serve your readers and you serve the world at large.

For many people, too often the focus gets stuck on how they can “get”—how to obtain more clients, more jobs, more contracts, more sales, more traffic, more readers, more money. If you instead focus on how to be of more service, you might find the rest falls into place.

That’s why I’m so passionate about training writers to become change agents. If you set out to inspire positive change in your readers, you can be of great service to them. As you do your planning for this year, make a list of the:

• 3 top ways you’d like to serve your readers
• 3 top topics you’d like to write about to best serve your readers
• 5-10 articles, essays or books (or other written products) you can produce to best serve your readers

Then make an action list, or to-do list to help you reach these goals this year.

If your goals include books that inspire change in your readers, take a look at my Author of Change Transformational Coaching Program, an intensive 3-month program that begins in January and helps you become a change agent via your nonfiction book. Space is limited, and the early-bird pricing ends on December 15. Get more information or register by clicking here. Or attend my teleseminars tomorrow, Dec. 10 at 5 pm PT, “10 Ways to be an Author of Change from the Moment of Inspiration.” Register here.

Photo © Pavel Losevsky | Dreamstime.com