How to Develop a Creative Idea for Your Nonfiction Book

If you want to write a book that influences the world, you need to start with a creative idea. Great ideas form the essence of great books. And yet idea development is one of the biggest struggles of writers. In this episode, Dave and Melissa talk about what an idea really is, how to sharpen your idea, and how to develop an idea, so that readers read your book from beginning to end.

Great Moments in the Episode

7:37 – 12:19    What an idea is and examples of how to narrow an idea.

12:20 – 15:06    How to use research effectively to narrow your idea.

15:07 – 17:59    Why having a narrow idea is better than a general idea.

18:00 – 22:14    How to use quotes and interpret other ideas to support your idea.            

22:15 – 22:53    The three things you can do with an idea.

22:54 – 27:26    What explaining an idea looks like in writing, and why it’s important.

27:27 – 29:48    How to prove your idea with examples of what proving look like.

29:49 – 32:18    How to use reasoning to prove an idea.

32:19 – 33:13    Using stories and counterarguments to develop an idea.

33:14 – 35:47    How to apply an idea.

35:48 – 39:06    How to develop an idea in a book through structure.

39:07 – 40:27    How to arrest the attention of your reader with each chapter.

40:28 – 41:56    How to thread your thesis—or idea—throughout the entire book.

41:57 – 43:05    How to use transition paragraphs to thread your ideas throughout the book.

43:06 – 47:18    When an idea is not big enough for a traditional book.

Words of the Episode

elysian (adj): blissful, delightful

limn (v): depict or describe in painting or words; or, suffuse or highlight something with a bright color or light

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