7 Easy Ways to Turbocharge Your Manuscript

7 Easy Ways to Turbocharge Your Manuscript

1. Don't be shy!

Tell readers what the book is about in the first paragraph. If they have to guess, they won't get beyond page 1. Here's a good example:

Divorce changes the course of your life. Understandably, you want to get over your divorce and get on with your life — and quickly. But when something this momentous occurs, you need to understand what happened before you can move on. To do so quickly, you'll need to have some idea about why your marriage ended. The best way I have found is to take some time to construct your story.
— From Pat Hudson, You Can Get Over Divorce

2. Lead the way.

Lead your readers gently from point to point. When readers can't figure out what you're trying to say, you'll lose them. Make sure your book has a clear structure supported by descriptive chapter titles and subheads. Here's a good example:

Focusing on Results, Not Tasks
Often in work situations, you will find yourself working from a list of "things to do." You move down your list, checking off items as you complete them. When you work this way, you may get a lot of things done (like the busy bee), but they may not be top-priority items. This means that you have not routinely reassess your "to do" list to make sure that what's on there is indeed necessary. If the individual actions you take don't directly contribute to moving you forward to produce your intended overall result, you are likely to waste valuable time and create problems for yourself and others over the long run.
— From Michelle Burke, The Valuable Office Professional

3. Use language readers can understand.

Your general market book is not the place to showcase your enormous vocabulary! Speak directly to readers in language they can understand. If you need to use specialized terms, introduce and define them first. Your readers probably don't know as much as you do about your subject — if they did, they would have no reason to buy your book!

Poor: Finally, it is valuable to consume carbohydrate before, during, and after prolonged endurance exercise to provide fuel during exercise and substrate for glycogen synthesis following exercise. The consumption of high GI foods soon after exercise will probably optimally promote the restoration of muscle glycogen.
Better: Carbohydrate foods — particularly complex carbohydrates like whole grain breads, and brown rice, and apples — provide your body with fuel during exercise, and they also help your body make glycogen after exercise. Eating foods that are high on the Glycemic Index (GI) is a particularly good idea after exercise, because many experts think they help restore muscle glycogen.

4. Use lively examples and stories.

People love to hear stories that make ideas come alive and give them something to identify with. No one likes to read page after page of description, theory, and abstraction. Put yourself in your reader's shoes — don't you like to hear lively examples that make the content more accessible, more energetic, more powerful? Here's a good example:

Beliefs and values are the footings on which we build answers to the questions, "Who matters?" and "What matters?" . . . Leaders must speak to followers; we must let them know where and how we stand on the important issues. We constantly make decisions and evaluate results in light of what we believe

A medieval story will let you know what I mean about actions illustrating belief. Envy and Greed, two of the seven deadly sins, were walking down a path one day when they were confronted by an angel. The angel offered one of them everything he could wish for. The other one would receive twice as much. Greed quickly asked Envy to choose first. After a little thought, Envy wished for one blind eye.
— From Max Dupree, Leadership Jazz

5. Use the active voice to energize your writing.

When something is done to you, you're in the passive voice. You're receiving the action. When you do something, when you're the actor, you're in the active voice. Many writers (especially those steeped in academic or technical usage) slip into passive voice unconsciously, or use it when they are trying to avoid committing themselves on the page. Wake up readers by writing in the active voice as much as possible:

Passive: My book is read and enjoyed by many people.

Active: Many people read and enjoy my book.

6. Less is more.

Conciseness is a virtue. In writing, using more words isn't necessarily better. You don't have to say the same thing twice to make your point. Professional editors improve manuscripts by removing extra words from sentences and extra sentences from paragraphs. When your writing is concise and to the point, your message will be clear.

After reviewing comments from the first two phases of the needs assessment coupled with researching some of the current literature on developing a training program, the division would like to refocus its energies on developing a competency-based staff development program rather than a traditional training program. In short, a competency-based staff development program would focus on the customized needs of each staff member, including how that staff member learns best. In other words, a staff member's learning needs would be customized according to the best learning mode for that person.
After we reviewed the comments from the focus groups and researched the current literature, we realized we would have to revise our plans. We now feel it would be far more effective to develop a competency-based staff development program in tandem with a performance management model in which staff members and supervisors share responsibility.

7. Allow yourself to shine.

There are no rules about how a book "should" be written. The one thing you have to offer that no one else does is you: your knowledge, your experience, and your unique way of expressing yourself. Find your voice and let it surface so that readers will feel that they know you — and when they know you, they'll be more likely to trust you and what you have to say.