Why More Content Doesn’t Make A Better Book
Do you want to write a great book? One that will change people’s lives?
As fluffy and beautiful as that sounds, ‘’change people’s lives’’ — it’s completely doable. Books can change lives — if done correctly.
So, how do you write a great educational book — one that’s equally, engaging so people actually read it, and informational in a way where people take action upon the information & strategies you present?
The answer — stop focusing on CONTENT. Too many people focus on packing their book with as much content as they possible can. For them, it’s all about content — the more the better. And, like it or not, it’s a mistake.
Here why… more content doesn’t make a better book. If you look at the best educational, non fiction books out there — think about the ones you love — the thing that makes them so great isn’t content, it’s something else.
THE POWER OF CONTEXT
Everything that you’ll ever find in a non-fiction book, fits into one of these 2 categories; content or context.
Content is; the tips, the tactics, the strategies, the research, the data, the facts, the statistics, the how-to — all of that falls under the category of content.
Context is; the stories, the metaphors, the parables, the case studies, the humor, the visuals — this stuff all falls under the category of context.
So, why exactly is CONTEXT so powerful, and how can you use more of it to write a great book? Here’s why…
Context amplifies the content
You see, if I simply told you that ‘’health is an important part of wealth,’’ chances are you would listen to that, but in 99.9% of cases, it wouldn’t change your life (you wouldn’t do anything about it)
On the other hand, if I spend 15 minutes telling you a story where I felt on top of the world, I was filthy rich, then one day, I was hospitalized and the doctors told me that unless I change my health habits, I’m going to die within 30 days — and all my wealth accumulation was pointless because I couldn’t ever enjoy it.
Then, after that story, I would go on to tell you the lesson, ‘’health is an important part of wealth.’’ You see, now you are far more likely to take action upon this lesson.
The content (the lesson) is exactly the same, but the context (the story in this example) is different, and the context amplifies the message and makes it 50X more powerful.
So, yes, you could pack your book with as much content as your heart desires, but if you want really want your content to be take onboard and acted upon by your audience — context bridges that gap.
Context can turn a good message into one that changes people’s lives
I’ve been very privileged to, over the last 5 years, travel all around the world teaching thousands and thousands of people… I’ve had the privilege of teaching from stages and platforms across 3 different continents, and one of the greatest things I have learned is this… no matter what, I am always going to underestimate the power of context. Even though I have seen it work so damn effectively in creating lasting change for people, it just seems to simply to be so effective — but it works.
So, when you are mapping out or writing your book, stop focusing so much on the content and start focusing on the context (the stories, the metaphors, the case studies, the visuals, future pacing, etc).
FYI: The content in this post was first talked about this video (4.19 mins):
Thank you for reading this story — I hope you got value out of it. If you did, go IMPLEMENT. And, make sure to hit that heart button below.
Also, if you want more strategy and guidance around how to write your book, check out my latest book, 6 Day Publish: How to turn an idea into a published book in 6 days, or less.
