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Learn How to Write a Nonfiction Outline in 5 Easy Steps

In this article, I’ll show you the best approach to writing a nonfiction book outline that can be put to work immediately.

Creating an outline is one of the most efficient ways to write a nonfiction book from scratch, because a well-constructed outline will provide you with a point by point road map of ideas that you can use to kick-start your writing process.

An outline will:

Create the structure of your book’s table of contents
Make it possible for your book to “write itself”
Ensure that you never suffer from writer’s block

How Do You Write an Effective Outline?

To create an effective outline for your nonfiction book, you’ll have to begin with a main topic or main point and then go though a series of steps to map out your book’s content with ideas that are simmering in your head.

In order to arrive at your main topic you need to ask yourself the following question: What’s my audience’s most significant challenge for which I’ve created a unique solution?

In a sense, you need to figure out what’s the most pressing problem that you’re going to help your audience solve and then develop your main idea around your solution.

Once you’ve settled on this main idea, you’ll then use the mind mapping technique to turn it into a diagram or “map” listing everything that’s stored in your mind related to this topic (read: How to Create a Mind Map for a Nonfiction Book for instructions in detail).

Finally, you’ll lift your overall book structure from your mind map and use it to lay out your book outline by following the outlining process described below.

5 Easy Steps for Creating an Outline that Rocks!

Step 1: Group All Mind Map Branches Together

Your completed mind map will identify the specific topics and subtopics that make up your main idea. These are the main branches and sub-branches that radiate out of the center of the map — for reference, here’s an example of a mind map from one of Tony Buzan’s books, the British author who popularized their use back in the 70’s:

Your next task is to group together the main branches into themes and turn them into a book part or a section.

As an example, say you’re writing a book about the belief system and goal setting (your main idea). You could assign main branches for topics such as “how the mind works,” “the belief system” and “the power of perception.” These three topics could be grouped together as a single theme that deals with the inner workings of the mind.

Then, let’s say that you also group other branches related to “the role of our minds in procrastination,” “setting goals” and “dealing with our strengths and weaknesses.” These could be grouped as a new theme that deals with how our minds can impact our careers, and so on.

Once you’ve grouped all main branches into themes, you can then begin to create the logical structure of your book by numbering these top sections: e.g. Section 1 – How the mind works; Section 2 – How the mind influences careers, etc.

Now, pick one of the main branches, say “the belief system,” and group all its sub-branches. The main branch will become the chapter and its sub-branches will become the sub-chapters. Repeat this process for each of the remaining main branches.

If you have a third level of content (sub-sub-branches), then repeat the same type of process as shown above until all branches are exhausted.

Step 2: Generate the Initial Book Outline

Now enter the above information into your favorite word processor as a numbered list, with your section numbers as the top level, then tab to enter each chapter in the second level, and finally tab once more in order to enter the sub-chapters below each chapter. Your main idea will eventually be turned into your book title.

Here’s how the outline in our example above would begin to shape up:

Section 1: The inner workings of the mind (this is an outline section)

1-1 How the mind works (this is an outline chapter)

1-1-1 The conscious and subconscious mind (this is an outline sub-chapter)

1-1-2 Where thoughts originate

1-1-3 ………

1-2 The belief system

1-2-1 Beliefs from your upbringing

1-2-2 Beliefs and your emotions

1-2-3 ………

1-3 The power of perception

1-3-1 ………

1-3-2 ………

Section 2: How the mind influences careers

2-1 The role of the mind in procrastination

2-1-1 ………

2-1 2 ………

2-2 The role of the mind in setting goals

2-2-1 ………

2-2-2 ………

2-3 Dealing with strengths and weaknesses

2-3 1 ………

2-3-2 ………

Section 3: How the mind influences relationships

3-1 ………

3-2 ………

Step 3: Add Your Book’s Front Matter to the Outline

The front matter appears before the main body of the book and is composed of one or many pages from the following list:

Testimonials (optional)
Title page (mandatory)
Copyright page (mandatory, placed on the back of the title page)
Page with a quotation or a message (optional)
Dedication (optional)
Table of contents (not mandatory but highly recommended)
Foreword (optional) – this is written by an authority in your field
Preface (optional) – this is written by you
Acknowledgements (optional)
Introduction

Step 4: Add Your Book’s Back Matter to the Outline

The back matter appears after the body of the book and is composed of one or many pages from the following list:

Afterword (optional) – this can be used as a closing statement for your book; your parting words.
Appendices (optional) – these can be used for additional information that didn’t fit or didn’t work in the body of the book.
Glossary (optional)
Index (optional)
References or bibliography (optional)
About the author (highly recommended) – this is where share details about you with your readers and tell them how to get in contact with you.

Step 5: Turn Your Outline into Your Book’s Table of Contents

Go through your book outline from top to bottom and create a final title or heading for every section, main topic, sub-topic and sub-sub-topic. When doing so, keep in mind that your table of contents will become a navigational tool for your readers, so you need to ensure that all your headings fit into a narrative of ideas that flows with a clear purpose.

Another consideration is that your table of contents will often be browsed by prospective readers before they purchase your book, so you need to make sure that all headings are written in a way to entice people to want to read further — readers love it when a table of contents piques their interest!

Next Steps

Since your outline already contains all the information and ideas required in order to begin writing your book in the correct sequence, just know that you don’t need to write your book from top to bottom. You can simply pick the outline topic that inspires you most that day and start writing.

Thanks for reading and best of luck!

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling writers (including a NYT bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or need any help – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

Write Your Own Book and Become an Expert: 11 Reasons Why You Should

How to Grow Your Business Writing a Nonfiction Book

How Long Does it Take to Write a Book to Help Grow Your Business?

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling writers (including a NY Times bestseller), ghost writer for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writers coaching, ghostwriting, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.

The Ultimate Book Design Guide for Nonfiction Authors

by Bennett R. Coles Leave a Comment

When it comes to nonfiction book design, you won’t get a second chance to make a first impression. Prospective readers picking up your book for the first time will make a go/no go decision based on first impressions.

They’ll first browse your book, read a few pages and then make a decision based on that initial scan. So, given this brief time of exposure, the design of your book’s interior becomes paramount. At a minimum, readers will expect that you follow well-established publishing standards.

If you break one or more of these book design rules, your work may be branded as amateurish, even if the information in it is compelling. It’s for this reason that great care must be taken when balancing all the necessary visual aspects that appear on your book.

I’ve written this article to offer you important tips to help you gain a sound understanding of the different aspects of book design. You’ll need to nail these down in order to produce a nonfiction book that will look both professional and functional.

Let’s start with the most important step when it comes to your book design:

Book Dimensions

Your book size (or “trim size”) is the primary cost driver for your print book since it determines the volume of paper your book will require to be produced.

To make the printing process more efficient, most book print shops have settled on standard trim sizes that allow them to pre-set their equipment one time only without having to stop the presses to make constant changes. Although custom sizes are possible, they’re usually discouraged through high pricing.

Most nonfiction books are printed by choosing a standard size from the following list:

5” x 8”

This size is typically used for paperbacks only, although there are exceptions.

5.5” x 8.5”

This size is used for both paperbacks and hardcovers.

6” x 9”

This size is used for both paperbacks and hardcovers.

Your final choice will be determined by your total word count. If you have a large word count, then it’s a good idea to choose a 6” x 9” trim size to reduce the number of pages in your book (a large page can fit a higher number of characters).

If you choose instead a small trim size (say 5” x 8”) you may end up with an overly thick book, which will not only cost more to produce but may also be awkward to hold for readers.

On average, a 5” x 8” book can fit between 250 and 350 words of text per page. At the other end of the spectrum, a 6” x 9” book can fit between 350 and 450 words per page (less if you add if you add any visuals). As an example, a 70,000-page manuscript will require approximately 200 pages in a 6” x 9” trim size and the same word count will require 280 pages in a 5” x 8” book (40% more pages).

Page Design

Use of White Space

White space in your book design refers to the absence of any ink. The goal of a good nonfiction book design is to achieve the right balance between white space and text or visuals.

An example of a poor nonfiction design is a phone book (remember those?) where white space is purposely minimized to reduce the overall number of pages. In general, books printed with little white space are very hard to read.

Size of Margins

From a visual standpoint, margins are used to manage the balance between white space and the printed items in your book design, but from a technical standpoint, they’re needed to ensure that print shops have enough empty space to bind the books.

If your book margins are too wide, your text will appear to “float” in the middle of the page. If your margins are too narrow, your text will appear to be “cluttered,” making for an uncomfortable read.

Chapter Page Design

If you inspect any nonfiction book, you’ll notice that the first page in each chapter looks different than all other pages — they get a “special” design treatment.

For example, many authors take cues from their book cover design and reuse some of their design details in the chapter pages to give their books a unique identity. For instance, they may pick up the stylized image of a leaf from the cover of the book and repeat it at the beginning of each chapter page.

As a practical matter, make sure that every chapter begins on the right-hand side. Beginning your chapters on the left-hand side is a sign of an amateur design.

Header and Footer Design

An important aspect of book design is headers and footers. Headers are typically used to display page numbers and also as navigational tools, showing people where they are in the book by displaying the chapter or section heading.

Since the real estate of the header is rather limited, if you have long chapter or section names just show the part of text you can comfortably fit in and truncate the rest with an ellipsis (three dots). Never jam-pack your header with excessive information — this will make your book look amateurish.

Also, don’t display any text in your footers aside from the page number and footnotes if you have any. Finally, make sure there are no headers on title pages, the copyright page, chapter pages and any blank pages that may appear in your book design.

Table of Content Design

Your table of contents (TOC) serves two purposes: to help your audience navigate from chapter to chapter and to provide them with a road map of the overall structure of your book in case they want to glance at all topics before diving in.

What you want to avoid is a TOC that’s too “thin” (short chapter titles and no sub-titles) or too “dense” (too much information packed into the headings). Also, you want to display information that’s appealing to readers and that entices them to want to read more. Avoid making your TOC boring and utilitarian.

Breakout Boxes

Breakout boxes are text/graphical features where key takeaways from your book can be pulled out of the main text and given a unique font treatment and background to make them stand out.

They add a lot of value to most nonfiction books since they tend to be packed with a lot of actionable information, but make sure you don’t overuse them. Breakout boxes need to be planned out for the entire book to ensure that there’s a logical flow from box to box.

Balance is once again something to consider here. Too many boxes will become a distraction and take away from the reader’s enjoyment and too few will make readers question why they are there in the first place.

Information Flow

Don’t display any front matter sections between your introduction and your first chapter (such as acknowledgments, dedications, etc.). For maximum effect, your book’s introduction must transition directly to your first chapter.

Text Design

Line Spacing

The space between two lines of text, also referred to as line spacing, is a critical detail to get right for readability. To much line spacing in relation to the size of your font (there’s a connection between line spacing and font size) and your inside layout looks sparse. Too little and your readers will get a headache.

Paragraph Length

Refrain from writing long, seemingly unending paragraphs. All your paragraphs should be broken down into short sentences that are easy for readers to digest. Aim to have between 3 and 5 sentences per paragraph on average. Nonfiction books require that readers constantly digest a lot of new information. You always want to ensure that they don’t feel overwhelmed when reading your book.

Paragraph Breaks

Always use a single line break between paragraphs. Multiple paragraph breaks is a big no-no in the industry. In addition, when you begin a new chapter always use a page break attached to the heading containing your chapter title — never hit the return key multiple times to get to the next page.

Widows And Orphans

A widow is a layout error that results in the last line of a paragraph being pushed to a new page. An orphan is a layout error that happens when the first line of a paragraph is the last line of a page. Both widowed and orphaned text should be avoided at all cost (word processors have a feature to automatically prevent this from happening).

Text Justification

Never left justify text blocks like you do when you write a letter, leaving the right edges unaligned (this is referred to as “ragged paragraphs”). The industry standards for nonfiction books require that text blocks be fully justified. That is, your text needs to align against both the left and right margins (cookbooks and art books are excepted).

Font Design

Avoid using “fancy” typography – they’re a sign of amateur design. Also, don’t use multiple typefaces in the body of your book. All paragraphs must be laid out with the same font types and font sizes. The only exceptions are captions for imagery and breakout boxes (explained above).

The font style you choose for your book design is the virtual “glue” that holds your reader’s attention. To the layperson, most fonts of the same type and size look similar (e.g. most serif fonts or most non-serif fonts). But in reality, the design of a font can make a huge difference in reader retention.

Graphical Elements

With everything spanning from photographs to artwork, to illustrations, charts, diagrams and tables, the judicious use of visuals can greatly enhance your book’s reading experience and help improve your reader’s understanding of the information in your book.

The key consideration is balance. Too many graphics bunched together can become a distraction. Too few will make your reader wonder why they are even there. Make sure that every single graphic has a clear purpose. Nonfiction readers are savvy and they expect all information in a book to be there for a reason. Misplaced, cluttered or confusing graphics are a sure way to lose them fast.

Image Resolution

Never show low-resolution images in a printed book. Always secure the highest possible resolution you can obtain. Aside from being considered an amateur design, a blurred or pixelated printed graphic or illustration will devalue your work in the eyes of readers and decision makers.

In-graphic Information

Never clutter your charts, graphs and tables with too much information. The amount of information on any graphic or illustration should always be in balance with the text that surrounds it. If you have a lot of visual information to share, break it apart into multiple images.

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free non fiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing and publishing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or need support in your book project – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners self publishing books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

Write Your Own Book and Become an Expert: 11 Reasons Why You Should

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling authors (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghostwriting, editing, proofing, cover design, book formatting and design, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.

What is a Transition in Writing? A Nonfiction Guide

by Bennett R. Coles Leave a Comment

A transition is a word or a group of words that create a bridge between two ideas (i.e. between two subsequent paragraphs) or between two sentences within a paragraph, for the purpose of establishing a natural flow in the narrative.

Since there’s a nearly unlimited number of transition possibilities in the English language, I’ll devote this article to introducing the most popular transition categories in the nonfiction genre, along with some examples that you can use for reference.

For a comprehensive list of several hundred different transitional words or phrases organized by category, read my companion article: 711 Paragraph Transition Words for Nonfiction Authors.

Addition Transitions:

This type of transition is used when the second idea builds on the first idea by adding new information.

Some Examples: Additionally, Also, An additional, And, And then, Another, Apart from this, As a result, As well as, Further, Furthermore, In addition, In the same way, In the second place, Moreover, Otherwise, Similarly, What’s more.

Agreement Transitions:

This type of transition is used when the second idea expands on the first idea using an equivalency.

Some Examples: As a matter of fact, As well as, By the same token, Comparatively, Correspondingly, Equally, Equally important, In like manner, In the same fashion, In the same way, Like, Likewise, Not only… but also, Not to mention, Then, Together with.

Causation Transitions:

This type of transition is used when when there’s a cause and effect relationship between two ideas.

Some Examples: And so, As a result, Because, Consequently, For that reason, If…then, In order to, In the event that, In view of, Inasmuch as, Lest, On account of, Therefore, Thus, With this in mind, With this intention.

Chronology Transitions:

This type of transition is used when you need to add a temporal dimension to the flow between ideas.

Some Examples: After, Afterwards, And then, Formerly, Forthwith, Last, Last but not least, Later, Meanwhile, Once, Presently, Previously, Prior to, Until now, Up to the present time, Usually, When, Whenever, While, Without delay.

Clarification Transitions:

This type of transition is used when the second idea provides clarification to the first idea.

Some Examples: In other words, That is, That is to say, To clarify, To explain, To put it another way, To rephrase it.

Comparison Transitions:

This type of transition is used you need to compare two ideas.

Some Examples: Analogous to, By comparison, Compared to, Equally, In a similar fashion, In comparison, In contrast, In like fashion, In like manner, In the same way, On the contrary, On the other hand, Similarly, Vis a vis, Whereas.

Concession Transitions:

This type of transition is used when the second idea provides justification for the first idea.

Some Examples: Granted, It is true, Naturally, Of course, To be sure.

Conclusion Transitions:

This type of transition is used when the second idea concludes the first idea.

Some Examples: After all, All in all, All things considered, As can be seen, As shown above, By and large, For the most part, In a word, In any event, In conclusion, In essence, In fact, In short, In summary, On balance, On the whole, To sum up, To summarize.

Connection Transitions:

This type of transition is used when two ideas need to be connected together thematically.

Some Examples: Additionally, Also, And, Finally, First, Firstly, Further, In the first place, In the second place, Last, Lastly, Moreover, Next, Second, Secondly.

Consequence Transitions:

This type of transition is used when the second idea is a consequence of the first idea.

Some Examples: Accordingly, As a result, Consequently, Due to, For this reason, Hence, In other words, So, With the result that.

Contrast Transitions:

This type of transition is used when the second idea provides a contrasting thought in relation to the first idea.

Some Examples: Alternatively, But, Contrarily, Conversely, Despite, Nonetheless, Nor, Notwithstanding, On the contrary, On the other hand, Otherwise, Unlike, While this may be true, Yet.

Details Transitions:

This type of transition is used when you need to add more detail to the first idea.

Some Examples: In detail, In particular, Including, Namely, Specifically, To enumerate, To explain, To list.

Effect Transitions:

This type of transition is used when the second idea is the result of the first idea.

Some Examples: Accordingly, Consequently, For this reason, Hence, Therefore, Thus, Under those circumstances.

Emphasis Transitions:

This type of transition is used when the second idea provides emphasis to the first idea.

Some Examples: Above all, In fact, In truth, Furthermore, Surprisingly, Unquestionably, Without a doubt, Undeniably, Undoubtedly, Especially.

Examples Transitions:

This type of transition is used when the second idea is provided as an example of the first idea.

Some Examples: As an example, As an illustration, Especially, Indeed, Like, Markedly, Particularly, That is to say, To clarify, To illustrate, To put it differently, With this in mind.

Exception Transitions:

This type of transition is used when the second idea illustrates an exception to the thought expressed in the first idea.

Some Examples: Despite, However, In spite of, Nevertheless, Of course, Once in a while, Sometimes, Still, Yet.

Generalization Transitions:

This type of transition is used when the second idea expands on the first idea in a general way.

Some Examples: As a rule, As usual, For the most part, Generally, Generally speaking, Ordinarily, Therefore, To this end, Usually, With this in mind.

Illustration Transitions:

This type of transition is used when the second idea is provided as a way of illustrating the first idea.

Some Examples: For example, For instance, In other words, In particular, Namely, Specifically, Such as, To illustrate.

Importance Transitions:

This type of transition is used when the second idea enhances the meaning of the first idea.

Some Examples: Chiefly, Critically, Most importantly, Primarily.

Intensification Transitions:

This type of transition is used when the second idea is used to build up the intensity or the power of the first idea.

Some Examples: In fact, Indeed, To repeat, Undoubtedly, Without doubt.

Location Transitions:

This type of transition is used when you need to add a spatial dimension to the flow between two ideas.

Some Examples: Across, Adjacent, Amid, Around, At the bottom, At the rear, Beneath, Between, Down, In the center of, In the distance, Nearby, On the side, On this side, On top, Peripherally, Surrounding, To the left/right, Within sight.

Opposition Transitions:

This type of transition is used when you need to establish a clear contrast between ideas.

Some Examples: Although this may be true, Be that as it may, Besides, But, Conversely, Despite, Even though, However, In contrast, Nevertheless, On the contrary, On the other hand, Otherwise, Whereas, While, Yet.

Proof Transitions:

This type of transition is used when the second idea provides a point of proof to the first idea.

Some Examples: At any rate, Evidently, For the same reason, Furthermore, Granted that, In addition, In any case, In fact, In spite of, Indeed, Moreover, Obviously, Of course, While it may be true.

Purpose Transitions:

This type of transition is used when the second idea gives purpose to the first idea.

Some Examples: For this purpose, In order that, So that, To that end, To this end.

Restatement Transitions:

This type of transition is used when the second idea restates the first idea in an analogous way.

Some Examples: In brief, In essence, In other words, In short, Namely, That is, That is to say, To put it differently.

Repetition Transitions:

This type of transition is used when you need to add repetition to your flow of ideas for emphasis.

Some Examples: As I have noted, As I have said, In brief.

Sequence Transitions:

This type of transition is used when subsequent ideas need to be part of a thematic sequence.

Some Examples: After, Afterward, And then, At the same time, At this time, Concurrently, Consequently, For the time being, Later, Meanwhile, Next, Now, Previously, Simultaneously, Subsequently, Therefore, Thus, While.

Similarity Transitions:

This type of transition is used when when the second idea expresses a similar thought as the first idea.

Some Examples: By the same token, Here, In like manner, In similar fashion, In the same way, Likewise, Wherever.

Summary Transitions:

This type of transition is used when when the second idea summarizes the first idea.

Some Examples: After all, All things considered, As a result, As I have said, As I have shown, As previously stated, In conclusion, In short, In summary, In the end, On the whole, Summing up, To sum up, To summarize.

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or a specific need that I can help you address – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

Write Your Own Book and Become an Expert: 11 Reasons Why You Should

How to Grow Your Business Writing a Nonfiction Book

How Long Does it Take to Write a Book to Help Grow Your Business?

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of 6 books published through Harper Collins (NY) and Titan Publishing Group (UK). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press and the founder/CEO of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghostwriting, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, printing, distribution and marketing.

What is a Contraction in Writing? (Includes 129 Examples)

by Bennett R. Coles Leave a Comment

A contraction is a literary device used to make your writing less formal and more conversational. Since contractions approximate the “sounds” of spoken words used in informal conversation, they’re interpreted in your reader’s minds as written language that’s more relaxed and easier to digest.

Language that’s formal or hard to process, such as that used in legal documents, almost never makes use of contractions, which is one of the reasons legalese can be so boring to read and process.

As a writer, particularly a nonfiction writer geared to a consumer audience, the use of contractions is a great technique to put your readers at ease by lowering potential barriers of communication, as if you were signaling through your writing that you’re a “friendly” person.

In technical terms, a contraction is a way to eliminate certain letters from words (or certain words from phrases), replacing them with an apostrophe to provide your reader with a visual cue of the omission — there are some exceptions where even the apostrophe itself is omitted!

In order to provide you with more tools for your author’s tool chest, I’ve compiled below a large list of contractions so that you don’t have to scour the Internet for useful examples. Hopefully you’ll find this collection to be a handy reference for your writing.

Here are 129 examples of contractions you can use, divided into the following 9 groups:

1-Contraction of Pronouns, 2-Contraction of Negatives, 3-Contraction of Verbs, 4-Contraction by Omission, 5-Contraction of Years, 6-Miscellaneous Contractions, 7-Single-Word Contractions, 8-Informal Contractions, 9-Contractions of Proper Nouns

1-Contraction of Pronouns:

Pronoun	Contracted	Uncontracted
I I I I I You You You You You He He He He He She She She She She It It It It It We We We We We They They They They They How How How How How That That That That That What What What What What When When When When When Where Where Where Where Where Who Who Who Who Who Why Why Why Why Why	I’m I’ll I’d I’ve I’d You’re You’ll You’d You’ve You’d He’s He’ll He’d He’s He’d She’s She’ll She’d She’s She’d It’s It’ll It’d It’s It’d We’re We’ll We’d We’ve We’d They’re They’ll They’d They’ve They’d How’s How’ll How’d How’s How’d That’s That’ll That’d That’s That’d What’s What’ll What’d What’s What’d When’s When’ll When’d When’s When’d Where’s Where’ll Where’d Where’s Where’d Who’s Who’ll Who’d Who’s Who’d Why’s Why’ll Why’d Why’s Why’d	I am I will I would I have I had You are You will You would You have You had He is He will He would He has He had She is She will She would She has She had It is It will It would It has It had We are We will We would We have We had They are They will They would They have They had How is How will How would How has How had That is That will That would That has That had What is What will What would What has What had When is When will When would When has When had Where is Where will Where would Where has Where had Who is Who will Who would Who has Who had Why is Why will Why would Why has Why had

2-Contraction of Negatives:

Verb	Contracted	Uncontracted
Is Are Was Were Have Has Had Will Would Do Does Did Can Could Should Might Must	Isn’t Aren’t Wasn’t Weren’t Haven’t Hasn’t Hadn’t Won’t Wouldn’t Don’t Doesn’t Didn’t Can’t Couldn’t Shouldn’t Mightn’t Mustn’t	Is not Are not Was not Were not Have not Has not Had not Will not Would not Do not Does not Did not Can not Could not Should not Might not Must not

3-Contraction of Verbs:

Verb	Contracted	Uncontracted
Could Might Must Should Would	Could’ve Might’ve Must’ve Should’ve Would’ve	Could have Might have Must have Should have Would have

4-Contraction by Omission:

Contracted	Uncontracted
E’er ‘Cause Ma’am Jack o’lantern O’clock Ne’er O’er Run o’the mill	Ever Because Madam Jack of the lantern Of the clock Never Over Run of the mill

5-Contraction of Years:

Contracted	Uncontracted
February ’69	February 1969

6-Miscellaneous Contractions:

Contracted	Uncontracted
Let’s Give’em Y’all	Let us Give them You all

7-Single-Word Contractions (no apostrophe):

Contracted	Uncontracted
Ad Flu Gator Oft	Advertisement Influenza Alligator Often

8-Informal Contractions (no apostrophe):

Contracted	Uncontracted
Bout Coulda Didja Dunno Gimme Gonna Gotcha Gotta Hafta Kinda Lotta Musta Oughta Outta Sorta Wassup Woulda	About Could have Did you Don’t know Give me Going to Got you Have to Have to Kind of Lot of Must have Ought to Out of Sort of What is up Would have

9-Contractions of Proper Nouns:

Contracted	Uncontracted
Tom’s Susan’s Alex’ll Jane’d	Tom is Susan has Alex will Jane would

Some of these contractions may sound silly, and some are best used only when writing dialogue intended to accurately represent speech, but they all have their uses. If you’re not sure if a particular contraction is correct or appropriate, ask your editor for advice.

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Leave me a comment below if you have any questions or a specific need that I can help you address – I operate an author services firm that specializes in helping entrepreneurs, professionals and business owners who want to publish books as a calling card for prospects, to establish their status as an expert or to just to generate additional leads for their businesses.

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

Write Your Own Book and Become an Expert: 11 Reasons Why You Should

How to Grow Your Business Writing a Nonfiction Book

How Long Does it Take to Write a Book to Help Grow Your Business?

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling authors (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghostwriting, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.

What is the Passive Voice in Nonfiction Writing?

by Bennett R. Coles Leave a Comment

The use of the passive voice in works of nonfiction is a highly debated subject in writers circles, where the active voice is generally the preferred choice.

In this article I’ll first explain what the passive voice is and when it’s okay to use it in nonfiction and then I’ll close with several examples of passive voice sentences in a variety of tenses to use as a reference in case you’re not sure how to structure them properly.

What is the Passive Voice?

In technical terms, the passive voice is made out of two elements: the verb “to be” in various tenses followed by a past participle (e.g. “The town was founded by southern settlers.”)

In terms of usage, the passive voice is applied when there’s a need to shift the focus from the subject to the object of a sentence. Although in most nonfiction writing use of the active voice is the preferred choice, since it makes the message much more direct and clear, there are cases when the passive voice is useful.

How it is Different from the Active Voice?

In the passive voice, the object of the sentence is placed ahead of the subject. In the above example, “town” is the object of the sentence and “southern settlers” is the subject. In the active voice, the subject is placed ahead of the object. In this case, the above sentence would be rewritten as: “Southern settlers founded the town.”

How do You Use Passive Voice in Nonfiction?

In certain nonfiction books, such as scientific or technical texts, it may be of more interest to highlight, say, a scientific breakthrough rather than the scientists who developed the breakthrough. For example, here’s a sentence written in the passive voice: “The leading vaccine for the XYZ virus was developed in record time by a team of scientists from five countries.”

The active voice equivalent for the above sentence would be: “A team of scientists from five countries developed the leading vaccine for the XYZ virus in record time,” but if the central theme of the text is the discovery of a new vaccine against the XYZ virus, the audience won’t care so much to know who the scientists are or how many countries they came from.

First-time nonfiction writers often fall into the trap of using the passive voice to “hide” behind their words, which muddles the message they’re trying to communicate.

For example, if you write the following sentence: “This weight-loss technique was specifically developed by me to help people who suffer from type II diabetes, which has been a part of my life since I was a teenager,” there’s a sense that you may be trying to hide behind your words because the goal of the sentence is for other type II diabetes sufferers to identify with your own journey.

But if you were to rewrite it in the active voice like this: “I specifically developed this weight-loss technique to help people who suffer from type II diabetes, which has been a part of my life since I was a teenager,” you’re being much more clear and direct with your readers, giving them a chance to identify with the subject of the sentence: you.

Nonfiction Passive Voice Examples

Here are some useful examples in a variety of tenses so that you can get an idea of how the passive voice works in different circumstances. Feel free to use this as a reference in case you get stuck:

(Note: PP means “past participle”)

Present Simple	is + PP are + PP	Corn is grown by farmers in the Midwest Most electric cars are bought by Californians
Present Progressive	am being + PP is being + PP are being + PP are going to + PP	I am being made to wait by the doctor The engine is being repaired by the mechanic The travel plans are being made by the agent Several meals are going to be cooked by them
Present Perfect	has been + PP have been + PP	Susan has been picked up by the taxicab The players have been selected by the scout
Past Simple	was + PP were + PP	The gate was installed by the contractor The curtains were dry-cleaned by her
Past Progressive	was being + PP were being + PP	He was being kept alive by science The plans were being altered by the man
Past Perfect	had been + PP	The chairs had been brought inside by staff
Future	will be + PP am going to be + PP is going to be + PP are going to be + PP	The house will be vacuumed by me tomorrow I am going to be promoted by my boss soon A new assistant is going to be hired by my partner The parts are going to be delivered by the supplier
Future Perfect	will have been + PP	The project will have been delayed by legislation

In Conclusion

If you decide to use the passive voice in a work of nonfiction, make sure that you do so judiciously and use it only in those cases where the object of your sentences need to take precedence over the subject. A good test would be to ask yourself: Is the use of the passive voice in this sentence justified by the context, or am I trying to hide behind my words?

Good luck!

If you enjoyed this article and are in the process of writing a nonfiction book, be sure to check out my free nonfiction success guide, drawn from years of experience editing books for bestselling authors (including a New York Times bestseller) and ghostwriting for CEOs and politicians. Simply click here to get instant access.

Ben

Here are some related posts I highly recommend:

How to Write a Compelling Book in 12 Steps: A Must-Read Guide for Nonfiction Authors

How to Grow Your Business Writing a Nonfiction Book

Bennett R. Coles is an award-winning author of six books published through Harper Collins (New York) and Titan Publishing Group (London). He is also the publisher at Promontory Press, editor for multiple bestselling writers (including a NY Times bestseller), ghostwriter for CEOs and politicians and the founder of Cascadia Author Services, a boutique full-service firm that specializes in premium author services specifically designed for busy professionals. Our end-to-end services include writer coaching, ghost writing, editing, proofing, cover design, book layout, eBook production, marketing, printing and distribution.