One Pixar artist offers an interesting set of 20 storytelling rules.  They are aimed at fiction, but most can be thoughtfully considered for nonfiction as well.

For example,

#6: What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?
#9: When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.
#13: Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.
#16: What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.
#19: Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.

and

#4: Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.

(thanks to Nancy Duarte)