Tips for Writing Stories for Social Media

Writing stories for social media follows principles of traditional storytelling HOWEVER there are a few things to keep in mind specifically for social media.

1) Great Stories Elicit Emotion

While this is a good thing to keep in mind when writing any kind of story, this is especially important for social media. With an overload of content available at our fingertips a story need to grab the readers attention almost immediately. An effective way to do this is to elicit emotion in your reader. Some ways to do this are to use humor in your story or make your story relatable/universal.

2) Write the way you Talk

When writing for social media keep your story simple and with a clear structure. If you write the way you would tell a story you are almost writing your story as if you are having a conversation with your reader.

3) Shorter is Usually Better

With dwindling attention spans and the overload of content on social media, a shorter story is more likely to hold your readers attention span. Long stories may tend to get scrolled by or only half read.

4) Vary Your Content on Each Platform

When writing stories and content for social media do not post the exact same piece of content on each platform. Each social media platform serves a different purpose and reaches a different kind of reader so your content should reflect this on each platform.