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As a marketing professional, I always second guess myself when I have to write stories.
Is this story too boring?
Do people really care about this topic?
Does my point make sense?

The course content of EXSM3989 really helped me answer all of these questions.

The tips I learned from the great article of How to Tell a Great Story really changed the way I write. If you are wondering what these tips are, allow me to share them with you:

To see the full article, visit this link!

Stories told online are some of the best stories out there because of their ability to create such a multifaceted reading and viewing experience which can’t be replicated in print or by telling a story in person.

Now, more than ever, there’s huge potential to create some killer stories that are sure to stick. Whether it’s through a blog, a tweet, or an Instagram post, there’s a plethora of options to make your story memorable and one-of-a-kind: Real talk, cliff-hangers, stunning snapshots, crack-up memes, spot-on GIFS, innovative designs…

Humans are emotional creatures and visual lovers. Sharing your stories online provides you with the opportunity to tickle all of your readers’ senses. When you weave your story with real feelings, suspense, and various media, you’re not only making it more interesting – you’re also ensuring that your message is being conveyed to your reader.

If you feel like your online story is lacking some pizazz, follow this handy-dandy guide to spruce em’ up! Use some of the tips, or use them all. You’ll be sure to turn some heads, make deeper connections, and gain followers.

Since I have been working on video storytelling for many years, I always pay attention to the impressive ones, including movies and commercials. Like the questions drew in Beyond the 5W’s, how can we express ourselves, be fair to the people and ideas, and engage and impress our audiences all at once?

Here are what I think in the following infographic:

Ever since I was introduced to the “Beyond the 5 W’s” of Storytelling, I have not stopped thinking about them. As someone who has been writing for over half of my life, I cannot believe the idea of thinking beyond the basics I have been introduced to did not occur to me. Going beyond the 5’s lets me narrow down my stories more than before and find the perfect balance of what I want and don’t want in my stories; and I think there are many like me who would benefit from going Beyond! So, I decided to create my Infographic based around going Beyond the 5 W’s. Take a look:

Thanks to Alison Macadam’s article, I have a new outlook on storytelling, and I hope this info-graphic helps you out, too!

Story writing is something we are taught in school starting at a young age, it’s something we learn about and are encouraged to do. We’re taken through the step-by-step process of how to build a story, how to map one out.

We’re taught to plan out;

• Settings: Important stuff to world build and show how much thought you’ve put into the seemingly less-important stuff of story writing!
• Characters: Possibly the easiest thing to think about, making a bunch of characters, naming them, making backstories, giving them a design, easy!
• Plot: The whole point of writing a story! Though one of the more difficult things is to figure out how your main character gets from point A to point B.
• Conflict: Just that little thing your protagonist has to deal with throughout the plot! Personally, one of the harder things to figure out.
• Resolution: Not the end of the story, but how the protagonist beats the conflict!

I love story writing, so having a easily understandable infographic is something that would really help!

Origin stories are all the rage these days.

From Wolverine and Batman to more realistic individuals like Jackie Robinson and King George VI, you can find their stories in books, film, and throughout the world wide web. Not everyone’s origin story is interesting though.

If you want to capture a reader’s attention and not lose it along the journey, Carmine Gallo says you need four basic elements in order to execute a good story: structure, characters, conflict, and resolution.

• A story’s structure absolutely impacts how the plot develops and how its main points are introduced to the reader.
• Writing in characters that readers connect with will result in a greater chance that any message you’re trying to send will be received.
• Objectives and obstacles lead to more exciting plot lines, further holding a reader’s attention span.
• When the story ends, bring some closure along with it. Providing relief or inspiration will make readers feel like the journey is complete.

And there you have it. Craft these four basic elements carefully and thoroughly and the origin story will write itself!

If you want your marketing efforts to have more impact, start telling stories.

Human beings are wired to respond to narratives. Stories appeal to our emotions, which in turn have a powerful effect on our actions.

If I tell you that 90% of a college’s graduates get hired from their internships, you might be mildly impressed. But if I tell you about a single mother named Paige who’d been stuck in low-level retail jobs for years until landing her dream job as a cartoon animator thanks to her experience at that college, you’re much more likely to remember the details—and much more likely to think of that college when it comes time to further your own education.

While statistics may be forgettable, we identify with the characters in a story and get swept up in what they’re feeling. As it turns out, there’s a biological reason for this. When we’re told a good story, our brains get a surge of the feel-good chemicals oxytocin and dopamine. That draws us in and creates an emotional bond between us and the storyteller.

A well-crafted story can engage your audience, help them remember your message, and most importantly, inspire them to buy what you’re selling.

Need some hard data on why storytelling should be central to your content marketing strategy? Have a look at the infographic below that illustrates some interesting statistics collected by Marketing Words.

Tips from Masterclass

Have you ever wanted to write a short story, but didn’t know how?

Well, you’re in luck! The great staff at Masterclass (the best online learning course from the world’s best experts) have many great articles for you to learn from and can make you into a story telling machine.

One such article includes great tips on how to write short stories.

The article is a fun, easy read; but, if you want an even more succinct summary, check out this great infographic, which lays out the 5 required elements for a good short story.

If you like what you see and want to become the next big thing in the literary sphere, then check out Masterclass for more learning opportunities.

6 Ways to Better Business Blogging

Author: Snow, Bradley

Running a business requires a strong online presence. With social media becoming more and more prevalent, you need to take full advantage of what apps like Twitter and Instagram have to offer to grow a strong business.

Oftentimes, though, businesses forget about one form of online presence: blogs. Not surprising, as blogs have been around for a while, many people have forgotten about them; and, yes, even though many people are busy posting Instagrammable photos and quick captions to help drum up business, studies have shown that blogs can not only get you views and traffic right away, they are most likely to keep getting you traffic further down the road.

Despite the focus on short-form writing, many online readers still gravitate towards long-form writing, if it is done right, which is commonly accomplished through blogging.  

“How do I blog?” You may ask, well, here are 6 great tips on how to write blogs for your business and get the attention you deserve for your products.

1. Grab Attention with a Great Headline

Get your reader’s attention right away. Do so by using an attention-grabbing headline. Your first sentence should compel your reader to click on your blog to read more.

2. Make it Short and Snappy

After you’ve getting attention, follow-up with a short, interesting introduction. You don’t want to write too much right away; focus on the main point of your blog and entice your audience to read more.

3. Be Simple

Once you’ve sunk your teeth into the meat of your blog, you can do more long-form writing, but this doesn’t mean never-ending sentences and page-long paragraphs. Write short, sweet, and simple sentences, forming the basis of compact, but relevant paragraphs. Doing so will keep your reader interested, but still manage to convey useful information they want to acquire. This type of writing is also very natural, almost like speaking, and is more appealing to a general audience.

4. Be Authentic

Speaking of being natural, blog writing should sound like you. Don’t try to pretend to be Shakespeare or Plato. Doing so will come off as unrealistic to your reader as people are good at spotting fakes. Write as if you were talking to a friend or, in a more business sense, a customer who has walked into your store.

Be casual, but professional; show the audience you know what you are talking about, without trying to sound pompous. This creates a strong sense of authenticity and credibility, which leads to likability. This will put your audience at ease and drive them towards reading more about products.

5. Spice it Up!

Blogs aren’t just about pretty words; they should also include a lot of fun visuals. Shake things up with eye-capturing images and entertaining videos every 100 words or so in order to keep your readers’ attention.

Social media like Instagram have pre-disposed audiences towards fun, bright visuals. Blogs are no exceptions and should also be colourful and enticing. Employ a meme or cool video clip, but be sure that it relates to your business and works well with your brand’s image.

6. Use a Solid Call-to-Action

Always end with a good Call-to-Action (CTA). It doesn’t have to be complex, in fact, most CTAs are straight forward and simple. As a business, you’ll likely want to promote your product or drive traffic to your site. Do so at the end of your blog, once your readers’ have learned about who you are, they are now eager to learn more – give them what they want by providing a link to your business.

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Want to learn more about better business writing? Click the link below to find out other hot tips on how to improve your online business.

http://betterbusinesswriting.com/

Let’s face it, this digital era of social media? It’s confusing. Or at least, I’m confused (and I am indeed a Gen Z kid). While I feel somewhat a master at all things Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook, Twitter had always been an unknown territory to me.

I love to write. I have been creating stories of my own as soon as I could learn to read them. So when Twitter started to gain popularity among my group of friends, I struggled to fit the fad of the platform with the harsh word count and character restrictions.

Consequently, that’s also why I decided to take this course. I wanted to gain familiarity with platforms that I hadn’t become accustomed to, and overall, improve my storytelling skills across all mediums.

So here are some of the lessons I’ve learned from my first time live-tweeting an event:

1. Provide more background context. My first tweet of the event dove right in to the action, which is a great attention getter and hook for short stories, chapters, and so on. A tweet? Maybe not so much. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It’s raining. They’re one player and team captain down. He’s subbing and has never met the team before… what could possibly go wrong? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EXSM3989?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EXSM3989</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/soccer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#soccer</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/football?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#football</a></p>&mdash; Nic (@outdoorseffect) <a href="https://twitter.com/outdoorseffect/status/1680732607787720704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> While I’m aware that I’m talking about my boyfriend, my audience may not, so a little more context there (or in that thread in general) definitely could have helped.
2. Grab their attention, but be specific. I followed the initial tweet with some added context in a way which I felt may further hook the audience’s attention. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Did I mention he’s from Australia? And doesn’t have any of his equipment with him? No cleats, no shin pads, just a love for the game <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EXSM3989?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EXSM3989</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/soccer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#soccer</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/live?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#live</a></p>&mdash; Nic (@outdoorseffect) <a href="https://twitter.com/outdoorseffect/status/1680733023711686657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
3. Stick to the basics of storytelling -how are you going to build your rising action? Just because you’re live-tweeting, doesn’t mean your thread can’t include a climax or rising action. I’ve created tension in my tweets but communicating the internal struggles of my main protagonist (my boyfriend) as well as celebrating his feats with my audience each time he (or his team) scored a goal. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">CLEARLY IT DIDN’T MATTER! First five minutes in and he’s got the first goal of the game!!!! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/gobilly?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#gobilly</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/soccer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#soccer</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EXSM3989?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EXSM3989</a></p>&mdash; Nic (@outdoorseffect) <a href="https://twitter.com/outdoorseffect/status/1680734471136636929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
4. Remove the clutter. Just as concise diction helps clean up a story’s main message, a simple tweet (or thread) is better for the platform… And perhaps not every update on the event is necessary. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">2-0 for team subs! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EXSM3989?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EXSM3989</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/soccer?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#soccer</a></p>&mdash; Nic (@outdoorseffect) <a href="https://twitter.com/outdoorseffect/status/1680736915782524928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> (the tweet I probably could have foregone in my live-tweeting)
5. Add in perspectives/emotion. In the live-tweeting of his game, I shared the confusions I experienced with the sport’s formalities, the goals scored by the other team, and even the brief shoving-match (kerfuffle) of players to entice emotion from my audience. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">There was a kerfuffle, some shoving, and several shots aimed. Some.. scored? Honestly we were both very lost on what actually went in there… <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EXSM3989?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EXSM3989</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/soccersub?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#soccersub</a></p>&mdash; Nic (@outdoorseffect) <a href="https://twitter.com/outdoorseffect/status/1680759465593937920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 17, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Overall, my first time spectating for my boyfriend resulted in some hard lessons learned on using Twitter for updates.

It may not be my most favourite platform, but it certainly has a place amongst the other social mediums and absolutely requires a different skillset for storytelling than I am used to.

Also, thanks Billy for allowing me to use your game as my homework assignment!