Great.
So we got a lot of stories laying around in our journal or on a piece of paper.
All thanks to my last newsletter that taught you how to write down 100 personal stories from your life.
But where do we go from here?
How do we make our story a compelling blog post?
Let’s take a look at an example from yours truly:
I Don’t Believe In God Anymore, Do I?
Before You Write, Do A “Before + After”
Who were you before this story happened?
Who are you now after this story happened?
For instance, in the blog post above, I went through a transformation..
Before: I used to believe in God.
Now: I don’t believe in God so much.
What is your before + after?
How To Write Your Introduction
We need to set the audience in motion. Here’s part of my introduction for the story above:
“When I was young, I used to go to church every Sunday.
I loved it, too.
I used to be the star student in Sunday School — I was the one who took a page of notes (FRONT + BACK) during the service.. My teacher beamed every time I turned it in.
There’s one thing you need to pay attention to here: my use of the past tense.
“I used to go to church every Sunday.
I loved it, too.”
I’m creating a gap in the readers mind right away. I’m planting a question..
Why don’t I go to church anymore?
What happened?
This question is the hook that your introduction needs.
How To Write Your Second Section, Which Is The Turning Point
Here’s a screenshot of the section following my introduction.
The first paragraphs of this section are an effort to be relatable. I want the audience nodding their heads with me. I’m betting they are.
Then I have a soft turning point that has a “I used to _____, but now I _____” aspect to it.
“I used to think I could hear him talking to me — maybe he was — but now I believe that was just myself.”
Then, at the end of this second section, I have a hard turning point that acts like a broken needle on a record player.
“I stopped praying after that.”
How To Write Your Body Sections
Now we got people hooked.
I’ve introduced the idea that some kind of rift happened between God and I.
How that happened, nobody knows.
So we need to fill in the blanks.
My following three sections in the blog post above go as follows:
God Went Away Completely — I talk about my time at a Christian college and how the hypocrites there made me question God further.
Then I Saw Life Of Pi Which Changed Everything — This section talks about Life of Pi, one of my favorite movies, and how brought me back to believing that God could feasibly exist.
Now I’m Just Not Sure — An update on who I am right now. We finally come full-circle, and the question still isn’t answered.
I’m taking my reader through a story of surprises, turning points, and self-doubt.
It’s so murky that the question barely gets answered in a meaningful way.
“I Don’t Believe In God Anymore, Do I?” is the question.
What do great movies do? They have surprises. They have twists and turns. They have emotion. The characters are relatable in some way.
“I am your father!”
How’s that for a surprise?
One Storytelling Tip That Will Make Your Blog Posts Addicting For Your Readers
The best storytellers withhold information.
Think about horror movies.
How often do we actually see the monster, demon, shark, or antagonist?
We don’t.
Why?
Because the imagination of the audience is powerful. Because it creates suspense. Because questions left unanswered drive us nuts.
This blog post is one question that doesn’t get answered until the very end.
We know that I currently don’t believe in God like I used to, but how that happened is an unanswered question, and I spend the blog post filling in, step by step, that piece of information.
So you see, writing great stories and blog posts just gets down to one simple tactic:
Withholding information.
Don’t give it all away right away.
Before you object and say “BUT TOM, THAT’S BARBARIC! HOW DARE WE PLAY WITH THE EMOTIONS OF OUR AUDIENCE!”
Guess what?
The reader doesn’t want to get all the information right away either. They want to be entertained and strung along on a journey. That’s what makes movies fun. It’s a story. We don’t know what’s going to happen.
And that’s why our butt stays planted in that seat for two hours.
This is a lot of information, and I’ll get into the nitty gritty of how to write blog posts line by line in future editions of this newsletter, but that’s generally how to turn your story into an addicting blog post.
Welcome to my newsletter, 150 days to blogging mastery. This is the fifth of 150 lessons, which we’ll publish every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday until the end of the year. Please subscribe on Substack or here on Medium.
For the next month, we’ll be talking about how to generate great writing ideas.
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Thank you - this is awesome!
Again a great one. Really useful. Thanks!