story

One way (but not the only way) to develop interest in your content is to formulate it as a story.

Now, a lot has been said about story in the world of marketing in recent years. Usually these focus on the posturing of the customer to the company (as hero/guide respectively) and the framing of customer need/desire (“you want x, y stands in the way, z product or service can help you overcome y and obtain x.”)

But there is a more basic element of story that is important to remember when formulating content. A story has a beginning, middle, and—maybe most importantly—an end.

As Aristotle puts it:

The construction of stories should be based on a single action, one that is a complete whole in itself.

Consider the difference between these two content headlines:

Join me as I trade this penny up to the most expensive thing I can get – Part 1

Or:

Trading a penny up to a house – Part 1

One of those headlines is a story because it has a clear ending. Once the penny becomes a house, the story will be over. The first headline might be interesting, but it’s not a story because has no definite end. It may be a story at some point, but it’s a lot harder to follow along with something in progress if you have no reasonable expectation of an ending.

Story is not the only way to develop content, it has a ​linear structure​ whereas perhaps a ​circular structure​ may be more appropriate for your offering, but if story is what you’re after, find a way to set expectations by defining and constraining the scope from the outset.

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