Whether you’re starting a personal blog to share your thoughts and ideas, or blogging to promote your business, storytelling is the most effective way to engage your audience. Recitations of facts or personal journal entries might convey meaning, but stories provide your audience with a relatable entry point into your subject matter. Story inspires, teaches, and stimulates discussion. The well-told story is memorable and unique, positioning you as a trusted voice.
In this presentation, we’ll look at all the elements of creative nonfiction storytelling so you can create the most compelling content for your blog, one 400-600 word post at a time. Using examples from published blog posts, you’ll learn to:
- Identify the Central Conflict in each post: What is your one reason for writing this piece?
- Use Narrative Structure: Begin like a boss, stick a fork in it when it’s over, and conquer the muddle in the middle.
- Make it interesting: Employ the storyteller’s toolkit: Develop setting, character, plot, and dialogue. Use literary devices to make your true stories as readable as fiction.
- Show, Don’t Tell: Avoid telling your readers what to think and feel and illustrating instead, using sensory descriptions and imagery.
- Hone Your Authentic Voice: Discover and trust who you are as a writer.
- Edit and Polish Your Work: Create a checklist to catch errors in grammar, spelling, and proofing.