Article Writing the Gentle Art of Storytelling-spu

[Jacob221]

Once upon a time -- when you were a child, did your father tell you a bedtime story? Or perhaps, when you were very small, did your grandmother would sing you to sleep with a lullaby? If not, then I would say you had a seriously deprived childhood. And though we are all adults now, those things haven't changed. Without our love of stories and ballads, novelists would starve and Hollywood studios would go bankrupt.
That powerful truth has a serious message for anyone who writes anything, but especially if you are writing articles that you hope will attract readers, for whatever reason. People remember stories, often for a long time. If you tell a compelling story, there is a much better chance that people will remember the message behind the story and, if appropriate, take action.
Making People Remember What you Write
My father was an ordained Christian minister, and an excellent preacher. In his lifetime I must have heard hundreds of his sermons; sadly I remember very few, but all of those had a strong story-line. An especially memorable sermon began: 'Take a piece of catgut'. Not a very promising start, you would think, [Only Registered users can see links . Click Here To Register...], for a sermon, to be thinking about the intestines of a cat!
But that was in the days when the strings of violins were made from catgut. Dad was making the point that the most unpromising and rather repellent material could be transformed, with the right treatment, into an object of beauty capable of producing something wonderful -- in this case, music that can move people to tears. And the message, as you have probably guessed, was that this is just what God can do with us, if we let him.
The Importance of the Twist
All very well, you may say: a good story, but is that it? Well, no, because the other reason that this story was so memorable is the twist. Catgut? Disgusting! Why should anyone want to talk about that? But music? Quite another matter. And so this example grabs people because it also conforms to what I call the principle of maximum surprise.
If you can set your readers thinking, get them intrigued and involved, and a twist will often do that, they will remember your story long after they have forgotten others.
Is the 'principle of maximum surprise' always a good thing? No. If, for example, you are building web pages, the design needs to be consistent, your ads (especially Adsense) need to be appropriate to the page, and your navigation strategy should work properly and give the visitors what they expect and need. Indeed, software developers often call this approach 'the principle of minimum surprise'!
But when you want to attract the attention of your audience -- in the text on the page, in an article, in a sales letter -- it's a different matter. Then, these two ingredients -- a story and a twist -- can make the difference between your visitor turning the page fast, and staying to read, mark, learn, inwardly digest and, if that is your final purpose, to take action.