Are Your Stories Lacking The 5 Elements That Makes It Compelling

Photo: Manhattan Sunset Dream #2 by Alan Turkus

Once upon a time there ware two young aspiring copywriters fresh out of college. They both graduated from the same college, qualified for the same degree and achieved similar results. If you never knew them, you’d say they are, on average, the same.

They both loved to write so no problem there. They both had the time and money to learn from some of the best minds in the industry. And they are both equally hardworking, spending at least 5 hours a day practicing.

But one of them went on to be an ‘A’ class copywriter, sought after for his “unique talent and getting paid gazillions of dollars for every consult.

The other one, however, went on to be a ‘B’ class copywriter. He’s great and yes, he does make some money but he never really “made it”.

What did they do differently?

Imagine two salesman.

One of them knocked on your door and tried to sell you say… a vacuum cleaner. He starts pitching you the benefits of the vacuum cleaners and continued on to demonstrate how it works. He then moved on to handle whatever objections you might have and by the time he’s finished with his little presentation, an hour has gone by and you’re behind your schedule.

What are the chances you’d let him go on for an hour?

On the other hand, the second salesman started with a story. A story about how his family first bought the vacuum cleaner, what they thought, and why they bought it. How long do you think that would take? 10 minutes maybe?

Yet it achieved far more than an hour of presentation.

Stories are one of the most important things to humans. The ability to tell a compelling story is one of the biggest reasons huge corporations grow to be that way. If you look at some of the most successful corporations in the world, they all have compelling stories behind how they first started.

I’m sure you’ve heard of how Bill Gates dropped out of University to build Microsoft. Or how tiny McDonald’s was when old Ray Kroc bought it from the McDonald brothers. How about how the two young Google founders faced tons of rejections before they acquired the capital necessary to build the company from an “angle investor”?

Compelling stories gave meaning to those corporations and binds employers and employees together. Just like it can bind you and customers into one tight knot.

But not all stories have the same effect. The Bible has attracted hundreds of millions of believers. Doesn’t matter if you believe it or not, but the Bible books authors sure know their craft.

Yet there are some stories that barely saw the light. Buried somewhere in the corners of the world, they made their readers sleep after its first paragraph.

What’s the difference?

Well, for a start, let’s start with these 5 elements.

1. Ever watched “Scary Movie”? At the end of the worst-2-hours of your life and regretting spending 2 hours of you life that you’ll get back, did you wonder what they bloody movie is about? This is the most common factor that makes a crappy story crappy - not clear defined message. Every story has a message.
2. A good story has but one clear message. There is but one “Moral of the story”. Try to squeeze more into it and you’re risking unsuccessful delivery of your message… which again, leaves people thinking, ‘HUH?”
3. A good story have to have a seemingly insurmountable conflict. Imagine Cinderella with a GOOD step-mother. Or Superman with no kryptonite. How about the “Pretty Duckling”? Harmony is a great thing but it makes a boring story.
4. A compelling story has a hero and the hero always has certain values that you want to project. Values - moral or not - are best communicated through a story.
5. Remember that your story do not have to be liked by every one for it to be compelling. In fact, if there’s no haters of your story,then your story is probably not compelling enough. Look at famous stories like Star Wars and The Da Vinci Code.