There Are Only Two Kinds of Writing

Lee Pound opened Market Your Way to Wealth this year with a very interesting presentation. He talked about the Mehrabian Myth … a study that most people mis-quote to support the idea that actions are more important that words … and how all writing, whether fiction or nonfiction, uses the same basic principles.

Lee talked about the importance of congruence … that your words must match your actions. If your words say “Howdy!” and your body says, “Get lost!” you are not in congruence and you won’t communicate clearly. You see, the words your choose, your vocal inflection and your body language work together in concert to create a rich message.

Lee also revealed there really are only two types of writing: interesting and boring. And you only need to master one!

The keys to creating interesting writing, in fiction, in marketing and in the news, is to include these 7 keys:

1. The hook
This is your intriguing start. If your readers looses interest in the first paragraph, do you think she will read any further?

2. Powerful characters
People love to read about powerful characters. Pick up the newspaper or the latest issue of your favorite magazine. Which stories do you want to read? Is is the one about the small business owner who created a flood of new business while raising money for charity? Or is it the one about the small business owner how earned an award? Which one tells you about a character?

3. Create strong desire.
Your writing must move people with some sort of emotion or they won’t continue to read. Make your readers laugh, cry, get angry … any thing but yawn!

4. Incorporate Credible Problems
In fiction, this is the obstacles the heroine must face. In marketing copy, this is the obstacles your ideal clients must face. Either way, these obstacles must be believable. When writing sales copy, be sure that you address those obstacles that your product or service will help your ideal clients solve.

5. Plot it out.
Your writing must have a logical flow, a journey that your readers follow through the copy. Include all the pertinent information that will help them reach the conclusions you hope for.

6. Resolution
Wrap it up with a call to action. In fiction, this is the part where the heroine saves the day. In marketing copy, this is where you tell the readers what you want them to do. Buy this. Subscribe to that. What action do you want them to take?

7. End
Restate the lesson and/or call to action again. You’d be surprised by how often people don’t hear your call to action the first time. Repeat it in your P.S. Re-phrase it for another learning channel.