Why Your Content Writer Should Also Write Fiction (Especially Short Stories)

Your Best Bet For Getting A Great Content Creator Is To Find One Who Also Writes Short Fiction.

Inbound marketing or content marketing is big these days – and for good reason. It works.

So if you run a business or a marketing agency that needs a constant flow of quality content for marketing, then you also need great writers to create your blog posts, press releases, articles, case studies, and so on. But how can you be sure the writer you’re considering actually has what it takes?

Well, there is a way to increase the odds of finding the writer you need. Just make sure she writes fiction. Good fiction, preferably short stories. Yep.

And here’s why . . .

Details

The judicious selection of which details (facts, figures, statistics, features) to include in a piece of content may be – after audience and purpose – the most important decision of all. It’s right up there at the top anyway.

The thing is you can’t include everything about a product or service, so you’ve got to decide what to leave out and what to include. Space is limited, readers’ time is limited, and attention spans are limited and pulled in many competing directions. So it’s absolutely critical that you choose just the right details to include in your inbound-marketing piece.

And that’s where short-story writers shine.

In all fiction, but especially short stories, every word and every detail have to have a purpose. They must move the story forward and add to the emotional impact. Otherwise, it’s just dead weight at worst or mere clutter at best.

And the same goes for a piece of marketing content. Everything has to count. And a fiction writer knows how to make that happen.

Emotion

All marketing content is, to some degree or other, copywriting – which, as we all know, aims to get specific results. And copywriting does this chiefly by appealing to emotion.

Whether we admit it or not, we make most of our decisions rapidly and on the basis of an emotional response. Then, after we’ve made our unconscious emotional decision, we go in search of facts to justify it. It’s just that we usually don’t notice this behind-the-scenes decision-making process.

So good marketing content has to evoke the desired and appropriate emotional response in readers. That’s a tough job that calls for a top-notch writer.

And, again, it’s a job that calls for a writer of fiction, especially a short-story writer. Fiction, good fiction, appeals to readers’ emotions – that’s it’s main job. A piece of short fiction aims to evoke an emotional response in readers.

For effective inbound-marketing content, then, you need a content creator skilled enough to unobtrusively evoke an emotional response in readers – in almost the same way a writer of short fiction does.

Emotion – it’s one of the keys to content that gets the desired results.

Story Flow

In content marketing today, “telling a story” is the big buzz phrase. It’s always been important, of course. It’s just that now content marketers are paying a lot more attention to the importance of the elements of story in their marketing efforts.

Without a story, all you have is a dry, dull list of facts. And that’s no fun at all to read (and lacks the crucial emotional impact as well.) Without a story, all that text is nothing more than weak glue to hold the enumerated items together.

Stories have recognizable parts that must flow seamlessly one into the other. Stories also have dramatic tension and suspense to pull you along almost against your will. Good stories also make you care about the characters and their problems right from the beginning.

The sad fact is . . . a lot of marketing content lacks these elements. For example, a case study that doesn’t tell a compelling story will always be a dud.

That’s why you need a story teller, a writer of fiction, to create your native content.

Readability

A lot of things go into “readability,” but at the top of the list are flow, a natural/conversational style, and unobtrusiveness. Again, just the same as in a work of fiction, especially a short story where any flaws in these areas will be magnified by the brevity.

Let’s concentrate on “unobtrusiveness” (my coinage, actually).

In a piece of content, say, a blog post or a skyscraper article, anything that pulls the reader out of message/story and draws attention to itself is a glaring flaw. You want your reader to stay immersed in what she is reading till she reaches the very end – where that critical call to action is usually placed.

So, you can’t have gratuitous stilted language popping up here and there. You can’t have clumsy, heavy-handed images suddenly appearing. You don’t want jarring transitions. And you certainly don’t want any grammatical or usage errors.

Any of these things that violate our unobtrusiveness rule will knock the reader out of the content piece he’s reading and rivet his attention on the wrong things. And you just can’t have that.

Again, a content-marketing writer who also writes fiction will be your best bet for getting great content that observes the unobtrusiveness rule for readability.

I betcha I’m right on this . . .

Know How to Get Great Content and Compelling Copy?

What’s the big Deal About Audience in Content Writing and Copywriting?

Great Marketing Content One thing I’ll never tire of talking about for marketing content writing and copywriting is target audience. It is an immensely important component of any article or blog post or press release or case study or sales page. It’s also a consideration very often neglected by both content writers and buyers.

Here’s an exercise I used to use with my Comp students. I would give them the two paragraphs below – with almost the same information conveyed, but aimed at very different audiences – and then ask them to delineate the intended audience for each paragraph. When the realization finally set in, they were usually pretty amazed tailoring a piece of writing for a specific audience could make such a huge difference.

Here are the paragraphs:

Paragraph 1: This elegant two-story house exudes cozy class from every room and appointment. From the inviting glow of the mahogany woodwork to the happy sheen of the antique light fixtures, everything in this entertainer’s dream extends a tasteful welcome to all who enter. The kitchen and living room are not so commodious that they do not conduce to conviviality and conversation. The screened-in front porch and the delightfully shaded patio, on the other hand, are expansive enough to accommodate all your summertime social activities. And the guestrooms—what could be more appealing to the tired traveler than these cozy, carpeted upstairs bedrooms? So if you want an inviting yet spacious house that fits your active social life, come see this historical gem at 555 West Mendacity Street.

Paragraph 2: Here is a solid, energy-efficient, two-story house built with the materials and craftsmanship that you will not find in the newer houses. You will not find any thinly milled base molding and ¾” cove in this house; rather, it has full 1×6 base boards and 3” cove molding of fine seasoned mahogany. And there are no cheap-looking modern light fixtures, but solid antique fixtures instead. You will be able to keep your kitchen and living room comfortable year round—and at little cost—because the ceilings have been lowered to seven feet. In addition, the large screened-in front porch and the shrubbed and roofed patio will help keep your utility bills low by blocking the wind in winter and the sun in summer. Finally, the attic has been partitioned to make two insulated and carpeted bedrooms—just right for kids or in-laws. Come see this sensible solution to your housing woes at 555 West Mendacity Street.

So we’d first talk about the audience for Paragraph 1, and my students usually pegged them pretty accurately. Something like this: fairly young, probably late twenties or early thirties; well educated, with maybe graduate degrees; working in business or possibly as lawyers; drive high-end, show-off cars, maybe Lexus SUV; could be married, but probably not; like to entertain; drink expensive wines; absolutely no children.

After this, it was on to Paragraph 2, whose audience was delineated as follows: they have children, maybe three or four; they are older, late thirties or early forties; the wife probably stays home; the husband works construction; they are either teetotalers or the husband drinks a lot, Budweiser and Jim Beam; the mother-in-law might live with them; the husband drives a truck and the wife a battered station wagon; and so on.

See how it works? The information in the two paragraphs isn’t really all that different, but the paragraphs are: emphases, diction, sentence structure, lots of things. So whether you’re a content provider or buyer, give your target audience a lot of thought. It matters.

Did You Know That Hiring a Content Writer Is Like Getting Married?

Want Quality Content? Then Remember the Relationship

Great Content and Copywriting What are the defining characteristics of robust, reciprocal, fully functioning relationships? Generally, they include at least these three: 1) they form over time, 2) they require effort on both sides, and 3) they are never static. And this applies no less when it comes to quality content and the writer-client relationship.

Time

As we all know from our own experience, any working relationship doesn’t come into being spontaneously. Even though it may sometimes seem that way in the beginning, it is, nevertheless, usually an illusion engendered by infatuation or enthusiasm. Real relationships take time.

In retrospect, we realize that what seemed to be love at first sight or the sudden serendipitous finding of the one-and-only best friend was only a mere seeming after all. It all seemed so sudden because at some point along the relationship continuum, we suddenly became aware of the already forming relationship. And from there it goes on and builds for years, maybe even decades. But the point is that relationships always form, develop, grow, mature, and alter over a considerable period of time.

So, when, as website owner and content buyer, you’re seeking a good marketing content writer, keep in mind that you aren’t really. That is, you’re not just trying to find a writer, but you are, rather, trying to find a writer with whom you can form and sustain a relationship. And for the following reasons:

In the beginning, there will be much trial and error and back and forth on both sides. You will be getting to know each other – abilities, expectations, communication styles, and so on.
You will be finding out whether you want to continue the incipient relationship. Sometimes they just don’t work out.
You will need to determine whether this writing relationship fully and satisfactorily meets your business needs.
And, as is always key, you will be on the lookout to see whether your partner in the relationship is capable of unwavering fidelity.

Effort

Now if you’re married, you know all about this one, which is implicit in the above. Relationships have to be worked at – fed, maintained, supported, adjusted. Otherwise, they shrivel and weaken at best, and fester and become diseased at worst. And these same requirements obtain in the writer-client relationship – that ongoing partnership between content producer and consumer.

Here are just a few of the many tasks involved in sustaining a healthy, productive content and copywriting partnership/relationship.

Communicating clearly – both early on and throughout – expectations and desired outcomes.
Stating tactfully but unequivocally areas of disappointment and working together, sometimes compromising, to achieve desired results.
Remaining willing to work through the rough spots so you don’t have to go through the whole arduous process again.
Staying committed to the relationship so that you don’t bail at the first sign of difficulty or hardship.
Being always prepared for and ready to adapt to the inevitable permutations in the relationship throughout the course of its lifetime.

And this last one brings us to the third characteristic.

Change

Glibly expecting relationships to remain forever the same can be disastrous. At the very least, it’s unhealthy and usually counterproductive. The thing to keep in mind, then, is that the writer-client relationship you form in the beginning isn’t what will exist a year hence.

A writer’s writing style, for example, often changes over time. Your content needs as an online business owner are likely to change as your business grows and branches out. And, of course, what Google does will affect your SEO content tactics and strategies. Plato was right about most things, but Heraclitus had it right when it comes to content writing and the relationship between writer and client: Given enough time, you can’t step into the same content river twice.

Finally, the good news is that a good content writer realizes all this. This kind of writer not only writes well, but also knows that he is entering into a relationship when you hire him. And this could save you loads of work and make you more money in the long run.

Two Crucial Considerations for Getting the Best Content Possible – Target Audience and Expected Results

content-is-king-1132259__340 I taught Freshman Composition for a bunch of years. During those years, I spent countless hours hammering away at trying to impress on my students the importance of audience and purpose as the two foremost considerations before ever setting pen to paper or finger to keyboard. We are, of course, talking about content writing here (website articles, blog posts, press releases, and so on), but writing is writing – and the fundamentals never change.

A Carefully Delineated Audience for Great Content

Above all, you’ve got to know whom you’re speaking to, the audience you’re trying to reach. If you don’t, you’ll wind up with something like the 1040A instruction booklet – bland, vapid, boring, and aimed at no one in particular because it’s aimed at everyone in general. Just how much fun is it to read that thing?

Maybe the best way to think about this is in terms of letter writing. Back in the days when we used to write letters on paper to, say, family members and friends, we would first sit down and think about the person to whom the letter would be sent (the audience). Then, while holding that person before our mind, we would custom craft a letter for that particular person, keeping in mind all the while her likes and dislikes, education level, favorite topics, and all the rest of what made the person unique. And so it should be with content writing.

It’s your responsibility, then (in part), as a content buyer, to provide as much information as possible about the target audience for your online content, including:

Age range
Education
Income
Marital status
Ethnic background
Social stratum
Interests
Concerns
Geographic location
Web browsing habits
Etc.

You simply cannot have too much information about your audience. And the more audience information you provide your writer, the better – more fully custom tailored and thus more effective – the content will be. So, the very first step is to draw up a detailed audience profile.

A Clear Statement of Expected Results for Great Content

Once you’re clear about exactly whom you’re addressing, you need to figure out precisely what you want to accomplish with the content, that is, the expected results. Usually, that means asking this question: “After they read the website article or blog post, what do I want them to do?” When you can state that clearly, you’re good to go.

Keep in mind, though, it’s not always as obvious as it seems prima facie. Your ultimate goal may be to get readers to buy your Deluxe Blue Widgets, but that may not be the immediate goal and the expected result for the content. The expected goal for the content may be simply to position yourself as an authority on Widgets in general. And if you can do this, the reader, who of course has an unquenchable interest in Widgets, will keep coming back to your site to read more about widgets, after a while opt in to your list, and eventually purchase a very high-dollar Deluxe Blue Widget. Think long and hard about this.

Then, having determined exactly what results you expect from the content, you need to communicate that clearly to your writer.

Both Sides of the SEO-Content Coin

Now, to really increase your odds of getting great content, you need to be aware through this whole process that there are two sides to the coin, a reciprocal writer-client relationship. Maybe, after considerable research and thought, you simply can’t pin down your audience or determine what result to expect. A good writer will help you with this.

A good writer will work with you to delineate the audience and define the purpose. That is, after all, one of the things that make a good writer stand out above the rest. But you do need to come to the table with some idea of what you want to accomplish and with whom. The better you understand these two crucial considerations, the likelier you’ll be to get the kind of content you want and need.

More White Inspired Content Writing Tips

Let’s return to Letters of E. B. White (HarperCollins 2006) to find out how to become better writers. White should know, and he shows us, without really trying, in many of these letters. It’s all in the concrete details.

. . .

But a little stage-setting first. One of White’s correspondents once asked him about his stance on religion, and his epistolary response went like this. He said that, yes, there was in him some religious sentiment, but it was like the world before the Lord got hold of it: without form and void. Like many folks who have vague, inchoate religious stirrings and feelings, White was attuned to the natural world (especially the barnyard), was a keen observer of nature, and loved life because of it. (He often invokes Thoreau.)

In his short story “The Second Tree from the Corner” (which is slightly autobiographical), the main character thinks he detects some incipient neuroses, so he goes to see a psychiatrist, who doesn’t do him much good. But on leaving the psychiatrist’s office, the character happens to glance up and see the glory and beauty of a tree gilded by the setting sun. Then . . . things are pretty much all right with him. He carries on with a slight spring in his step. In a letter dated January 1945, White writes:

Don’t worry about my health – I am a lot better and plenty good enough for my purposes. I had two things the matter with me – mice in the subconscious and spurs in the cervical spine. Of the two the spine trouble was less bothersome. It took me eighteen months to find out how you get rid of mice and if you ever need to know I’ll be glad to give you the instructions. The whole key to the neurotic life is simple; in fact the simplicity of it is the greatest hurdle, because it tends to make it impossible or unacceptable to highly complex natures, who insist on meeting their trouble with suitably devious devices and cures. Anyway, here I am, in the clear again and damned thankful to be here.

White is often described as taking the stance of the detached, ironic observer. I bet I can guess how he got rid of the “mice in the subconscious.”

. . .

So, then, carefully observing and appreciating the world around you – especially its beauties and its ineluctable ironies – is the key to at least a tenuous grasp on sanity and to good writing. Reproducing, with palpably sensuous imagery, the details of the observed natural world is what makes for good writing, of any kind, and that’s what White did well.

Here’s an example from a letter dated 14 June 1951:

I feel like a louse, or tick, for not having written sooner in answer to your nice letters, but have been having my spring orgy in the barn, settling arguments among the geese, taking temperatures, replacing young robins fallen from nests, stepping on the edges of hoes and rakes, challenging black flies to fifteen rounds without even attempting to make the weight, and constructing jury-rig incubators . . . In March the gander decided that an ordinary 10-quart galvanized pail would do for a mating pond (his exact words were, “I’m ready if you girls are”) and when I got back here in May the three geese were all sitting on eggs in three nests that I had lined up in the barn. When the first egg hatched and the goose saw the result of her labors, she jumped off, grabbed the gosling by the neck, and threw it high and wide.

And another one from 4 April 1954:

Blowing a living gale here from the NW, and the temperature this morning early was 10°. All water pails frozen solid, pasture pond solid, all doors resisting all attempts at ingress and egress, frost-proof valve on outside water line frozen, master of house all alone and frozen, barnyard sunny and full of little black-faced lambs and their mammas. I have spent most of my time, since getting here, keeping the kitchen stove hooked up to fever pitch. Coldest 4^th of April since 1879. Am living on a straight diet of rye whiskey and Franco-American spaghetti. The first night I was here, though, I boiled a potato and it was quite an experience.

See how it works? You can see everything he says because White is a keen observer and doesn’t deal in generalities and vague abstractions. I’d also recommend that you take a look at his ruminative essay “Once More to the Lake.” As in the extracts above, he piles concrete detail upon concrete detail, so that you feel as though you are right there with him and “the boy” in the boat. You smell the odor of fish, you feel the detritus of fishing trips under your feet, and you see the dragonfly on the tip of your rod. It works.

We’ve all heard the old dictum “Show, don’t tell,” but that’s not really much help. Much better is when a good writer (and a good editor) shows us how to show.