If your readers leave after the first line, your blog ends there.
So, what makes a great blog? How do you keep your readers reading?
Keeping your readers’ attention is about telling a great story. So, let’s get started on how you can use the power of storytelling to make a successful blog.
Conflict
All great stories have one simple thing in common – conflict. Without conflict, there’s no story. Think of any great story you know. Would people have loved Romeo and Juliet if their families hadn’t been at war for generations? Would there have been a Sherlock Holmes without any mysteries to solve? Now, as a blog writer, you may not have love tragedies or great sleuths as characters, but you do have your readers who want something. Figure out the obstacle in their path and use that conflict as the crux of your blog piece.
Subjective expectations vs objective reality
The essence of any conflict or obstacle lies in the clash between subjective expectations and objective reality. A subjective expectation is that a blog is easy to write, for example. The objective reality is that it’s not easy to be read. Remind your readers about this obstacle, and swoop in with the solution. Remember all stories have a hero, and as a blog writer, you are one. So, wear your cape as you write!
Keep the suspense
If Romeo and Juliet simply fell in love and lived happily ever after, would there have been a story to tell? Well, it would have lasted a line, and there wouldn’t have been characters to be remembered. A good story requires delaying. Keep your readers guessing, asking questions, and reading to get to the resolution of the conflict you are trying to resolve. Make it fun, dramatic, and nudge them on. Keep the suspense going. Remember those Dan Brown novels?
Resolution.
At the end of the day, every conflict seeks resolution, and so do your readers. Make sure you leave them with something useful at the end but don’t make it the end of their journey. Leave them with food for thought, a call to action, something that will keep them coming back to you.
To sum up, using storytelling to make a successful blog requires 4 basic things:
- Conflict
- Subjective Expectations vs Objective Reality
- Suspense
- Resolution.
So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to p
