(A 5-minute read or a 25-minute video…)

We all have a little creative magic inside of us, if we dig deeply enough.

I firmly believe that we are all born creative and reading ‘Out Of Our Minds: Learning To Be Creative’ by Ken Robinson is backing up that belief.

Watch children playing for a few minutes to see how their imagination shapes their understanding of the world, it’s how they learn.

As we grow older, we’re taught to learn in different ways, often to the detriment of those of us who’s learning styles differ from the rigid academic structure of formal education.

Many young people slip through the cracks, believing they are ‘stupid’, having never had the opportunity to realise their true potential within the traditional educational establishment.

Many of us grow up, enter further academic education, then careers, believing we are not creative because we’re not ‘artistic’.

Creativity is problem-solving in action, and we all have that capacity. In my A to Z of Blogging series C is for Creativity.

The Magic of Stories

We are all natural storytellers. Without even realising it, we tell stories every day.

Whenever we recount an experience, even if it’s to tell our friend or partner how our day went, we wrap our words into a narrative framework – one in which we are the central character – enabling others to empathise and understand our point of view.

In the month of magic (Halloween), my free blogging skills webinar was about bringing a little magic to your blogs.

You can watch the Facebook Live recording below (25 minutes).

In the video I share 3 tips to bring a little magic into your blogs:

1) Tell a Story

Bring some narrative context to the writing.

Share an anecdote, a personal experience, an amusing reference.

2) Have a structure

Use a really simple beginning, middle and end structure.

Start with an emotional hook. Guide the reader in with something warm and fluffy, something they can relate to.

Then in the middle share the ‘meat’; the factual information, the stats, the depth.

The end should leave them feeling satisfied. Get emotional again, leave them with a warm fuzzy feeling so they are ready to take another step with you – whether that’s sharing the content, following your call to action, or reading more of your content.

3) What’s your why?

Too often, we fall into the trap of telling our readers ‘what’ we do as a business in our blogs. However, the job of your blog is not to share what you do as a business (the copy on your website does that) it’s to tell us your story, to show us why you do it.

Everyone has a little voice in the back of their heads helping them make decisions, asking, “What’s in this for me?”.

Before we read anything and we engage with a business or the content they share, we subconsciously ask this.

We don’t really care what you do as a business and how it works (not at first, anyway), we want to know why it will benefit us, and often, that why is aligned with your why for doing what you do.

Share your passion. Show us why you do it. Weave it into a narrative context. Apply it to your structure – the formula – for your writing and you’ll have a successful blog, working its magic on your readers.

Magic stuff!

Watch the Facebook live video in full here (25 mins)

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