Photo by Kevin Erdvig on Unsplash
We all know storytelling is one of the key aspects of successful blogging. If you can weave a story around your words, no matter what your niche or topic, it is more likely to entertain your readers and resonate with them.
Even if you think you aren’t much of a writer or storyteller, you can still find one of these story types discussed today that will be useful and relevant for your blog – following on from Episode 80 of the ProBlogger podcast where I discuss what to say when you’ve got nothing left to say, hopefully these should give you some ideas on how to craft your words so you can stand out as a unique and interesting blogger.
In this episode I discuss these story types and how to get the best out of them (with examples!)
- Personal discovery stories
- Analogies and illustrations
- Success stories
- Failure stories
- Someone else’s story
- “How I Did It” stories
- Biographies
- Picture stories
- Case studies
- Fiction
- Reader stories
- Collection stories
- “Imagine if” stories
Then go forth and shake up your usual writing routine with the age-old tradition of sharing stories for connection. Let me know how you go – does this kind of writing come naturally to you? Or is it out of your usual style?
You can find the show notes for episode 81 of the ProBlogger podcast 14 Types of Stories You can Tell on Your Blog at ProBlogger.com.
Further Reading:
- Dazzle & Connect With Your Audience with these 7 Storytelling Strategies
- The Secret Weapon That Levels the Playing Field for Every Blogger
- What I Learned About Podcasting in my First 50 Episodes
- Blogging and Privacy: How to Blog Authentically Without Losing Your Voice
- Thinking of Quitting Blogging? What Dooce Did Next
Nice post and podcast. Its really very informative. I am curious to know that apart from sharing stories on blogs what about doing an Interview with other professional bloggers and post in your blog to inspire and motivate others?
This is an article where you put limitations in a way that the person who reads it can focus on the said topic to achieve
the writer’s main objective on his article.
Such a helpful insight.
Cheers,
Tom
Glad to see you talking about this! Stories are REALLY powerful…
I almost always tell some kind of story, even if the point of the blog post or email is to teach some “how-to” information. The story propels the reader through what would otherwise be dry content…
They’re also the #1 way to develop trust with your audience, which is especially necessary if you plan to monetize your blog through affiliate sales or selling your own products.
I just helped out with a product launch on a fairly large blog for software developers, and it was ALL story based. Between the emails and the sales page, we used:
– Personal discovery stories
– Analogies and illustrations
– Success stories
– Failure stories
– Someone else’s story
– “How I Did It” stories
At one point I dropped a hint at the end of an email about a dramatic story that I’d be telling in the next email, and the replies we got were NUTS. People were dying to know what happened next…
The best part is, stories are pretty fast and easy to write.
More reader engagement + easier to create… What’s not to love? :)
I think people engage with you more when you tell a story. This doesn’t just apply to blogging, but in real life as well. People want to hear and read about other people’s views and experiences and see if they can relate to the story or not.
There is nothing I hate more than trying to find information on the web only to have a page crammed full of nonsense just so the writer can get their ‘minimum’ 500 words.
Your 14 stories can help me to improve my blog. Thanks a lot.