Boy oh boy do I have a special guest for you today. I know you have seen Ryan of Blogging From Paradise on social media. If you haven’t heard of him, Ryan travels the world with his better half, always popping up in excotic locations we only dream of visiting like Bali, Thailand and Costa Rica.
He’s always sharing his tips and tricks with us whether it’s in a new video or eBook to help bloggers reach new levels of their blogging journey.
I recently connected with Ryan but I’ve been a huge fan of his for a while now. He’s taught me how to not only write a blog post but create a fascinating story so that I can connect with you, dear reader, on a whole other level.
Lately, he’s been doing a blogging tour, sharing his tips and expertise with us. Well, he has made a pit stop here and he’s going to share four things you need to do to captivate your audience with a fascinating story of your own.
Here is Ryan…
A trail mix of cashews, peanuts and Brazil nuts bonked the lady on her head.
She stared quizzically towards the heavens.
Then she turned to guy next to her, with a flummoxed “HUH?” look on her mug.
The guy shrugged back at her.
To add insult to injury, a stray nickel fell from the sky, plopping innocently in the lady’s lap.
She seemed to be wondering: “Is this Divine Providence? Or turbulence?”
The above “pennies and peanuts from heaven” episode transpired 36,000 feet above the South Pacific Ocean as my wife Kelli and I flew to Fiji.
Kelli had tossed her treasured trail mix and some spare change into the pocket of her backpack.
I rushed to secure the backpack in the overhead compartment as we left Sydney but the flight attendant made me take a seat before we took off.
A while later, after a bout of turbulence, the nut and nickel combo showered down upon the lady’s dome.
This is how to create a lead in.
This is how to tell a story.
If you want to become a better storyteller, entertaining, educating and inspiring your blog readers, follow these 4 tips.
1: Hook ‘Em Immediately
Look up top.
Exhibit A.
Will you quickly forget the lead in to this post? Probably not. Because I hooked you immediately with a funny, entertaining, enthralling story.
Lead off posts with vivid stories. Don’t start posts with bland, boring, lame introductions. Been there. Seen that. Be colorful. Be playful.
Hook ‘em hard. Lead in with a colorful story.
2: Paint a Picture with Words
Paint a vivid picture with words.
“The beastly lion hunter scaled a 30 foot cliff in 10 seconds. My jaw dropped out of the jungle canopy to the moist, muddy ground. Sinew formed tense ropes through her shoulders and back. Thunder remained true to her name as she galloped out of the rapidly moving creek, bounding toward the top of the mountain.”
I’m recounting an experience in that Costa Rican jungle where we nearly died lived for 6 weeks. We watched an 80 pound Rhodesian RIdgeback named Thunder. Ridgebacks were bred to hunt lions. She was a badass. Yes, the ground literally shook around you when she began to gallop like a horse at a 25 MPH clip.
If I just wrote: “The athletic dog climbed up a 30 foot cliff quickly. We were surprised.”, you’d say, “Boring!”
But I painted a picture with words. A clear, crisp, eye-popping representation of what actually happened. Which makes for a better story.
Add as many details as possible to your story-picture. Since we think in pictures you’re just making your reader’s lives easier by painting a vivid picture through your story telling.
3: Be an Observer
I tell stories because I observe stories unfold.
If you become a watcher of life, life presents you with countless stories.
I can spin a yummy yarn about my NJ Transit bus trip to NYC now. Or I can weave a wild tale about my 6 week house sit in a remote, rough Costa Rican jungle. Whether noting how my bus mates stare at their smart phones like mindless zombies or how an aggressive mama scorpion lunged at me pincers first when I reached for my precious Tico corn flakes in the jungle, mistakenly groping the darkness for a quick carbo load, only to be met by an angry, agitated arachnid, I tell stories by watching what is *really* going on around me.
Take a deep breath. Relax. Observe the room around you. Note details. Note colors. Note sounds. Look out toward the street. Or toward your backyard. What do you see? What story is unfolding?
Record your observations in a Word document. Become a better storyteller.
4: Read the Greats
I just put down my James Patterson book to write this post. If I am not reading James Patterson it’s Lee Child or George R.R. Martin. These best sellers are some of the greatest story tellers on earth. Each weaves a wicked tale.
Reading their works rubs off on me. I tell more enchanting stories. I add more humor to my work. I add more vivid details to my blog posts.
Feast on the greats. You will adopt elements of their storytelling wizardry.
Your Turn
I hope you enjoyed Ryan’s post and found the tips he shared helpful.
What tips can you add to this list?
About Ryan
Ryan Biddulph is a blogger, author and world traveler who’s been featured on Richard Branson’s Virgin Blog, Forbes, Fox News, Entrepreneur, John Chow Dot Com and Neil Patel Dot Com. He has written and self-published 126 bite-sized eBooks on Amazon. Ryan can help you build a successful blog with the 11 Fundamentals of Successful Blogging Audio Course.
Here is a list of some of Ryan’s eBooks
Disclosure: The amazon eBooks in this post contains my affiliate links. If you purchase one of Ryan’s eBooks, I’ll receive a small commish at not extra cost to you. Regardless of that, I only promote products I use or have used myself.
