Tell Your Story in Four Ways
When I tell people that I write content that helps people tell their story, they say to me, ‘I’ve been sending a newsletter out and it’s had no response,’ or “I went on the radio to talk about this event I have coming up, but I didn’t get a single phone call.”
So why didn’t it work?
They put all their eggs in one basket.
Don't rely on just one medium to get your message across
The trouble is, not everyone absorbs information in the same way. The key is to tell your story through three or four different mediums at the same time. You just adapt your story to the medium you’re using.
The key to telling your story is to use multiple mediums.
Here are four ways to tell your story.
Tell it to the Horse’s Mouth
Talk to your friends and family about what you hope to achieve. Not only will they support you, but they know other people and they’ll spread the word to them. Tell people that you know will have an interest in what you have to say – they’ll be grateful for such useful information. You can also take it to the next level by knocking on the doors of organisations who will be interested in spreading your story to their members.
Tell it Online
You can now tell your story to the world thanks to the Internet. Start blogging, posting and tweeting. Use the word of mouth factor to reach specific people who you know will be interested and who will spread the word. They won’t see it as you pestering them; they’ll think, ‘This is interesting, I must tell my followers about this.’
Tell it in the Media
Yes, the world has moved online, but people are still very attached to their local newspapers and radio stations. There’s the familiarity factor; people like listening to programmes or picking up a paper and thinking, ‘I know her.’ You’ll create a word-of-mouth buzz around yourself that money can’t buy.
Tell it on Email
What do most people do at least once a week, if not once a day? Check email. So hit them directly in their inbox with a colourful, fun newsletter telling them about your organisation’s activities or about an upcoming event. You can hit everyone on your contact list within seconds.
Your story deserves to be heard. By telling it in a few different ways, you’ll reach more people and increase your chances of success in whatever you’re trying to achieve.
Writing About Food
I’ve always wanted a job writing menus for restaurants. To me, menus are a form of word alchemy. Lumps of meat become braised lamb, loin of pork, rump steak. Stew is transformed into cassoulet or bouillabaisse. The humble spud is sautéed or gratinated. Cheese isn’t just cheese. It’s Crozier Blue, Peccorino, feta. And all these delights are served on a bed of vegetables.
I do get a chance to wax lyrical about food in a blog I write for a restaurant in Cork. And I’m not alone. Never have so many acres of print been devoted to food, whether it’s cookbooks, food blogs, food memoirs, or food-themed novels and short stories. Maybe it’s because we now live in an age where we have the luxury of viewing food as a sensual pleasure, even in a recession. But it’s more likely to be because food offers endless possibilities to writers.
So how can food enhance your writing (aside from the mountains of chocolate you eat to comfort yourself when the words won’t flow.
You can create a feast for the senses. Writing about food gives you the opportunity to tap into all five of your senses when you write: the pop of newly-shelled peas, the bitter-sweet smell of an orange, the sight of a sumptuous, cream-topped dessert. With a few words, you can make readers’ mouths water.
- Oranges: a feast for the senses
Get an insight into your characters: It’s the little things that make characters come alive. And their attitude to food says a lot about them. If they deny themselves food, what else are they denying? If they overeat, are they trying to comfort themselves and why?
Humpty Dumpty, famous foodie character
Food packs an emotional punch. Food is bound up with our memories and our emotions. Eating certain foods immediately conjures up memories of family meals when we were young, or meals we ate on special occasions. Tapping into that memory bank can add real resonance and power to your writing.
To exploit its dramatic potential. Meals provide a great backdrop for conflict between characters. It gives you an opportunity to bring your main characters together and test how they interact. You can use the food as a trigger for conflict, since it provokes a strong emotional response in so many people.
family meals: a rich breeding ground for conflict
We can all relate to food: We all eat food. And we all spend a fair amount of time thinking about it. So a story about food reflects our own interests and concerns. People enjoy reading about other people eating. They get to take part in the feast without having to worry about the calories!
What’s your favourite food book, either fiction or non fiction? How does it use food to stimulate the senses, to capture the essence and the emotions of the characters?
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