Beyond Writing Code

Category: writing

  • Three books about storytelling

    Three books about storytelling

    I’ve been listening to books on storytelling recently, including three I recommend highly.

    Book 1: How to Tell a Story

    First: ​How to Tell a Story​ is by the team from the Moth Radio Hour. Seek that show out, if you’re not familiar with it. Among the takeaways… strong stories have:

    • A change or transformation. Show how the events of the story changed things, changed you.
    • Stakes. Why should the listener care.
    • A strong start and ending. No “so, yeah” at the beginning. No “uh, well, that’s it I guess” at the end.

    And when telling a story on stage, look for the sweet spot between memorizing and improvising. Know your story arc, what details you want to include or leave out, where you want to speed up or slow down.

    But memorize only the opening and ending. Beyond that, memorizing can make you sound unnatural. And if you lose your place in something you memorized word for word, recovering is hard.

    Neon sign that says "what is your story" glowing in an office window at night.
    Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash

    Book 2: Stories that Stick

    Second, ​Stories that Stick​, by Kindra Hall, provides a framework for how to approach storytelling. Her tips:

    • have a recognizable character,
    • use vivid and relatable details to connect to your audience,
    • bring in genuine emotion,
    • and identify a turning point (the change or transformation mentioned above)

    Stories that Stick then explains how most businesses have four main stories to tell: the value story (what’s the value of the product), the founder’s story (how did it all start), the purpose story (vision and values), and the customer story (testimonials). Each one serves different purposes.

    Given how good those two books were, did I really need another five-star book about storytelling?

    Yes, yes I did.

    I found that the lessons from each book complement the lessons from the others. Combined, they made a powerful course in storytelling. And it sure doesn’t hurt that all three books feature engaging stories as examples.

    But the third book I read, ​Storyworthy​, by Matthew Dicks, might be my favorite.

    Even better: it gave me a rule of thumb that I’m already putting into practice. (I thought I was already following it. I wasn’t.)

    Book 3: Storyworthy

    So many of us were taught to think of an academic style as “good writing.” It’s how we learned to write essays for school.

    Problem is, it can be a little boring.

    In ​the Book Academy​, Luvvie Ajayi Jones encouraged students to ditch the scholarly tone. “Write like you talk,” Luvvie said.

    And sure enough, whenever someone set aside their fancy word choices and just wrote as if they were speaking, their writing came alive.

    I already have a pretty conversational style of writing, so I thought I had this covered. But, in Storyworthy, Matthew Dicks takes this a step further. He calls it the “dinner test.”

    With the dinner test, you’re not just writing like you talk. You’re telling your story the way you’d tell it around the dinner table with friends.

    So now, as I write, I keep going back to imagine saying all this to you. Does it sound like something I’d say? I’m surprised by how often the answer is no.

    Storyworthy recommends another practice I plan to adopt. The author calls it “homework for life.”

    Homework for life consists of pausing at the end of each day for ten minutes to identify any “story worthy” moments that happened during the day. Just jot down enough to remember what the story is. You can also make a note of anything that happened at another time but which you happened to remember in that moment.

    This practice can build a list of stories worth telling, which is great. But even more than that, it can get you to pay more attention to small moments in your life that might be worth remembering.

    Matthew Dicks suggests that since he’s been practicing this habit, he’s had a sense of life not passing him by so quickly. That alone makes it a worthwhile practice for me, even if I never use the resulting list as a source for stories.

    Have you read any of these books about storytelling? Are you incorporating storytelling into your work or your life? What have you found useful when crafting your stories?

  • Not getting started guarantees failure

    Not getting started guarantees failure

    As I mentioned recently in my post about pressure and resistance, I’ve had a hard time getting started lately. I’ll sit down to work, and then I get distracted. At the end of the day, I’ve accomplished nothing on my to do list.

    I feel like an engine that won’t “catch.” Turn the key, it makes the right sounds to indicate that the engine is surely starting. But as soon as you stop turning the key… silence.

    A set of keys dangling from the ignition of a car.
    Remember car keys? Photo by Ivan Shemereko on Unsplash

    Fear of doing it wrong

    Another piece of the resistance, in addition to rebelling against the pressure: I fear doing it wrong or not being able to finish.

    • I dread writing for a while on a blog post and then losing enthusiasm and giving up.
    • I’ll think about a section of my book proposal but then worry that it won’t go well or I won’t be able to complete it.

    You know what guarantees that I will fail? Not starting.

    It makes no sense. Not starting feels safer, even though it guarantees the outcome I don’t want. Why should it feel safer?

    And yet, I’ve spent several days this month with the engine turning over but not catching.

    Fortunately, yesterday was a good day. Got a (fairly long!) newsletter email written. Yay! And today has been good so far too. Taking the pressure off is helping.

    Blank is easy, but not useful

    I had to laugh when I saw this. Here are the search engine optimization (SEO) ratings from Yoast for a completely blank blog post:

    A red frowning emoji labeled "SEO analysis: Needs improvement," a green smiling emoji labeled "Readability analysis: Good," and a green smiling emoji labeled "Inclusive language: Good"

    I had to laugh. That post (or book!) you never write? Sure, as a blank page, it might be incredibly easy to read. And, not having any words, it is unlikely to offend.

    But it’s not exactly going to be engaging to your readers. With driving, to get somewhere, you have to actually start the engine. In order to connect through the written word, you must start writing.

  • You know what doesn’t help overcome resistance?

    You know what doesn’t help overcome resistance?

    “So, I put a lot of pressure on myself. All the time.”

    My husband stared at me. “Yes,” he said emphatically, as if I’d just pointed out that ice is cold or nighttime is dark.

    A dark night sky with stars above, clouds and hills below.
    Nighttime is dark, who knew? Photo by Nathan Anderson on Unsplash

    Okaaay, I guess the pressure I put on myself is a known fact here in our house. Not just for work or writing, I mean for everything. Even on the weekends, lately, I feel pressured to make the best use of my time, get things done that aren’t work-related.

    Sheesh, I just started taking a workshop to improve the quality of my sleep. And I can already feel myself ramping up to put pressure on myself to sleep better.

    As if that will help.

    Resistance is arising

    Resistance is coming up a lot for me lately. I sit down in the morning on a weekday, intending to write.

    Instead, my motivation to write goes completely out the window. The last thing I want to do is write.

    So instead, I listen to an audio book. Or I draw. Or I get sidetracked by something shiny. Anything but writing. Anything that isn’t on my giant to-do list.

    Motivation then returns sometime later, when I’m planning to do something else. For example, it might show up after 8 pm on a Monday night, when I really ought to be doing some of those getting-ready-for-sleep practices. [looking at clock warily]

    Well, what’s an efficient, organized, driven person to do when faced with this unwillingness to just get to work already? Clearly I should figure out what’s blocking me and put even more pressure on myself to get past the block.

    No. Turning up the pressure when I’m not getting stuff done sounds like it should work. But it absolutely doesn’t.

    Why doesn’t pressure overcome resistance?

    When I turn up the pressure, all I’m doing is pressing against the resistance that has come up. And when that resistance encounters pressure, does the pressure overcome the resistance? Does it just decide that my motivated self should prevail and yield?

    Of course not. Instead, the resistance just increases. It’s getting pushed more, so it pushes back more.

    A person standing outside, holding up a hand in front of their face, with the palm of the hand facing outwards towards the viewer.
    Photo by Nadine E on Unsplash

    The resistance is arising because the pressure is too much.

    How do I know? Because in moments like this, when there’s no pressure to write, the words just flow.

    What helps, then?

    I’m not sure what will help, honestly. But it isn’t turning up the pressure.

    • I’m thinking self-compassion is probably a good start.
    • Setting smaller goals for the day.
    • Acknowledging the things I’m getting done that aren’t writing.

    After all, I didn’t quit my job only to write a book. I also intend to use the time to focus on my health and wellbeing: cooking more meals at home, getting outside for walks regularly, clearing my space of clutter, managing stress, and yes, sleeping better.

    I’m definitely making progress in those areas.

    Let’s see if taking some of the pressure off helps me return to the joy of writing, rather than pushing myself into the chore of writing.

  • Finding myself in the online noise

    Finding myself in the online noise

    I keep reading that there are two keys to connecting to your people online: consistency and content. Show up regularly, and keep creating content people want.

    Great, but show up where? Should I be building my Substack audience? Enhancing my creator profile on Kit? Keeping things on my own website?

    Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash

    I’ll tell you where you can find me, in a moment. But where do I find myself?

    Where am I?

    Key to answering this question, for me, has been the podcast Own Your Impact, by Macy Robison. Macy breaks thought leadership down into ten archetypes. I’m pretty sure the one that fits me best is “Wisdom Writer,” because the written word comes easily to me. Others include, for example, the Resonant Orator, the Experience Facilitator, and the Research Innovator.

    Don’t worry, they’re not thought leadership astrological signs. They’re just patterns of what approaches might work best for a given person. It’s a way of finding out what activities might or might not be a good fit for you.

    And the archetypes aren’t meant to box you in – I may not be a “Resonant Orator,” but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t bother speaking. I spoke at Enterprise Technology Leadership Summit last year and I loved it, and I’m excited to be speaking at LeadDev StaffPlus in New York this year. Nobody’s 100% one archetype.

    But writing, as a primary mode of expression, is going to work out much better for me than making videos on YouTube or running an in person workshop.

    The point: don’t just copy what you see other people doing because you think that’s the only way. There are multiple ways. Take the time to figure out what is a good fit for you, and do that.

    Macy just unveiled a quiz that can help you determine what your primary archetype is. You can find it on her website, macyrobison.com.

    But even just narrowing it down to writing, there are so many places to write. (Tip: here’s where you find me.) Substack, Medium, Kit, LinkedIn, my own website, blog and newsletter, Instagram, Bluesky, Mastodon… whew. It’s exhausting.

    And I’m paying attention to that exhaustion, to what (good or bad) I get in exchange for my efforts.

    What works for me and what doesn’t

    • When I’m writing for my newsletter, it feels good. And I’m often working directly on the book, which is glorious. This week, I’m also going to start sending an additional issue of the newsletter about art.
    • When I’m writing for my blog, that’s great too, although I don’t think I have many readers on my website. I need to figure out how to get my website blog posts to post automatically to Substack and Medium…
    • When I’m posting and interacting on social media, I’m often getting ideas for writing from the interactions I have with others. That works.
    • However, when I’m just reading social media, I have to be careful. It can be a huge waste of time, or it can be draining, or both. There’s interesting content from time to time to be sure, but it’s in a sea of ads, “suggested” content, endless commentary about AI, and upsetting news. Very easy to be overwhelmed.
    • And trying to keep up with ALL of the social media? Not gonna happen! I need a tool to go fetch just the best content for me from the sites I’m on. And there’s no way I’m cross-posting everything I write to multiple spaces, not unless I can find a tool to do that for me too.

    What works for you? Do you have tools that help you manage all this online content?

    If you check out Macy Robison’s archetypes, let me know how it goes!

    And if you’d like to sign up for my email newsletter, you can do that below.

  • Blog post checklist

    Blog post checklist

    I have been importing blog posts from my previous blog at Medium, and I keep losing track of the steps.

    And often, when I want to document something for myself, it’s my habit to document it for anyone else who has the same question…

    This is exactly what my blog post checklist will look like. I mean, the checklist below — not the ink-on-graph-paper. But graph paper’s cool too. Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

    While writing the post

    • Catchy but short title? (Sometimes I go for an entertainingly long title instead.)
    • At least one interesting image?
    • Caption your image(s)? Unsplash doesn’t require an attribution, but I like to add one.
    • Got sub-headings?
    • Review: brevity, passive voice

    At the end of the post

    • A short note to sum up
    • If you’re importing from Medium, did you mention that? “Originally posted [date] on Medium.”
    • Add the Medium link?
    • Is it long enough that you kinda wanna add a second photo?

    Metadata

    (I’m using WordPress, the metadata is all the stuff on the right hand side under “Post”.)

    • Set featured image?
    • URL slug? (This one is “blog-post-checklist” which is okay)
    • Discussion – open or closed?
    • Categories?
    • Tags?

    Note

    I wanted my posts to have a featured image that will appear on the Posts page, but not appear twice in the article. However, barring any customization, setting a featured image that is already in my post will make it appear twice: once at the top where I don’t want it, and once where I put it.

    Fortunately, I was able to figure that out:

    1. Appearance > Editor
    2. Click anywhere on the page to make the toolbar appear
    3. Click the black and white circle icon for Styles in the upper right
    4. Select the vertical “…” and choose Additional CSS
    5. Add the following, Save, and refresh your browser
    .wp-block-post-featured-image {
display: none;
}

    And so…

    Here’s the aforementioned “short note to sum up.”

    Did this checklist actually prove to be useful to anyone else other than me? Drop a note here if you used it.