storytelling

for nonfiction writers

the power of stories

Have you ever wondered why is it that the only thing you remember about a lecture or talk you attended are the anecdotes the speaker told?

Or why after you read a business book, the stories stay with you longer than the concepts?

It’s because our brains are wired to pay attention to stories. Let me give you 5 quick science facts.

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1

Stories create curiosity, which releases dopamine, a pleasurable hormone, in our brains.

2

Thanks to mirror neurons, stories cause our brains to fire up in the same patterns as the brain of whoever is telling the story. So there is a connection.

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3

Stories engage our emotions, not just our reason.

4

Brain scans show that stories activate more areas of the brain than just factual information.

5

Interesting stories literally stop daydreams and command our attention.

In a world of Netflix, YouTube and a myriad of entertainers, you must learn how to tell engaging stories if you want to draw the attention of your audience.

So what is this course about?

Here I’ll teach you some basic storytelling techniques that novelists and screenwriters use all the time and then I’ll show you how to apply them to your own content, whether blog articles, social media posts, videos, books or haikus.

This short course consists of 5 lessons:

1. Ideation
2. Characterization
3. Conflict & Structure
4. Dialogue
5. Types of Endings

I’ve written 15 books over the past few years, including a few novels and various nonfiction titles, from medical topics to business. I hope you enjoy it.

The first lesson is IDEATION…