6 Things Your Writing Must Have to Wow Readers

Is your writing missing something vital? It might be.

Over at AdAge, in a discussion of consumer behavior, Kevin Hartman discusses six emotions that advertisers track. It might make you a little uncomfortable to know that marketers are Stealing Your Diary to probe if and where you get emotionally attached.

But don't be too mad (or surprised).

The best writing actually revolves around the same six emotions, often experienced in readers as a physical reaction (tears, sighs, gasps, clenched teeth)...

Anger, Love, Sorrow, Joy, Fear, and Surprise

Interestingly, Hartman notes that "the most unfortunate news for brands over that last year was the lack of the emotion 'Surprise' in the consumer conversation. Logging in as a distant sixth place, the dearth of 'Surprise' clearly indicates that few brands have mastered the art of building anticipation into their consumer relationships."

Surprise isn't easy to come by for a writer. Hasn't it all been done before?

It's not necessarily about presenting a surprising idea (though it can be). In In Pursuit of Elegance, Matthew May notes that humans have an attachment to symmetry.

So if, as a writer, we use solid details to create a very clear picture but we leave something in that picture ambiguous or uncertain, this will create intrigue. Or, put another way, our readers will begin to desperately seek symmetry.

When writing a short article, one of the easiest ways to introduce uncertainty is to begin with a question, stated or unstated. In a longer work, we can include a thread that hides the "punchline" until the end.

It stands to reason that if you can create this kind of surprise in conjunction with at least one or more of the other 5 emotions, you'll create an even bigger "wow" for readers.

So why not begin thinking about how to write for emotional impact? You could steal some of the best writer's diaries as a place to begin.

Why Leave a Hole in Your Marketing?

Everyone’s got something to “sell.” It might be a product, like a book. It might blur the lines between product and service, like a blog. It could be a new process in a workplace setting. Or maybe even a bowl of green beans, to a fussy toddler.

What’s a writer, a manager, a parent to do?

Matthew May, in his book In Pursuit of Elegance, suggests that a good “salesperson” will leave a hole in his marketing—some missing piece, some mystery, a space for others to add their voices and creativity.

About a week ago, I decided to try May’s idea for myself. I was getting ready to “market” this series, and instead of simply announcing it, I engaged people in a missing-pieces game.

It worked.

Between comments at the blog posts where the game was played, and comments on Facebook, about 100 game-related comments were generated altogether. Not only did the game create more response than usual on my blogs, it also increased traffic and, most importantly, it created a space for readers to make their own meaning— resulting in delightful jokes, banter, poems, and philosophical musings (no one did a Cheetos sculpture in response, but Cheetos did eventually enter the conversation, as they are wont to do when Duane is nearby).

The challenging part of leaving a hole in our marketing is that we can’t find one “game” and continue to play it. Mystery resists formulas. Still, there are some principles to help guide the way. What are they? I probably shouldn’t say, ‘til next time.

(Got ideas? I’d love to hear them.)

Do Your Ideas Have Something Missing?

I wanted to try it out. Matthew E. May had claimed that the best ideas have something missing. Of course, making something go missing doesn't assure a good idea. But I wanted to test his theory.

So we played a game.

There were no stated rules, just loosely-related pictures (all with something missing and all from May's book). Beyond some peripheral conversations on Twitter and Facebook, there was no explanation of where it was leading. It was pure experience, more powerful than if I'd said, "Hey, did you know that missing pieces make things more interesting?"

That's what Matthew May believes. As an opening example in the book, he recalls the ending of The Sopranos. "Instead of receiving a concrete answer to the big question [of whether Tony Soprano would get 'whacked'], viewers sat shocked as, during the final seconds of the show, their television screens went black." And that was it. After a few seconds, the credits rolled.

There is more to the story, and you can read it in May's book. But, as he notes, "the point here is that no straightforward conclusion would have engaged viewers with the same intensity and debate."

So, is it worth it to make sure your ideas have something missing? I'll talk about that more in upcoming posts. But for now, I'm going missing until next week. :)