Did you know when he sold his first proper book “Carrie,” Stephen King and his wife had so little money, their phone was shut off?
When she heard first, Tabby had to walk to the neighbours house with the kids to use their phone, just to call Steve with the news on the deal?
He was a teacher at the time…
^At 6:30am it’s my reading window. End of the couch. The dog loves it too (she can’t read yet.) We go for 30mins or so, with a coffee.
Right now I’m into Stephen King’s “On Writing.” Part bio, part collection of tips for writing.
Maybe 350 pages or so, he blends stories from his life, with his approach to writing.
Both informative, and, really good.
Now, I’ve got things to do. Why would I read this, when I can find a quick list with 10 tips on writing?
One, because Stephen King doesn’t do lists, and two, this has something more…
A lot of businesses want to bring value to their audience, in particularly on social and in the weekly email. The most obvious way to do this is to educate.
This is great, but, there can be a problem with straight education.
It gets overcooked, it often doesn’t stick (because it doesn’t elicit a neurological response), and we got enough of it at school.
And, since it’s blown up thanks to the internet, it’s led to tighter and tighter circles of educational posts and tips.
Now, Stephen’s book talks about his life journey. It’s mostly storytelling. There are some valuable insights built in, or added.
Mostly though, incredible storytelling.
It really is a good book.
Anyway, the message is this. We love insights, and, we like education. They can certainly bring value and build trust.
And, we really, really love the story, or at a minimum, your background as the teacher or some context on the situation or journey.
1. “What was happening at the time?”
2. “Why did it surprise you to learn this?”
3. “What is different about how you do this now versus before?”
4. “Tell us about your mentor who shared this with you?”
It’s one thing to get our attention in the first place, but to hold it, we’ll need either past or present context or story at some point.
