![\"tell](\"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/luke-with-baby-book-205x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Can you tell a story?<\/p>\n
I recently read a book proposal for a client’s book that’s been a couple of years in the making. I’m so proud of him.<\/p>\n
He had the right instinct for his overview\u2014<\/em>telling a compelling story from the get-go. Yet, it started out dry, clinical, like many proposals I read on the first pass. I knew he could do better.<\/p>\n I waved my magic wand on a description of his son’s remarks and\u2014ta da<\/em>\u2014<\/em>a generic description became dialogue\u2014<\/em>four simple words in double quotes. Another wave of the wand and\u2014ta da da<\/em>\u2014<\/em>the dialogue floats from the end of the paragraph to the very first line.<\/p>\n All right. We can hear his son’s voice from the very first sentence. We’re hooked. What next?<\/p>\n I ended the brief quotation with a name and the son’s age. Let’s picture him. I suggested a few quirky details to bring this young person to life\u2014his posture, his walk, his unusual clothing<\/em>.<\/p>\n Now, the author can make his point. The story isn’t much more than a paragraph but it draws us in, comes alive, has its quirkiness, feels real.<\/p>\n Engage your reader; doing all the work for her distances her from the action. Rather than spoon feeding readers\u2014<\/em>in this case agents and acquisitions editors\u2014<\/em>a conclusion, strong writing helps readers draw their own conclusions.<\/p>\n Anecdotes in a how-to, self-help or business book may be short, but they need vitality to resonate and keep your readers reading.<\/p>\n You can certainly read successful how-to and business books to find examples of well told, yet brief stories. Yet, I also encourage you to read fiction and memoir. These master storytellers can help you go deeper with your writing and have a greater impact on your readers.<\/p>\n The more you read, the more your subsconscious can draw upon the great writing you’ve read.<\/p>\n The following creative tools can help you tell a story in a dynamic way:<\/p>\n Metaphor<\/strong>:\u00a0In one of my favorite posts of all time, When You’re Sad You Make a Rainbow\u00a0and Other Writing Secrets<\/a>, I share how my son’s stream-of-consciousness metaphor can teach us how to discover metaphors and symbols that heighten our writing. And, yes, I tell a story.<\/p>\n Dreams<\/strong>: In this interview, dream expert Kari Hohne teaches us how to access our 24 hour mind for writing and inspiration<\/a>, particularly through our dreams.<\/p>\n Creative Visualization<\/strong>: If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you’ll be familiar with my “Meet Your Muse” exercise<\/a> to access your creative source for answers to your book writing questions. Ask your muse<\/a> for a metaphor, a story, a description, how to start with a person you know and bring them to life on the page. You can access your muse through this free creative visualization for writers<\/a>.<\/p>\n What are your favorite tools to make your writing vibrant and real for your readers?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Can you tell a story? I recently read a book proposal for a client’s book that’s been a couple of years in the making. I’m so proud of him. He had the right instinct for his overview\u2014telling a compelling story from the get-go. Yet, it started out dry, clinical, like many proposals I read on… Read more<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16147,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[158,2041,2040,2042,2039,1046],"class_list":{"0":"post-16145","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-more","8":"tag-book-proposal","9":"tag-creative-visualization-for-writers","10":"tag-dreams","11":"tag-how-to-write-a-compelling-anecdote","12":"tag-tell-a-story","13":"tag-writing-tips","14":"entry"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16145"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":278910,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16145\/revisions\/278910"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}[bctt tweet=”How to Write a Compelling Anecdote” username=”LisaTener”]<\/h2>\n
![\"Tell](\"https:\/\/jodieburdette.net\/lisatener\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/jordan-silouette-e1535583337827-300x225.jpg\")
[bctt tweet=”Read Memoir and Fiction to Learn to Tell a Story” username=”LisaTener”]<\/h2>\n
3 Creative Processes to Inspire a Powerful Story<\/h2>\n