The Importance Of Your Family Story

A few people have mentioned to me in recent weeks about having an interest in genealogy. Mike Garner was one. Mike is a storytelling professional who has dated his ancestry back hundreds of years.Which got me wondering… why have I never really bothered to look into mine?It could be that I’m simply lazy. My dad has mapped…

Book review: Story (Robert McKee)

I’ll sometimes buy a book to reserve the option of reading it in the future. I read slowly and thoroughly, so I have to be selective about what I read. I’ll often read the introduction and conclusion of a book when it arrives, then shelve it for a proper read later on. I’ve had Robert McKee’s book Story sitting on…

Two tips to plan better stories

I teach my copywriting students to plan stories by mapping 5-7 key events onto a timeline. You can do this on a plain piece of paper, napkin, post-it note, or whatever you have to hand.This rudimentary planning method would be too simplistic for say a novel or a play, but it’s reliable enough for most…

Can telling your story alter it?

I’ve been reading an excellent book called Uncommon Measure, by Natalie Hodges. Hodges is a former violinist who dedicated herself to music until performance anxiety forced her to quit. I have much to say about this book, as well as much I am still processing. But something that stood out was her thought that the act of writing…

The business case for regular emails

One of my first marketing mentors was and is Perry Marshall. I’ve subscribed to Perry’s emails since about 2006. Within Perry’s community a long standing critique has been that his ongoing emails are too ‘salesy’. For a few years you only heard from him when he had a webinar to promote. Well, a year ago…

My assessment of the Substack model

I noticed the other day that a large chunk of the ‘broadcast’ emails I receive are now delivered by Substack… Substack describes itself as an ‘online platform that provides publishing, payment, analytics, and design infrastructure to support subscription newsletters.’ As a subscriber the experience of Substack is similar to Patreon. You subscribe to follow people…

Recommended Reading For 2023

On a recent Story Copywriter Community call we discussed some books I’ve read recently. At the risk of over-extending your reading list I thought I’d share the conversation: [video_page_section type=”vimeo” position=”default” image=”https://storycopywriters.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/books.png” btn=”light” heading=”” subheading=”” cta=”” video_width=”1080″ ]https://vimeo.com/783964013[/video_page_section] Recommended books I read last year (that relate to writing): – The Story of the British Isles in…

The Work We’re Doing Here

I follow Caitlin Johnstone’s writing. Every year she publishes an update of who she is and what she stands for. For those who sell based on trust and expertise this struck me as a good idea. After all, you can’t understand anyone better than you understand yourself. The beliefs, values, ambitions and goals that make…

My Plans For 2023

I’m currently making plans for next year. Perhaps you are too. The run up to Christmas seems to stimulate both reflection and forward thinking. Story Copywriters has two halves to the business. One is my training course and community. The community is growing slowly but nicely. It’s a collaborative environment where we delve into writing topics…