Did your blog post put several readers to sleep today?

Too bad. Even your blog post on how to create a Twitter account could be so awesome that it instills excitement. Using a centuries old technique — if Shakespeare could have blogged, would he? — you can not only keep your reader awake, but you can keep them addicted to your blog.

 

The Fiction Pyramid And You

Off the record, we’re going to call it plain old curiosity. Officially, though, it’s called the Freytag Pyramid or, as you might have learned in school, the fiction pyramid or the dramatic arc. These are all fancy phrases for telling us about what makes a good story. Take note: People love stories. They are a curious bunch, and stories feed curiosity.

The pyramid looks something like this:

Introduction (and inciting incident): The headline, the setup, the introduction of characters and setting. For a blog post, you’re introducing the topic and necessary background information to your reader. You’re laying out your case. At the end of the introduction, the conflict (inciting incident) is revealed. The reader is made aware of a problem, which should make them curious about it if you’ve made them care or be concerned enough in your introduction.

Rising Action: This is where you build your case. The reader has the background info, and knows of the problem. Here is where you begin fleshing that out and building in detail. Use facts, charts, quotes, links — but whatever you use, be sure that it doesn’t numb and disinterest the reader. You want to keep them reading.

Climax: This is the pinnacle of your argument, your idea, your theory. Or, in the case of a simple how-to post, the nudge to reassure them that your steps should be followed or that yes, they should be doing this because the alternative isn’t good, or that they don’t want to make a common mistake others have made who haven’t used your step-by-step expertise. However you handle it, this is the point where you convince them that the case you laid out for them was true, and that it applied to them. The problem you stated was their problem, too.

Falling Action: Now that you have your reader’s attention or concern (and hopefully trust, since they’re still with you this far), you close out your argument and start to suggest to them that there’s a way to solve the problem, and you’ll share it with them.

Resolution (and call to action): Present your solution, your conclusion, and your final thoughts. If you want your reader to do something specific, this is a good time to ask them. A well-written blog post that has presented a problem or concept that convinces readers it applies to them will leave them wanting to take action immediately so they can feel that they’ve taken part and concluded the issue for themselves. Get your email addresses, sell your ebook, offer your download. Give them something to do, and be clear you’d like them to do it because it’s part of the solution.