The most successful writers are the most curious. In this way, authors are very similar to journalists. They thirst for understanding and don’t stop asking questions, even when their way forward takes a sharp turn or information isn’t readily available.
Both groups fill in the blanks related to the who, what, where, when, why, and how of a topic to breathe life into their stories. Your job is to take readers on a journey with a clear beginning, middle, and end using the five W’s (and one H).
Who played a role?
The self-made millionaire is a myth. No one makes it on their own; we learn from and with the people who help and hinder our progress. Who fills these roles in your story and what part did they play? Maybe you learned an important lesson about customer service from your first boss when you were a teenager, or you mentored a teenager and gained valuable business insight from the experience.
What do you want readers to learn?
The what of your story is really the transformation you promise and deliver to your readers. Using the lessons you learned, you teach readers how to skip the line, so-to-speak. They read about the mistakes you made and how you corrected for them so they can avoid making the same missteps.
This way, readers come through the process that much faster. When readers purchase your book, they hope you can help them. By the time they turn the last page, they’re already taking action so they can feel and think and act differently to reach the goal that pushed them to find help in your story.
When and where does your story take place?
Believe it or not, the setting of your story is just as important as it is in fiction. Readers need to know when and where most of your story takes place. If you begin with your childhood, we need to know at least the decade to make appropriate pop culture connections for greater context. Likewise, if you move the action to your college years or you share memories about the early years of your business, having a sense of time and place lends weight to how a particular experience helped shape you.
Historical markers such as the Great Recession of 2008 or the coronavirus pandemic starting in 2020 almost certainly had an impact on you, your business, your career, and/or the people who played a role in your journey. Anchoring your story in specific moments that live in your readers’ collective memories, albeit in very personal ways, centers your reader and allows them to pay closer attention to what you’re teaching them.
Why should people listen to you?
The entirety of your journey defines why readers should trust you to deliver what they need to succeed. Your education is important, of course, but it pales in comparison to how you lived and worked and played and what you learned and lost and gained through it all.
You might have advanced degrees, but your experiences and how you navigated them is what make you relatable to your reader. They need to see reflections of their lives in yours to convince them you have a way forward and a framework they can follow to get there.
How: Your Conflict and Resolution
Your primary conflict — the biggest problem — and how it got resolved is the core of your story and what spurred your reader to buy your book. Now, your conflict is almost certainly multi-faceted because we are complex beings, and your resolution may have led to outcomes you didn’t imagine, both good and bad.
Spill it all! You readers need all the details; the good and bad and everything in between.
Mini-conflicts can grow out of your most pressing issue and you need to talk about how you dealt with them, even if they were resolved without your direct involvement. The most important facet of your story is that you identify with your reader’s pain point(s), and you clearly and concisely present the solution(s).
Final thoughts
Employing a sense of curiosity as if you’re a journalist investigating the corners of your story expands and enriches the journey for your reader. By using the five five W’s and one H — who, what, when, where, why, how — you’ll uncover details you may not have considered before, producing a deeper and more meaningful narrative for your reader.
If you’re ready to embark on your author journey to make more money in your business, I’d love to talk with you. Schedule a call today.