There Are More Than One Boy-Meets-Girl Blogging Arcs

“At its very heart, I believe that there is only one story arc in the world,” writes Sonali Dev. “There’s a character in an uncomfortable situation and they must find a way to resolve it.” The narrative arc refers to the structure and shape of a story, the sequence of occurrences in the plot. A good arc is vital if you want to engage your readers from start to finish, advises reedsy.com. Boy meets girl, boy fails girl, boy gets girl again is one classic example, the author says. Adding complexity to a basic story arc is part of what differentiates one story from another, even when they’re ostensibly dealing with the same ideas.

In fact, in creating blog content at Say It For You, we often use a softer version of the “hurt and rescue” story arc author D. Forbes Ley suggests salespeople use to close deals – identifying ways in something valued by readers might be in jeopardy, and then emphasizing two points::

1. The business owner or professional practitioner understands readers’ concerns and needs.
2. The business owners or practitioner has the experience, information, products and services to solve exactly those problems and meet precisely those needs.

Using those two points as basic content building blocks, there are a number of ways bloggers can follow Sonali Dev’s advice and “add complexity” to the story arc:

• debunk a “myth” or false impression relating to your field
• tie the content to a front-page news story having to do with a problem your company or practice helps solve
• share a true story
• use statistics to prove the extent of the problem
• relate a celebrity story that illustrates the problem – or the solution you propose

Whichever of these “arc” tactics you select for any one blog post, a tip offered by Writer’s Digest contributor Estelle Erasmas should be kept in mind: “Focus on one specific point in time rather than on an entire life story.” Yes, your readers may in fact be seeking a way out of an uncomfortable situation, but might also be in search of information on how to perform a certain task, or looking to satisfy their curiosity on a particular subject.

There are more than one boy-meets-girl blogging arcs!