5 Books To Help You Become An Even Better Storyteller

Here Are The Best Books You Can Read To Write Better Ads, Emails & Content

The single most important skill for any copywriter or business owner to develop is storytelling.

Whether you’re writing copy for clients or you’re a solo-entrepreneur who takes care of their own marketing, the best way to communicate your value to prospective clients is with clear, concise, and emotional writing.

And contrary to popular belief, storytelling isn’t a natural charismatic skill set that some people are born with. If you’re able to find the right resources, you can teach yourself to be a master storyteller as well.

Here are 5 books anyone can use to become a better storyteller.

Save the Cat – Blake Snyder

Save the Cat is a short and powerful guide to making your ideas more marketable and your copy more satisfying.

Although you may think to yourself that, as a marketer, slamming your reader or your viewer with benefits and alleviating their pain points should be enough to convince them to buy, it oftentimes isn’t. It’s important for businesses, especially digital ones, to communicate effectively with their prospects in a way that doesn’t come off as obvious selling. 

(Remember how much resistance you had last time a sales rep came up to you in a store and asked if you needed help? Same idea applies here.)

This book will give you the perfect foundation for creating a story that places your prospect as the hero and holds them by the hand until they realize you’re what they’ve been missing.

The Anatomy of Story – John Truby

Standing as a strong contrast to the easy-to-digest book above, The Anatomy of Story is a behemoth written by one of the most respected and sought-after story consultants in Hollywood.

I’d even go as far as to call it the Storytelling Bible.

This book is the perfect reference manual to provide an in-depth look at each of the 22 steps required to tell a story. Master these steps and you’ll have no trouble keeping audiences engaged and leading them through the emotional journey they need to experience to feel connected to you and your product.

You’ll find very detailed instructions on nearly every page – my own copy is completely decimated with dog-ears and highlights – and will probably find yourself keeping it by your desk for reference.

Wired for Story – Lisa Cron

Imagine being able to look inside the human mind and determine what to write or say to trigger the strongest emotional response.

That’s what Lisa Cron has done for you in her advanced storytelling rules set forth in Wired for Story.

Forget “writing well” – here, you’ll learn exactly what you should (and shouldn’t) do if you really want to keep your reader’s attention.

The Hero With a Thousand Faces – Joseph Campbell

The Hero With a Thousand Faces is one of the first books published that takes a psychologist’s perspective on the art of storytelling – and it’s still one of the greatest.

Campbell focuses throughout on the idea that story is programmed into our brains and that by looking back on the most successful myths in human history, we can draw a structure – which he calls the Hero’s Journey – which can serve you in relaying powerful parables to your reader.

Ham on Rye, Post Office, Women – Charles Bukowski

There’s no better example of the lessons of great storytelling than the novels of Charles Bukowski.

Okay, that’s probably an overstatement… What I should say instead is:

If you want to learn how to write clearly, effectively, and emotionally – in as few words as you possibly can – then Charles Bukowski’s Post Office trilogy is a must-read.

You’ll learn exactly how one of America’s most celebrated writers of poetry and prose creates relatable, human-centered, and socially conscious narratives without sounding like a typical novelist.

By the time you’ve read the books above, you’ll have worksheets, checklists, and frameworks to create a nearly perfect story. If you internalize the lessons, do the recommended homework, and begin viewing the world through the lens of story, you’ll begin to connect those golden threads in your own writing and presentations and hook prospects into an emotional roller-coaster. From there, it’s only a matter of adding in some bullets and a CTA, and you’ll have more sales than you know what to do with.

Good luck.