Lessons in content from a novelist

“Start with a bang, end with a twist.”?

So said my novelist pal James Ellson .

Although, truth be told, he was paraphrasing the great Lee Child. The latter’s Jack Reacher series alone has sold 100 million copies – in 50 languages – so he knows something about crafting a story.

So does James, a former senior detective, whose latest series of crime novels have also been selling well.

We all need to learn new tricks. So, late last year, I tracked James down and asked how I could improve my game – and my clients’ story telling.

He told me two things.

1.???? Keep asking questions

Use human curiosity to your advantage.

For example, James’s protagonists will find a body and they’ll want to know who, how, why, when and what. So will you. But James will tease the answers, build jeopardy and keep you turning the pages.

If you’re writing about yield curves, asset allocation, pension contributions and all the rest of it, you can easily pose questions. After all, these are often such complex issues that readers are already asking what they mean.

The difficulty in investment writing lies in answering the questions in a way that satisfies the reader. That’s something to think about.

2.???? Start with a bang, end with a twist

Start your story with something unique, different and active. This grabs your reader’s attention and gets them asking questions.

End it with something surprising. This encourages the reader to go back to the start and read the story again in a different light.

Back in investment-land, is this possible?

I don’t see why not. The story of investing touches on human accomplishment, failure and drama at almost every stage. It’s far more than a monochrome series of numbers, or facts. This is also something to think about.

I hope you found James’s advice as useful as I did. You can buy his books (I couldn’t put them down) and find out about his fiction writing courses here.

And if you want your financial and investment stories told better, please get in touch. We’re very good at what we do.