Your Business Story Needs a GUI—Here’s How to Create One with Words

Coders understand more than most the power of a graphical user interface (GUI). Writing code is not friendly to the pedestrian. In response, developers created a way to use icons as visual representations of the complexity behind it. And in that notion exists a magical hint on how to create better stories, better books, better copy.

Your Life

Your life and the life of your business are complicated. It would take years to explain every attempt, every failure, every success, and every lesson learned. However, without these experiences, you would not be where you are today. The question is: how do you transmit to the general public the power of your background without them knowing your background? Enter LUI.

Literary User Interface

I teach my students a process called Literary User Interface (LUI). This is the ability to design a narrative that acts like a computer mouse—a point and click, an icon to meaning. With our words alone, our readers, our audience, and our clients can experience the immense power of our life without having been there to witness it.

Baking the Words

Have you ever gotten close to a bakery and felt hungry just from the smell alone? You have no idea who is baking, and you have no idea whether the bread even tastes good. All you know is that the smell is enticing. You have no interest in how long the baker spent learning her craft, how much the flour cost, or any other detail. You simply know that the smell reminds you of a better time you spent with people you love. Sold.

Think carefully about how your words "smell." Do they give your readers a sense of joyful nostalgia? Do they remind them of a better time and place when life was simpler? Create the LUI version of your story.

Written by: Dennis Ross

text me. 678.468.3782