Storytelling without the story

I’ve been sending you a lot of mail about summits recently, so today I wanted to remind you of why you’re here: because you know there’s something in this storytelling-for-sales lark, if you could just figure out how to do it.

So here’s a technique that you can try this week, that doesn’t include a specific story, but achieves the some of the same things. (Stay tuned, after the example, for my challenge to you).

The Non-Story Storytelling Email

This week my friend and fellow author, Fallon Brown, sent out an amazing email.

And before I share it, I want you to know that Fallon is, by their own admission, the biggest introvert on the planet. So I was kind of stunned when I received sent this perfect little email, that invited us in to the world of the product (the novels), but also into the heart of the author behind them.

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TEXT READS: Saying Yes

Fallon Brown: There are a few things I always say yes to when it comes to writing my books.

And today, I wanted to share them with you to see if we have anything in common!

❤️ Writing stories that feature trans and nonbinary characters

❤️ Letting those characters solve mysteries, fall in love, and be able to thrive

❤️ Get emotionally attached to my own fictional characters

❤️ Start playing with a new idea before I’ve actually finished one

Because at the end of the day…

I’m not just writing to send a message or to help cis-het people learn that those of us who don’t fit in that box actually deserve the same rights as them. I want to write about my queer characters being able to go on the same journey their straight counterparts are able to without ever being questioned about it.

And that nothing about them needs to be fixed.

That’s exactly what I kept in mind while creating Triple Play….

Breaking The Rules

This email seems to go against all the copywriting advice to write about ‘them not you’, and to take all the ‘I’s out of your emails.

But if you read more carefully you’ll notice that this is partly about Fallon but it’s also about the reader: “Let’s see if we have anything in common…”

And it’s a courageous email because it invites people to say, “No, we do not have these things in common”. (Remember, getting rid of the wrong audience is an energy-preserving strategy in the long term!

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Where’s the Story?

I call this a storytelling email because it’s borrowing the techniques of storytelling. It uses our ‘character’ (Fallon)’s motivation and desire to stir emotions in us, the reader, and makes us curious to know if they will achieve their goals:

• ‘Fallon Brown’ is no longer just a name on the page–an author with a book to sell–but rather, a character with a desire to influence people’s hearts, in meaningful ways.
• The characters in Fallon’s books are no longer just characters, they are, “queer characters…able to go on the same journey their straight counterparts are able to without ever being questioned about it.”

Now, when I see Triple Play in a bookstore, I know the ‘who’ and the ‘why’ behind it. And I’m invited to join the good fight of championing equality by doing something I enjoy anyway: reading a good book!

Triple Play is no longer just another one of the 4.2 million books that will be published this year.

It’s the work of a real human I feel connected to.

It’s a purchase I can feel good about.

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Your Assignment

Your assignment this week is to write a list of the reasons you do what you do, and then send it to the people on your list.

• You can call it ‘things I love about what I do’, or ‘The upside of being a [what it is you do]. Try to include something that feels a bit vulnerable.
• It doesn’t have to be a story (look back at Fallon’s bullet points), but it does have to show you as a real, three-dimensional character with hopes—and possibly fears.
• It should contain a line like “how about you?” or “let’s see what we have in common”, or “hit reply and let me know YOUR favorite thing”…

Hit “reply” and tell me what you wrote about—or ask for advice, if you’re stuck.

(See what I did there?)

Let’s begin,

Julie

P. S. If you want to read Fallon’s books, you can find out more, here.