What Writing Fiction can teach you about Inbound Marketing: Part II

If you haven't already, check out Part I.

Business writers and fiction writers are often seen as two separate entities, each requiring entirely different skill sets. Having written for both, however, I decided to explore what common ground there might be, as well as what lessons could be carried over from one discipline to the other.

Don't Diss the Narrative.

I love narratives. Telling stories is something I enjoy so much that I started publishing them in my free time. You know what else is fun about narratives? Reading them. Sometimes using a narrative to describe an aspect of your business - the story of how your business started, for instance - is the perfect style to both get your point across and keep your readers interested. Narratives add a sense of flow to your writing that can be useful in combating those times when writing about something businesslike can cause your words to fall flat. Remember that Inbound Marketing is about making connections with your audience, and story telling is one of the oldest methods out there.

Focus on Your Work.

Maybe I stand alone on this, but for me the most difficult part about fiction writing is maintaining my focus. I'll be in the middle of a scene, the dragon is eating the villagers, then BAM. I'm looking up spicy noodle recipes on pinterest because dragons breathe fire and fire is hot and I like spicy foods sometimes. Creative writing has its merits, but writing with an Inbound Marketing mindset teaches you to keep your end goals in mind, and deiciding ahead of time how many villagers it takes for that dragon to get heartburn will keep you from straying before you finish the scene. Don't leave your dragons hanging - focus on what you want to accomplish through your wriitng. 

And those are the only lessons.

Not really. Writing for different disciplines forces you to take the skills you've learned from one genre and shape and squeeze them until they work for something new. Inbound Marketing is a lot like story telling, only the story you're telling is the one about your business.