More often than not, I get terribly frustrated when I begin to write blog posts. I can try and emulate the style of other great bloggers, and while this process can be helpful, it can end up feeling like a forced and tiring exercise. Often I get the ball rolling by starting a conversation with my peers or co-workers about my writer’s block. As we go back forth in the dialogue, we end up revealing our own personal experiences about writing and collaboratively come up with solutions for generating ideas.

The most revealing aspect about these conversations wasn’t the specific points we discussed, but the fact that we engaged in storytelling to make connections and map out our ideas. As we talk about our experiences, we actively ‘show’ our viewpoints rather than merely stating them. When we illustrate our thoughts through examples, we help our listeners relate to our subject and encourage their input, drawing the discussion down new and unexpected paths.

If you want to write engaging content that generates discussion, employing storytelling techniques is often the most effective way of conveying information. Here is a breakdown of how storytelling techniques can boost the effectiveness of your content:

1. Makes your writing conversational and approachable. When you tell a story to someone in person, they often will jump in and offer their views or anecdotes about how the topic or subject matter affected them as well. For example, if I was writing a post complaining about slow service at a local restaurant, I would want to relay a personal experience I had about a hopeless waiter, rather than simply stating “X has terrible service”. Telling my story may encourage readers to share their own experiences, either in agreement or contrary to my own. “Well, I’ve always had good service at X, I even remember the staff helping me with Y”, so their story may go. Storytelling is an inviting way of encouraging reader contribution and will make your blog more identifiable.

2. Creates emotional bonds. People want to come to a blog that is alive and active, not static and dull. Simply saying: “here are the facts, thank you very much” is not always the greatest way of engaging your readers. You have to lead people into your points and arguments through emotive and attention grabbing language. Good storytelling is a great way of doing this. Also, letting people know what has inspired you can help them be inspired too, leading them to relate to you and your blog.

3. Evokes mental imagery. When you tell a story, you are creating mental imagery in the minds of your readers. Giving them a picture to work with, you are showing them your points rather then simply telling them. If I were to just say “blogging is tough sometimes”, I might be expressing an idea but I’m not doing it in a way that will hook people in. I could tell a simple story like, “one time my writer’s block was so bad I had to run circles in the park for 30 minutes before going back to my computer” that gives my readers an image to work with so they can get a better understanding of where I am coming from with my ideas.

4. Provides interesting examples. We talked before about providing examples when writing captivating content. Storytelling is just another way of illustrating your thoughts so readers can effectively take them to heart and use them practically. Providing a story as an example is also a way of establishing your authority on the subject matter being discussed. If I were writing a post about the top record stores in Toronto, I wouldn’t just provide a list of names. I would provide a brief story for each store explaining why they are the best: “At store X, the staff went the extra mile for me and phoned the record label to inquire about a CD that was out of print…” is an example of how you can expand on a general list.

5. Makes for more original content. Just like fingerprints, everybody has stories that make them unique. If you feel that your content seems derivative of other blogs, throwing in a personal anecdote my give your writing that jolt of personality you have been searching for. When I was writing a blog post reviewing a rock CD, I was worried that it would sound too similar to other reviews on more popular sites. So instead of just going over the highlights of the CD itself in the regular fashion, I instead described where I was when I first heard it. Knowing that the chances that someone had the exact same experience was close to nil, I became more confident about my post’s uniqueness and gave me the motivation to get it done. In the blogging world, branding yourself and being distinct is half the battle. Storytelling is a sure way of establishing your own voice.

So just remember that successful blogs don’t just tell the facts, they also tell stories as a way of engaging their readerships, conveying emotion, encouraging participation, and providing vivid examples for problems and solutions.

Now, we must ask: what’s your story? How has storytelling affected your writing for the web?