Three Questions Your Story Must Answer To Succeed

James Chartrand has a story up over at Copyblogger titled “Three Questions Your Copy Must Answer To Succeed.”  Needless to say, most of those who read this blog aren’t really interested in writing copy, at least not yet.  However, they are interested in writing stories that attract and hold readers’ interest.Producing good copy and producing a good short story really isn’t that different.  In both instances, you have to define your audience, figure out what to write, and write it in a compelling manner.  So what are the three questions your copy must answer to succeed?  According to Chartrand, they are:

1. Why do I really need this?
2. Why should I choose you?
3. Why should I decide now?

Why do I really need this?

From Chartrand:

Find the root emotional needs whispering in the person’s mind, and you’ll turn that person into a customer.

There are two ways to relate this to a short story.  For one, there’s the query letter if you’re shopping your story around.  In the query letter, you have to figure out what it is the editor is looking for; you have to tap into their emotional needs.  Simply saying “This story is about…” won’t cut it.  Instead, you have to convey in clear, precise language why they need this story in their magazine.

When writing a short story, you have to convey as quickly as possible why the reader needs to read your story.  You need to offer something tantalizing; something that urges the reader to move past the first few paragraphs.

Why should I choose you?

From Chartrand:

We all know the competition is stiff. There are few barriers to business entry and even fewer in the virtual world. That means a vast selection of people can fulfill any need under the sun.

Almost all of us exist in the virtual world these days, which means your story is competing with thousands of others for attention.  In a query letter, you must answer why your story is right for the magazine.  What’s so great about your story?  Does it have a moral?  Is it compelling?  Remember, you have to sell yourself.

On the Young Writers Society, well over 200 short stories are posted every month, and not only does each story have to compete with one another, but it also competes with the time available to the reader.  Each of us only has a couple hours, if that, of recreation a day.  So somehow you need to convince people right away that reading your story is worth devoting that scant amount of recreation toward.  The best way to do this is to come up with a compelling title, and no, “Please Review” is by no means compelling.  In fact, it’s a surefire way to not get your story reviewed.

3. Why should I decide now?

From Chartrand:

Most people are great procrastinators when it comes to spending money and changing their life. Put those two actions together and convincing someone just got tougher.

This one doesn’t have that much applicability to people who read this blog, but you do need to convince the editor or the reader to read your work now.  We are all apt to put something off, and the more we put something off, the more likely we’ll never get around to it; especially when there is no grade attached to it.

In a query letter, you need to convince the editor why it’ll be worthwhile for him or her to make the decision to read your story as opposed to tossing it in the trash.  In a story, you need to convince the reader why they need to read past the first few paragraphs.