3 rookie storytelling mistakes

I often write about the need to tell stories to grab people’s attention and ensure they remember you.

I often talk about the five fundamental stories:

1. The quest (which Hollywood knows so well).

2. Stranger in a strange land.

3. Revenge.

4. Rags to riches.

5. The love story.

You can look here for explanations of these stories.

People who attempt to tell one of these stories in a business setting or presentation often make basic storytelling mistakes.

Here are a few of the common pitfalls to avoid:

1. Writing too much of what you know.

Writers are always enjoined to write what they know. This advice is sound, unless you’re writing the next post-apocalypse blockbuster. Obviously you haven’t experienced alien overlords with six heads who practice mind control. Even then you can write about the struggle for survival, issues with authority, high-school cliques disguised as alien overlords and so on.