And Then, And Then, And Then

And then, and then, and then.

That’s how most people tell a story. A string of events, loosely connected, without a thread of meaning.

A good story has a different structure: a situation, a complication, a resolution. Or a character, a challenge, a change. The ‘and then’ structure just describes what happened. The good structure shows what it meant.

This matters for anyone who communicates – which is everyone.

When you write a blog post: are you listing what happened, or showing what it means? When you present a case study: are you describing a sequence, or showing how a change was made? When you talk about your work: are you reciting your CV, or telling the story of why you do what you do?

‘And then, and then, and then’ is the structure of a report. A story – a real story – has a spine. Find the spine.