What a Broken Dishwasher Taught Me About Writing
A solid writing foundation about basics or how to replace a dishwasher. Are they so different?
Inspiration comes from strange places these days.
To help understand this idea I need to tell you a story. I promise it’s quick.
I spent the last week trying to replace a dishwasher. Yep, the old dishwasher quit on me. The lights didn’t come on and the pump didn’t engage.
My wife and I went to a big-box retailer and they had a basic dishwasher in white to match our kitchen. We bought it and ordered the free shipping and they delivered it the following Saturday.
Now a dishwasher has 4 steps when you replace one.
You need to disengage the old washer and insert the new one. Then reattach the water supply, a drain hose and an electrical connection.
All of this needs to be done precisely and correctly so they work together to provide dishwashing to your kitchen. If one part is done incorrectly the machine fails to operate as it was designed.
What does this have to do with writing?
I know this is a strange wonky metaphor, but you have some basics about writing that are not talked about real often. The structure is one of them.
At its most basic form when you write your content you have a headline, an opening, a body, and a close. All are important, maybe at varying degrees, but important just the same.
You must construct your content in this basic structure so people will follow your line of thinking to deliver a first-class article.
How each piece of the content has a role to play.
The electrical connection in a dishwasher is the valued basic function that has to work or there is no need for water or a drain. Just like a headline.
We know that a strong headline is like the electric connection. If someone is not enticed by your headline your content doesn’t get read. If your electric connection doesn’t provide power when you click the button nothing else matters.
See where I’m going?
You know when you click on the headline the first part you read is called an opening. It is important to let your audience know why they should keep reading.
It’s like when you push start on a dishwasher the water should start to fill the dishwasher reservoir. That way you know it will wash the dishes so let it continue.
The body of the dishwashers must be changed to get the full impact of a new washer. It takes quite a bit of time to actually switch the units. It also takes time on the body of your piece. To construct a body that answers the benefit in the headline and persuade your reader to do what you actually are asking them to do.
Next, when the dishwasher has finished going through the wash cycles it must drain the contents from the dishwasher before you open it. Just like a conclusion you drain the story of all the facts or important points into a short neat conclusion. This way your reader knows it’s finished.
Now you have a draft.
I always review my initial drafts for spelling and grammar. I do away with fluff and add any clarifications or references I need to get a finished product.
With a dishwasher, it is much the same. I throw away all the packing. Put up my tools and store the booklets in a file.
Then I get ready to publish.
Before I actually publish my post or content I re-read it. I also test the dishwasher with no dishes to actually see if it is completely installed. Guess what it wasn’t. The electric connection came undone.
Like a headline, I sometimes don’t get a good feeling about it. I run it through an analyzer to see what is wrong with the way the headline is constructed. Then reconstruct or change words to make it more effective.
I looked at my dishwasher to see why it would not work and found a loose connection in the wiring. I then used some electrical table to hold the wire in the wire nut.
Creativity always plays an important role whether it is a good headline, an opening, body or conclusion.
Does it stand above the crowd? Maybe or maybe not, all content can’t stand above the crowd because of the nature of the subject being presented. Such as technical instructions or basics being explained. But creativity sometimes can elevate a bland post to a viral one.
The answer is you have to interject something into the content to make it worthwhile to publish. The story needs to be told in a way everyone can relate. That way they are informed, entertained or taught some new knowledge.
Then finally I hit the publish button or the start button on the dishwasher and they both work correctly.
That’s all folks.
Remember a well-designed content has a headline, an opening, a body, and a conclusion. You need all four to benefit your audience. Don’t forget to interject a spoonful of creativity to elevate your piece above the noise.
Take your time to craft your content well before you hit the start, I mean publish button.
