12 Ways to Jumpstart an Article

7/22/2019 12 Ways to Jumpstart an Article

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Drama. Structure. Next Step.

welve Ways o Jumpstart Articles


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2007 by Sean DSouza. All rights reserved. Published by Psychotactics Ltd. No part of this publication may bereproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the priorwritten permission of Psychotactics Ltd.

Te Author and publisher have used their best efforts in preparing this book and the document contained herein.However, the author and publisher make no warranties of any kind, express or implied, with regard to the informationalcontent, documentation, or in any accompanying media files such as CDs or DVD, and specifically disclaim, withoutlimitation, any implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particula r purpose, with respect to programlistings in the book, the techniques described in the book, and/or the use of files. In no event shall the author or publisherbe responsible or liable for loss of profit, or any commercial damages, including, but not limited to, special incidental,

consequential, or any other damages in connection with or arising out of furnishing, performance, or use of this book,program files, instruction, audio or v ideo connected with this information.

Further, the author and publisher have used their best efforts to proof and confirm the content of the files, but you shouldproof and confirm information such as dates, measurements, and any other content for yourself. Te author and publishermake no warranties of any kind, express or implied, with regard to that content or its accuracy.

Te Brain Audit Kit is available at special quantity discounts to use as premiums and sales promotions, or for use incorporate training programs. Tis is part of the entire Brain Audit series which includes audio programs, on-line training,etc.

For more information, please write to:Psychoactics Ltd., PO Box 36461,Northcote, Auckland, New Zealand

Phone: 64 9 449 0009Email:[email protected]

Images in this document are 2007 ime Magazine, New Zealand Herald, National Geographic Magazine, La Nacion,Readers Digest, PC World, Cosmopolitan, People Magazine, Elle, Before and After, Daily Mail and Le Figaro.
http://www.brainaudit.com/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.brainaudit.com/


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Contents aking A Walk Trough More Strucure

Te Insant Referene Guide

. : Why Storie Create Insant Drama

. : How to look at at from the moue-view

. : Are We Off o A good sart, or what?

. : Why Seeing, Doing, Hearing, Eating I Kinda Good

. :

Why Swinging from Obviou to Not-So-Obviou Get Attention

. : Te Simples Way o Jumpsart An Artile

. : Starting Up A Video In Your Brain

. : How Clausrophobia Create Insant Drama

. : Why Lising Make Sene

. : Going Banana I A Good Ting

. : Impoible Start Up Are Eaier Tan You Tink

. : Eaily the greates driver of them all


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Jumpstart, eh?Often the hardest thing to do is to start.

Starting creates momentum, no matter how pathetic that momentum may be. Andonce that momentum gets rolling, its much easier to move ahead. So how do we

move ahead?

Tere are several ways to jumpstart an articleAlmost all of the ways specifically hark back to the disconnected object you learnedabout earlier in Lesson 3. But can we expand on those ways? Can we indeed findways to jumpstart an article, approaching that darned article from several differentangles?

Te answer is yes.And in the pages to follow, were going to learn just how to do it.

So come along with me on this merry ride, as we learn a whopping twelve ways tojumpstart an article. Tis is a quick reckoner, so if you ever get stuck, you can quicklyrefer back to this set of notes. And just for good measure, Ive created a little cheatsheet as well, at the very start of these notes, that you can print out and paste on yourcomputer or near your desk.

Enjoy!

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Psychotactics.com | Article Writing Course


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Te Cheat-Sheet1) Start with an unfolding story, much like the 6pm news does each evening.2) Start with historical event being re-told. Use a different angle (e.g. helicopter view)3) Disagree with the headline. (e.g. Sales is stupid for an article on sales).4) Use the power of senses (e.g. Sound, Smell etc.: Te room smelled like cheese).5) Ask a predictable question. (e.g. Would $300,000 p.a. be enough of an income?)

6) Create a problem. (e.g. Imagine the economy crashed a week from now...)7) Describe an everyday activity (e.g. Brushing your teeth)8) A traumatic Moment (e.g.David McDonald carries a $5 note. Its the only note hehad when he headed north four years ago).9) Start up a list of things (e.g. Its a bird. Its a plane. Its Superman).10) Rant and rave about something (e.g. I get really mad when people leave lights on)11) Start with the impossible. (e.g. Could you earn a years income in a week?)12) Create Curiosity. (e.g. Te people of Valencia are celebrating)

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No 1: Start with an unfolding storyNotice how the news anchor folk get your attention? Tey always start off withan unfolding story. And no you dont have to be a news anchor to work out howto unfold a story, because youve done it many times before. Youve done it whenyoure talking to your friends, or telling a child a story, or simply when making apresentation of sorts. So lets see some examples:

Example 1: News Anchor:oday a child was found abandoned at Melbourne airport. At first, it just seemedlike she was lost. But a closer look at security cameras found that shed beenabandoned by her caretaker, now identified as the childs father. Te police namedthe child Pumpkin, as she was wearing clothes made by the prominent clothingmanufacturer, Pumpkin Patch.

Example 2: alking to friends:We were crossing the bridge when it happened. For no particular reason, the bridge

started to rumble. We thought it might be an earthquake and feared the worst, but infact, it wasnt an earthquake at all. It was simply....

Example 3: elling A Story o A Child:I remember when you were just two years old. Your parents were really afraid thatyou werent speaking that much. Youd say very few words to begin with. And thenfor no particular reason, youd construct whole sentences. Youd be out groceryshopping with your parents, and youd say a whole line like, Te cars are in the carpark.

Action Plan:So how do you use this unfolding story to jumpstart your article?Simply start out by telling a story. A story is dramatic by itself, and if simply rolledout, immediately gets and keeps the attention of the audience.

Possible Mistake:Dont overdo it. Te story cant run for over. Run the story for a couple of paragraphsat best. Ten pull back to the main angle youre writing about.If you write about the story too long, you lose the readers attention. Its easy to getall hung up about your wonderful story, but remember the why youre writingthe article in the first place. Its to get the angle across. Te opening is just theattraction device, and should stay that way. Dont let it take over more than just a fewparagraphs at best.

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No. 2: Use a different viewYou dont always need a different story. You just need to tell the story from a differentangle. So what do I mean by this? Well, imagine youre telling a story about a youngbuffalo being attacked by a bunch of lionesses. Tat story may almost appear toogruesome to some. But what if you changed the angle? Maybe you looked at samestory from the angle of the lioness having to feed her now starving cubs. Youve now

looked at the same story from a completely different angle, havent you?

Creating an opening, doesnt need you to re-tell a story. It simply needs you to look atthe story from a completely different angle. It could a story from history told from aground angle, and now youre telling the story from the top of a bus, or a helicopter,or from the angle of the audience, or the speaker or...waitaminit what am I talkingabout? Heres what Im talking about:

Imagine yourself in a helicopter over Milwaukee, USA, on the shiny morning of

June 13, 1998.

You look down casually on the criss-crossing tangle of roads on Interstate 94, and

then do a double take. You cant believe your eyes.

It seems like there are hundreds of moving objects on the highway below. Maybe

even thousands. You watch in horror as a veritable sea of black advances like

warrior ants into downtown Milwaukee.

You hastily reach for your binoculars and your heart goes thump, thump, thump.

Thousands upon thousands of Harley bikers, swathed in trademark leather and

shining chrome bikes seem to be almost invading the city.

What should you do? Maybe you should call the newspaper. The police perhaps.

Surely Milwaukee needs some sort of warning.

But its too late. The bikers are already in the city.

Read the rest of the article at:http://www.psychotactics.com/artmarketingsecret.htm

See how the drama was created by getting into a helicopter and describing the viewfrom the top? Now imagine youre talking about your cat. What if you looked at yourcat from the angle of the mouse hole? Or what if you looked at your cat from theangle of the next-door dog? Or what if you looked at your cat from the angle of thenext door cat? Or the neighbour who hates the cat? Or the little girl with the pigtailswho loves the cat? Wouldnt each angle bring a different sort of drama to your story?

And more importantly, wont it jumpstart your brain to see details and an unfoldingstory that it may not have been able to see before?

Simply look at ordinary stuff from another another angle, and youll find drama un-folding immediately. Tis is simply because your brain gets bored with the ordinary,

and is able to focus immediately on the different angle, Whats really cool, is thatcustomers will love the different angle as well. And as I said, thats really cool!

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No 3: Disagree with your headlineTe logical thing to do in an article is to let the reader right down the path youretaking them. So why not be a little illogical? Because the illogical way is often thebest way to jumpstart an article.

And when you disagree with your own headline, youve really got a customers

attention instantly! So how do you disagree with your own headline?

Heres how you disagree with your own headlineSo if your headline is about saving money, then let your opening start withspending money. If your headline is about keeping stores open at 6pm, then startwith closed shutters at 6pm. If your headline is about getting feedback, then startwith the opposite of feedback.

Can you find a way to start an article with the opposite premise?

Examples at:http://www.psychotactics.com/artgodfather.htm http://www.psychotactics.com/artraisingprices.htm

Notice how the headline talks about increasing your prices.

But almost instantly, the opening paragraph talks about

reducing your prices. Which as you can tell, is the exact

opposite of the headline. And then theres the article about

The Godfather offer that creates its own drama. See how the

opposite stance really works?

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No 4: Use Te Power Of SensesGet your reader to pick up something.o imagine something.Smell something.Sing something.Eat something.

Hear something.See something.

Using the power of senses immediately gets your reader to pay attention But why would they want to pay attention? Simply because once you tell the readerto smell something, see something, hear something or do something, their brain

automatically does exactly what youve asked them to do. Tats the power of thesenses.

So if youre going to start up an article, be a sensei of the senses. :)

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No 5: Te Obvious FactorYou wouldnt think that the obvious question would get a readers attention, did you?Well it does, especially if its so obvious that the reader has to do a double-take towonder why youre even asking the question.

But theres a method to this madness of asking the obvious question.

It lets you pull the reader into the article with the obvious. And like it or not,curiosity is what we all have, and were pulled into the article, wondering when thearticle is going to change direction.

And within a few paragraphs, your article does indeed change direction. It takes ona factor of unpredictability that takes an engaged reader deeper into the article. Tispredictablility factor, predictable as it seems, actually acts as a disconnector.

So how do you create this predictability factor?

1) You talk about the obvious.2) You make the customer agree that its obvious.3) You switch it with the not-so-obvious. (which the reader is expecting anyway)

In many cases, the obvious, if too obvious, gets the readers attention. When things

are too plain, the reader wonders if theres somehow a catch; somehow a twist of

sorts. And when you quickly provide the not-so-obvious, the reader is instantly

involved. In the piece above (which you can nd at http://www.psychotactics.com/artenough.htm) youll nd that the piece swings from the obvious: getting $20kmore per year, and then incredibly the article gets you to turn down the additional

money. This sudden swing from obvious to not-so-obvious gets my attention.

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No 6: Create A ProblemIf youve read the Brain Audit (http://www.brainaudit.com) then youve mostcertainly understood the simple concept of how the brain is attracted to problems.And simply stated, the problem brings up drama.

In the early days of Psychotactics, almost all the articles started out with problems.

Every single article seemed to have the same simple formula. State the problem; ask afew problematic questions; and then head down to the meat of the matter.

And it worked, and still works. Its just that now, after all these years, and manyhundreds of articles later, weve found more than one way to start out an article. Butfor several years, we used an opening that generously used problems.

And you can too.

As you can plainly see from the articles above, each of the opening paragraphs start off with a problem.

In some cases you can simply state the problem. In other cases, you can use the power of the question to

bring out the problem. You already know what problem youre solving with the article youre about towrite. So the best way to start is to present that problem upfront, to instantly get the readers attention.


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No 7: Everyday activities

Yes, you may not prefer sugar in your coffee. Heck, you may not even drink coffee. But

the act of putting sugar in coffee is a downright everyday activity. And that everyday

activity activates the video in your brain. You can easily visualise putting sugar in

coffee, or the act of driving down the road to ll some petrol. These everyday activitiesget you engaged with the knew, and then its time for the new to create the drama!

Whats so darned interesting about every day activities like say, brushing your teeth?Well, theyre obvious, and the obvious tends to get the readers attention. Whatmakes this obvious factor a little different, is that everyday activities start up a moviein your head.

So when I say: Imagine you were brushing your teeth. Well, almost immediately, thebrain can visualise the concept of brushing. And it can almost see the colour of thetoothbrush. All of this visualisation is happening in a fraction of a second. So its notlike youre seeing this rollout on a 10 foot screen, but youre seeing it all the same.

Getting your reader to focus on an everyday activity is a good jumpstart, becauseit specifically deals with the knew factor. Tey already know what to expect. Andthen its quite simple to bring up the new, which then gets the reader well and trulyinvolved in your article.

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No 8: raumatic Moments

Traumatic moments dont have to be death-defying. They just have to be kinda

claustrophobic. The loss of money, being caught in a raging torrent, being stuck

in an elevator, the death of a loved pet, or even as we saw, the chilly wind of

silence on a teleclass. These are all horrifying quiet, claustrophobic moments.

Starting up an article with a moment of pure claustrophobia will get an

audiences attention every single time.

Natalie holds a five dollar note in her hand. Its not just any note. Its the only moneyNatalie had when she went up north seven years ago. No one gave Natalie a chanceto survive, yet alone make it in business. Now here she was, seven years later, lookingout on her $5.2 million dollar success story.

And she still had that five-dollar note in her hand.

What youve just read is the power of the story, combined with the trauma. raumabrings attention. And when you look at it, what is trauma but another word forproblem? But trauma goes deeper than just an itch or a boil. It goes to the core ofhuman emotion. Its a feeling of despair, of loneliness, of dark clouds getting darkerby the minute. And its that claustrophobic feeling that gets a readers attention.

Because almost inevitably, the reader knows that something must change. Somethinggood must happen. And so the reader is pulled into the vortex. And then its up to

you to create the link that will get the reader to slip-slide into the rest of your article.

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No 9: Lists

These openings are mere lists. And theyre listing things we know well. Well

enough to literally guess whats being spoken about. Lists form a good backupwhen youre stuck, and need something to start up an article really, really fast.

Lists are a good way to get an article roaring away. So what are lists and how do wecreate attention with lists?

Well, lets look at a window. What can you do with a window?You can clean it.

You can look through it.You can ogle at your sexy neighbour.

Notice something. When I start out the article, I didnt tell you it was a window. Ijust said you could clean it, look through it, and ogle. But somewhere in your brain,you worked out what I was talking about. And then of course, I would reveal to youthat I was indeed talking about a window.

Starting an article with lists is a good way to get started, if you have thedisconnected object in mind, but cant work out how to connect it to your article.

So if youre talking about clarity of communication and the disconnected object isthe window, you dont have to strain your brain to work out how to start the article.All you have to do, is describe what you can do with the window.

Youll soon find you can take this concept of lists and use them to jumpstart severalarticles. Did I say several articles? Well, Id use it sparingly, because this method ofjumpstarting an article stands out quite a bit. And if you were to use it too often, itwould be counter-productive to getting the readers attention. But yeah, when yourestuck for words, lists makes a good starting point for you.

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No 10: Rant and RaveOk so youre an angel. And you dont like to rant and rave. But it doesnt matter whoyou are, or what you do, something will tick you off.

Like dripping water.Or pop-ups on websites.

Or how small businesses waste money on frivolous business expenses.

We all have pet peevesAnd sometimes its good to just vent. Rant and rave about your pet peeve, and it willbring out a personality that will get your readers interested not just in your article,but also in the side of you theyve never seen.

So lets rant and rave, shall we?Example 1: Why Writing wo-Hundred Headlines Is Plain Nonsense

I detest dumb copywriters.Dumb copywriters will tell you that you need to write two hundred headlines.And then choose one headline that works for your sales letter.

Tats easily the dumbest thing Ive ever heard.Because it just tells you how little that copywriter knows his craft.

Example 2: Why You Run Out Of Ideas For Articles

You think youre going to run out of ideas if you write too many articles, right?

Well, youre wrong.

Te truth is the less you write, the less youre going to write.

Te less you write, the less ideas you have.Te less you write, the less youre confident of writing.Te less you write, the less you ll get across a point.

And this point is not restricted to writing articles.Your presentations will be not as effective.Your sales pitch will not be as effective.

Your communication will most certainly be not as effective as it could be.

Ranting brings out the real you. And its easy to rant, because no matter who

we are, we will end up ranting about something or the otherand often the rant

will be directly related to our business. Well, dont waste the rant. Put it down on

paper. And you have an article thats more true to life, and more energy-lled thananything else you can write.

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No 11: Te Impossible

Mistakes are not supposed to make you money. Mistakes lose money. So when the

article starts up by saying you can directly prot from a mistake, the article isheaded down the impossible path. Whats impossible about the angle youre going

to cover? And how can you take an angle, nd an impossible side to that angle, andimmediately create a power-driven start for your article?

Te impossible is a biggish problem.

Imagine earning $100,000 in a week.Imagine being able to tell the exact nutrients in strawberries at the supermarket.Imagine being able to go on a three-month vacation each year.

Imagine being able to increase your customer list by 30% in a month.Imagine being able to reduce salt intake by 40% by reducing three types of food.

Te impossible isnt quite as impossible as it seems. All of the above can be achieved,has been achieved, and will be achieved in the future. But were not debating if theabove is possible or impossible. Were looking at how to jumpstart an article.

And in your business, theres always a factor of the impossible, or at the very least, theincredible. And its your job to use that impossible factor to start up an article.

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No 12: Ah, Curiosity!In a way, curiosity is what makes us read.

So when I say use curiosity, I realise Im not saying much. Because in every instance,were going to read because of the factor of curosity. If we already knew every wordwe were about to read, there would be no need to read the article at all.

And yet, we have to focus. Tis exercise isnt about the reader alone. Its more abouthow you can jump start an article. And if you look at the article from an un-curiousangle, youre going to find it impossible to focus.

So if you were to describe everything on the desk in front of you, youll get stuck.And your so-called jumpstart will fizzle.

Of course, this brings us full circle.When we started this course, the most important thing we learned was the angle.

Tat if we had an angle, any angle, we could create drama. Tat angle also helped usfocus. It also helped us build structure. And now, as if to underline it all, that verysame angle is the key to jumpstarting an article.

If you want to really get bogged down while writing an article, choose a generaltopic, instead of an angle based topic. And then youll lose your jumpstart, andyoull almost certainly lose the curiosity factor.

If you want to use curiosity as a jumpstart, you must take one angle. And then thecuriosity flows like a gusher. And as you turn the pages, youll see just how its

relatively easy to start up an article when you choose an angle.

See how you can create angles from one topic: Turn the page to see how a single topiccan be expanded, and the opening paragraph can create enormous curiosity.

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Can you see the angle? Yes, the main topic is speaking but there are several angles to

the speaking business. And these articles create a factor of curiosity on several angles.

The more you focus on angles, the more youll create an opening that has a very high

level of curiosity.


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Follow Up. Follow Up. Follow Up. Follow Up. Follow Up. Are we repeating ourselves?


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As you can clearly see, the past few pages are showing you exactly how one topic can lead to multiple

angles. And how each angle then creates a factor of curiosity. And how you actually want to read more on

each of the topics. If you do the same (that is: create an angle), you too will be able to jumpstart an article.

And that concept of Writers Block (whatever that is) will disappear forever!

Note: These articles are not on Psychotactics. Theyre on http://www.5000bc.com


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SummaryYes, I know its the same as the cheat sheet, but hey a little revision always helps.

1) Start with an unfolding story, much like the 6pm news does each evening.2) Start with historical event being re-told. Use a different angle (e.g. helicopter view)3) Disagree with the headline. (e.g. Sales is stupid for an article on sales).

4) Use the power of senses (e.g. Sound, Smell etc.: Te room smelled like cheese).5) Ask a predictable question. (e.g. Would $300,000 p.a. be enough of an income?)6) Create a problem. (e.g. Imagine the economy crashed a week from now...)7) Describe an everyday activity (e.g. Brushing your teeth)8) A raumatic Moment (e.g.David McDonald carries a $5 note. Its the only note hehad when he headed north four years ago).9) Start up a list of things (e.g. Its a bird. Its a plane. Its Superman).10) Rant and rave about something (e.g. I get really mad when people leave lights on)11) Start with the impossible. (e.g. Could you earn a years income in a week?)12) Create Curiosity. (e.g. Te people of Valencia are celebrating)


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If you find anything that bugs you, please click onthe bug above to send me an email. Nothing is toosmall or too big. And if I can, Ill be sure to fix [email protected]

PO Box 36461, Northcote, Auckland, New Zealandel: 64 9 449 0009 Email: [email protected]
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12 Ways to Jumpstart an Article