We've been talking a lot at HubSpot lately about the importance of storytelling in our work. Last week, Laura Fitton published this delightful megapost of talks from last year's INBOUND conference that either focused on storytelling as a virtue or used great storytelling just to get a point across.
But how can storytelling help you write better microcopy?
John Zeratsky shared his five rules for writing great interface copy recently on Fast Company Design, and I was so happy to nod my vigorous agreement with almost everything he said. Because: Preach. But I just have to argue with one little thing.
Just one little thing! In every other way that post smelled like chocolate chip cookies, fresh and hot from the oven.
So a couple of years ago, I was working on a major deadline. I had a massive writing project that I needed to complete, and things at work and at home were just too frantic for me to clear up enough head space to get it done.
To top it all off, I had to travel the weekend before my project was due.
I get sentences and phrases stuck in my head the way some people do with songs. Either way, I think it's fair to call it an earworm.
And just like that 80's power ballad that won't leave you alone, sticky words and phrases can only be exorcised one way.