How to Create a Story TAKEAWAY that Helps You Earn More Money

Are you putting the wrong information at the end of your stories?

Just recently I published a story that talks about all the important stuff I learned in the last three months.

During this period, I managed to publish 220 stories on Medium, so naturally, some writers will be curious how I did it, and of course, I’m anxious to share that information with whoever wants to know.

One of the most important things I discovered has to do with the way I’ve been concluding my stories; specifically in the “takeaway” or “final thoughts” at the end.

Allow me to jump right to the problem and spell things out, so it makes sense.

Get to the Point of Your Story

There are two big mistakes new and even veteran writers may find themselves making. Failing to get to the point right away, then getting to the end and saying too much.

Both of these are a big deal, but we’ll talk about the easy fix first; avoiding slow starts and learning how to get to the point of your story sooner.

Once you discover that you’ve been giving too little information in the opening and too much information in the closing, there is one all-important question to ask yourself.

How can slow starts and oversharing hurt my earning potential?

From what I see when I read stories by other writers, a slow start is a common mistake, so let’s talk about why it’s not the best way to start off.

I learned some interesting facts while comparing which of my stories had a high read ratio, versus those that didn’t. The stories with a lower read ratio didn’t also get right to the point of whatever the story was about.

From a writer’s perspective, I had been allowing myself to believe it was okay to lead the reader on, and slowly ease them into the story.

But then I began to think about the stories that I enjoy reading. My favorites are those that jump right in and get to the point.

Whether it’s fiction writing, a personal essay, or a non-fiction story, readers don’t like to be teased. That’s exactly how a story that starts slow makes a reader feel.

I realized that a whole lot of my stories could have gotten off to a better start, and sometimes all it takes it juggling a few sentences or paragraphs around.

All of us could probably stand to apply this smart writing advice at least once in a while. Don’t be tempted to string the reader along, believing that this is a good way to build suspense or curiosity in your story.

There’s a thin line between anticipation and irritation. You want to stay on the right side of that line.

So don’t try to build anticipation with details that amount to giving breadcrumbs to a hungry person. Instead, give your readers a decent sample of the meal that’s to come. Then, cut to the chase, and give them the entire meal.

The last thing you want to do is irritate the reader by making them wait too long before you get to the point.

The biggest benefit to being gained by creating stories that get right to the point is having your readers stick around to read more of your story. Does that mean they’ll read the story all the way through?

Hopefully. If you did your job of writing a quality story, they should. But sometimes, even with a quality story, a reader will try to escape.

Instead of actually reading the story, some readers may want to simply skim over it, or worse yet, go straight to the end. You may have even been guilty of this yourself; I know I have.

That is why the words you put in your “” takeaway” or “final thoughts” need to be crafted just right. This section of your story is not where you should decide to suddenly get lax.

This section has a very specific job to do, and if you write it correctly, it can help you earn more money with your story. Let’s see how.

Writing Your Takeaway

When you write the concluding words to your story, those words can help in a big way. As was already mentioned, some readers end up at the end of the story, without having read the entire story, or a significant amount of it.

These readers are used to combing over the takeaways, final thoughts, conclusions, and whatever else we decide to label the end of our stories.

They do this because they realize most writers are good at summing up their stories and tying everything up in a neat little bundle.

All the major information from the story has been broken down and highlighted, usually with bullets and numbers.

When you think about it; we make it really easy for readers to bypass reading the story altogether, and just scrape what they want from the endings.

That is why writers have to take advantage of the two important purposes that writing a takeaway can fulfill.

This amounts to creating the kind of takeaway that is satisfying to those who have read the rest of the story, but intriguing to those who didn’t take the time to read.

For Instance:

As you will see when you get to the final thoughts in the story you’re currently reading, the statements will either jar your memory —because you just finished reading the information — or they will make you curious about the answers because you didn’t read the information.

Either way, you will probably be tempted to look back over the story for the correct answers. Clearly, if this happens with one of your stories, the reading time will be increased, thereby increasing your earnings.

By asking questions and/or making statements in just the right way, your takeaway can be effective and help you earn more money.

Final Thoughts

Now that you see how important your opening and closing words are to your stories, you might want to rethink how you do things.

You might just be surprised at the results, after taking the writing advice you just read and applying the information to future stories.

• Remember what all-important question to ask yourself about the way you craft your stories.
• Don’t forget how a slow start can make a reader feel.
• Keep in mind the thin line, and stay on the right side of it.
• Recall the example of the breadcrumbs and being more generous.
• Make sure your story takeaway fulfills the two important purposes.

Do you actually remember all 5 of these bulleted points? If you don’t, you may need to glance over this important material again.

Here are the titles you should check out if you want to know everything I discovered about writing and publishing stories here on Medium.

These titles will help you understand how your stories can earn more money.

• What I Finally Figured Out By Publishing 220 Stories in Three Months
• A New Story Category Tag for Stories You Really NEED
• How to Create a Story TAKEAWAY that Helps You Earn More Money
• The Truth About Claps and Followers is Not Really What You Think
• The Sad Truth About Taking a Break from Medium

Dear Reader: Would you like to read more informative, valuable, and entertaining Justiss Goode stories? Just click this Directory link: choose from my OVER 220 titles (by category)