Free ebook on Conflict-Driven Business Writing

Please download my newest ebook Gaijin Male Model: A Case Study in Conflict-Driven Business Writing. No registration required.

If you like the ebook, please pass it on.

Conflict.

All good film and all good fiction is really just about conflict, right?

Usually, it's one character in conflict with others (Batman against the bad guys). Sometimes it's a character in conflict with herself ("I really shouldn't go into this bar, but...").

One writing teacher went so far as to say, "Writing without conflict is propaganda."

But very few marketers and business writers introduce conflict in their writing.

We all see tons of this stuff instead: "Here’s our product. It is great. Here are customers who say it is great. Now buy some of our product."

Sadly, this classic propaganda-driven marketing crap is everywhere.

Gaijin Male Model

This ebook is a departure for me because most of the ebook is an example of conflict-driven business writing called Gaijin Male Model, from an essay I wrote several years ago about my experience as a part-time model in Tokyo.

The essay first appeared in the Summer 2004 issue of North American Review (America’s oldest literary magazine) and also appeared in Hacks, an anthology of published excerpts from novelists, poets, non-fiction writers, screenwriters, and short story writers.

In the spirit of "show, don’t tell" I hope this example gets you thinking about how to introduce conflict into your own writing.

Download Gaijin Male Model: A Case Study in Conflict-Driven Business Writing.

If you like the ebook, please pass it on.

If you have an example of conflict-driven business writing, please share.

In case you've missed any here is a link to download my other ebooks (no registration required).

Comments

[Kelly Monaghan]

I loved this for a number of reasons:

1. My son worked in Japan for three years and got a few modeling gigs on the side. (Yes, there's still a market for the gaijin look!)

2. I logged ten plus years as a professional actor and did many, many TV commercials. I learned, like you did, that they never really know what they're looking for until you show them, and . . .

3. When everyone is doing the same boring stuff, the guy who's different stands out -- both sound marketing principles.

When I was an actor, I never imagined I had any skills that would be transferable to the "real world." When I made the transition, I realized I'd been in marketing all along, pounding the pavements of New York, flogging a product no one knew they needed, and making a living at it.

Like Mel Brooks said,

All you got to know is
Everything is showbiz!

[David Meerman Scott]

Hey Kelly -- Wow - so glad to hear your stories too. That experience was very important to me! Thanks for sharing. David

[Keith Jennings]

David,

It's always surprising and enlightening to see people in new ways. Thank you for sharing this, not just for the great story, and not only for your takeaway lesson on conflict. But allowing us the discovery of your chops in creative writing.

Speaking for myself, I needed this lesson in conflict. Even as a trained writer and marketer, I find myself editing and watering down the strong statements I originally make. Stupid.

You can't sell aspirin to those without headaches. You can't get to Act III without Act II and a plot point. Conflict begs resolution. We're nosy. We want to know what happens next so we can pipe in with our two cents.

Maybe, as marketers, we should write naked. Cut through the disguises, so to speak. And dare others not to look!

[David Meerman Scott]

Keith - I really appreciate this comment. You got out of this story exactly what I had hoped people would. It is difficult to write with conflict in business. But it is very powerful. Thanks for taking the time to engage.

[Brenda Sullivan]

David - thanks for a trip down memory lane. I lived in Tokyo in 1988-1989 when I was 26. I worked for a British investment house owned by a French bank. The experience changed my life. As a foreigner (and Californian) in Tokyo I experienced much conflict and wrote about it in monthly newsletters home to family and friends. The concept of adding conflict to marketing writing is new to me, but something that I can put to use today!

[David Meerman Scott]

Brenda, we were there at the same time! Those stories were from that time period. I'm off to Tokyo in two weeks for a speaking gig. Thanks for commenting.

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