Drama. Structure. Next Step.

Twelve Ways To Jumpstart Articles

2007 by Sean DSouza. All rights reserved. Published by Psychotactics Ltd. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior
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Email: sean@psychotactics.com
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Contents
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Taking A Walk Trough More Strucure
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Te Insant Reference Guide
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Why Stories Create Insant Drama
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Are We O To A good sart, or what?
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Why Seeing, Doing, Hearing, Eating Is Kinda Good
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Why Swinging from Obvious to Not-So-Obvious Gets Attention
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Te Simples Way To Jumpsart An Article
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Starting Up A Video In Your Brain
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How Clausrophobia Creates Insant Drama
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Why Lising Makes Sense
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Going Bananas Is A Good Ting
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Impossible Start Ups Are Easier Tan You Tink
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Easily the greates driver of them all
Jumpstart, eh?
Often the hardest thing to do is to start.
Starting creates momentum, no matter how pathetic that momentum may be. And
once that momentum gets rolling, its much easier to move ahead. So how do we
move ahead?
Tere are several ways to jumpstart an article
Almost all of the ways specically hark back to the disconnected object you learned
about earlier in Lesson 3. But can we expand on those ways? Can we indeed nd
ways to jumpstart an article, approaching that darned article from several dierent
angles?
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 to
jumpstart an article. Tis is a quick reckoner, so if you ever get stuck, you can quickly
refer back to this set of notes. And just for good measure, Ive created a little cheat
sheet as well, at the very start of these notes, that you can print out and paste on your
computer or near your desk.
Enjoy!
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Te Cheat-Sheet
1) Start with an unfolding story, much like the 6pm news does each evening.
2) Start with historical event being re-told. Use a dierent 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 he
had 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 story
Notice how the news anchor folk get your attention? Tey always start o with
an unfolding story. And no you dont have to be a news anchor to work out how
to unfold a story, because youve done it many times before. Youve done it when
youre talking to your friends, or telling a child a story, or simply when making a
presentation of sorts. So lets see some examples:
Example 1: News Anchor:
Today a child was found abandoned at Melbourne airport. At rst, it just seemed
like she was lost. But a closer look at security cameras found that shed been
abandoned by her caretaker, now identied as the childs father. Te police named
the child Pumpkin, as she was wearing clothes made by the prominent clothing
manufacturer, Pumpkin Patch.
Example 2: Talking 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 in
fact, it wasnt an earthquake at all. It was simply....
Example 3: Telling A Story To A Child:
I remember when you were just two years old. Your parents were really afraid that
you werent speaking that much. Youd say very few words to begin with. And then
for no particular reason, youd construct whole sentences. Youd be out grocery
shopping with your parents, and youd say a whole line like, Te cars are in the car
park.

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 rolled
out, 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 paragraphs
at 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 get
all hung up about your wonderful story, but remember the why youre writing
the article in the rst place. Its to get the angle across. Te opening is just the
attraction device, and should stay that way. Dont let it take over more than just a few
paragraphs at best.
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No. 2: Use a dierent view
You dont always need a dierent story. You just need to tell the story from a dierent
angle. So what do I mean by this? Well, imagine youre telling a story about a young
bualo being attacked by a bunch of lionesses. Tat story may almost appear too
gruesome to some. But what if you changed the angle? Maybe you looked at same
story from the angle of the lioness having to feed her now starving cubs. Youve now
looked at the same story from a completely dierent angle, havent you?
Creating an opening, doesnt need you to re-tell a story. It simply needs you to look at
the story from a completely dierent angle. It could a story from history told from a
ground 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 talking
about? 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 view
from the top? Now imagine youre talking about your cat. What if you looked at your
cat from the angle of the mouse hole? Or what if you looked at your cat from the
angle of the next-door dog? Or what if you looked at your cat from the angle of the
next door cat? Or the neighbour who hates the cat? Or the little girl with the pigtails
who loves the cat? Wouldnt each angle bring a dierent sort of drama to your story?
And more importantly, wont it jumpstart your brain to see details and an unfolding
story that it may not have been able to see before?
Simply look at ordinary stu from another another angle, and youll nd drama un-
folding immediately. Tis is simply because your brain gets bored with the ordinary,
and is able to focus immediately on the dierent angle, Whats really cool, is that
customers will love the dierent angle as well. And as I said, thats really cool!
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No 3: Disagree with your headline
Te logical thing to do in an article is to let the reader right down the path youre
taking them. So why not be a little illogical? Because the illogical way is often the
best 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 headline
So if your headline is about saving money, then let your opening start with
spending money. If your headline is about keeping stores open at 6pm, then start
with closed shutters at 6pm. If your headline is about getting feedback, then start
with the opposite of feedback.
Can you nd 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 Senses
Get your reader to pick up something.
To 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 reader
to smell something, see something, hear something or do something, their brain
automatically does exactly what youve asked them to do. Tats the power of the
senses.
So if youre going to start up an article, be a sensei of the senses. :)
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No 5: Te Obvious Factor
You 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 to
wonder 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 the
article is going to change direction.
And within a few paragraphs, your article does indeed change direction. It takes on
a factor of unpredictability that takes an engaged reader deeper into the article. Tis
predictablility 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 fnd at http://www.psychotactics.com/
artenough.htm) youll fnd that the piece swings from the obvious: getting $20k
more 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 Problem
If youve read the Brain Audit (http://www.brainaudit.com) then youve most
certainly 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 a
few 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 many
hundreds of articles later, weve found more than one way to start out an article. But
for 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 to
write. So the best way to start is to present that problem upfront, to instantly get the readers attention.
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 fll some petrol. These everyday activities
get 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. What
makes this obvious factor a little dierent, is that everyday activities start up a movie
in your head.
So when I say: Imagine you were brushing your teeth. Well, almost immediately, the
brain can visualise the concept of brushing. And it can almost see the colour of the
toothbrush. All of this visualisation is happening in a fraction of a second. So its not
like 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, because
it specically deals with the knew factor. Tey already know what to expect. And
then its quite simple to bring up the new, which then gets the reader well and truly
involved in your article.
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No 8: Traumatic 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 ve dollar note in her hand. Its not just any note. Its the only money
Natalie had when she went up north seven years ago. No one gave Natalie a chance
to survive, yet alone make it in business. Now here she was, seven years later, looking
out on her $5.2 million dollar success story.
And she still had that ve-dollar note in her hand.
What youve just read is the power of the story, combined with the trauma. Trauma
brings attention. And when you look at it, what is trauma but another word for
problem? But trauma goes deeper than just an itch or a boil. It goes to the core of
human emotion. Its a feeling of despair, of loneliness, of dark clouds getting darker
by the minute. And its that claustrophobic feeling that gets a readers attention.
Because almost inevitably, the reader knows that something must change. Something
good 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 backup
when 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 we
create 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. I
just 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 you
that I was indeed talking about a window.
Starting an article with lists is a good way to get started, if you have the
disconnected 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 is
the 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 nd you can take this concept of lists and use them to jumpstart several
articles. Did I say several articles? Well, Id use it sparingly, because this method of
jumpstarting an article stands out quite a bit. And if you were to use it too often, it
would be counter-productive to getting the readers attention. But yeah, when youre
stuck for words, lists makes a good starting point for you.
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No 10: Rant and Rave
Ok so youre an angel. And you dont like to rant and rave. But it doesnt matter who
you are, or what you do, something will tick you o.
Like dripping water.
Or pop-ups on websites.
Or how small businesses waste money on frivolous business expenses.
We all have pet peeves
And sometimes its good to just vent. Rant and rave about your pet peeve, and it will
bring 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 Two-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 condent 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 eective.
Your sales pitch will not be as eective.
Your communication will most certainly be not as eective 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-flled than
anything 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 proft from a mistake, the article is
headed down the impossible path. Whats impossible about the angle youre going
to cover? And how can you take an angle, fnd an impossible side to that angle, and
immediately 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 the
above 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, the
incredible. 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 word
we 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 about
how you can jump start an article. And if you look at the article from an un-curious
angle, youre going to nd 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 zzle.
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 us
focus. It also helped us build structure. And now, as if to underline it all, that very
same angle is the key to jumpstarting an article.
If you want to really get bogged down while writing an article, choose a general
topic, instead of an angle based topic. And then youll lose your jumpstart, and
youll almost certainly lose the curiosity factor.
If you want to use curiosity as a jumpstart, you must take one angle. And then the
curiosity ows 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 topic
can 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.
Follow Up. Follow Up. Follow Up. Follow Up. Follow Up. Are we repeating ourselves?
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
Summary
Yes, 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 dierent 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 he
had 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)
If you nd anything that bugs you, please click on
the bug above to send me an email. Nothing is too
small or too big. And if I can, Ill be sure to x it.
sean@psychotactics.com
PO Box 36461, Northcote, Auckland, New Zealand
Tel: 64 9 449 0009 Email: sean@psychotactics.com