The Secret Genre that Hooks Readers Like Cocaine, Part 1
As Keeper of Secrets, I enjoy some spectacular amenities.
I get to see amazing sights, understand concepts not meant for this world, and have all my questions answered. It’s fantastic work, if you can get it.
I also am privileged to see many things that are coming before they happen. More than that, I can see things that already are, yet go undiscovered even by the wise.
And while this talent can be pointed in any direction, and used to demystify any subject, I get the most enjoyment from using it to discover the hidden underpinnings of my interests. There are parts of the universe which catch my attention, and I wish to know everything that can be known about them. It keeps me from going insane over all the other things I am forced to see.
As such, I spend a commensurate share of this talent exploring the power of great stories. My most obsessive hobby is reverse engineering the stories I consider to be the best, to crack their formulae, and then use those same recipes to make masterpieces of my own.
And it so happens that a particularly big secret currently goes unnoticed by most of the world, even while exerting influence over that world. This secret is more than just a quirk of story structure, a cheap turn of phrase, or an algorithm for hooking a reader.
This secret is not a system or a skill. It’s a single ingredient, like a mythical master spice that tastes good on everything.
And it’s been kept so cleverly behind the scenes. Nobody talks about it, though you can see it being used everywhere. Or, at least, everywhere that great stories are being told.
What is this secret sauce that makes any story that touches it 1000x better? Why is it not openly taught to budding writers everywhere? Do the people who use it even know they are using it? I sometimes wonder.
Because there’s no trick to using it. Because this transformational addition that turns good stories into great ones is not a technique.
It’s a genre.
The Cocaine of Genres
That may be a bad analogy, but I want to stress the power of this particular kind of story. It fills such a need in readers that it’s practically habit-forming. For whatever reason, reading stories in this genre soothes the reader’s soul and empowers them to face their own lives. Notable examples of stories within this genre go on to not only become bestsellers, but classics. I’ve even seen some current writers complain about how they can’t compete with such monuments of literature. Their contemporary works get overshadowed by masterpieces written by authors who have been dead for 50 years!
And, perhaps more than anything else, the reason for this comes down to the secret genre. The greats of the past reveled in it. Few current writers take advantage of it. But the ones that do blow up in a big way. If you were to write a story in it, that story would quickly gain more recognition than any of your other works. You are one heartbeat away from learning the secret that has launched literary empires.
Do You Deserve to Know?
What would you be willing to pay to obtain this career-changing secret? Would a $100 course strike you as an honest deal? What about a $1000 course? Or a $10000 mentorship? Honestly, if I charge any more for this knowledge, I’d have to make it it a country club!
So how about I charge nothing? Instead of trying to milk a subject which has already been profitable to me, I just give you the knowledge you require. Doing so will cause fewer people to value the knowledge, which will, in turn, cause fewer people to implement it. But that’s only an advantage to myself. The fewer people who write in this genre, the more easily I can dominate it.
And, naturally, not revealing the secret at all would profit me as well, though it would be far less fun. I must admit, seeing someone take the knowledge I give them and apply it to great success is a great compliment to me. I also have an interest in establishing myself as an authority on this subject.
So how about this: I give this knowledge to anyone patient enough to wait for it. I can make this post a two-parter, and everyone who checks in for the second installment gets to have the question answered.
Prove to me that you are worthy to receive instruction that will vault your writing game into a new order of magnitude. All you have to do is be patient.
Of course, if you would like a reminder for when the next installment drops, that is allowed. Fill in the box below to receive a notification the moment that part 2 becomes available.
[What luck! Part 2 has now been published!]
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