You’re on a mission.  

You’re venturing out to pick some flowers for your dearly beloved. You’re an old-school romantic, not someone who simply switches on Netflix and orders two pizzas. 

You’ve got your sights set on a spot renowned for boasting the prettiest flowers in the land. You’re excited. Those flowers are within your reach.  

 Perfecto.  

 That’s how people feel when they stumble across a gripping blog headline. They’ve found a blog post promising to solve their woes. They think they’ve found the solution.  

But then they start reading. 

 Just as you start walking through the field, towards your flowers.  

 You envisaged it being a pleasant walk.  

But you then realise that is not the case. The field is not full of crops but knee-deep mud. Or at least you hope it's mud. Trudging through the field is hard work. Weeds grasp your ankles, slowing your progress and scaring your sanity. It's a labour of love. You feel like you'll never get there. 

 And when you do, the flowers aren't even that nice. They're not as beautiful as you'd envisaged. The luscious leaves look more ... lacklustre. The petals aren't blossoming, they're wilting. The colours aren't dreamy, only dreary. You'd been promised the most beautiful flowers your mind could imagine. You can’t help but feel ... unenthralled. 

People often feel like this when reading blog posts.  

 You may feel this way now; however, I hope not.  

 The headline grips you. 'Five Secrets to Help You Bake the Perfect Banana Bread.’ You embark on your quest. Reading the blog will transform you into a banana bread baking wizard ... or not. 

Reading the blog post, you want to feel like you're dancing through that field of barley. It should feel effortless. It should feel enjoyable. Baking the perfect banana bread will give you joy, but learning how to is also pretty fun.  

 You want to feel connected to other folk who have sought the skills to bake the perfect banana bread. You want to feel entertained as you learn how to sieve flour and stir in chocolate chips. You want to feel united with others in this balmy banana battle. And at the end? Well, the journey must have been worth it. 

 Unfortunately, readers often don't feel like that. Reading the post feels like trudging through knee deep mud. The journey isn't enjoyable. When are we getting to the point of this thing? The words just keep coming.  

 Waffly, boring and uninspiring. 

 You don't want your blog posts to be like that. Your posts should be a pleasure to read and deliver on their promise. 

 But how, I hear you ask, how do I encourage my readers to dance through fields of barley instead of wading through swamps of mud? 

 There are three simple tricks. 

 - Use spikes and walls to create tension. 

- Use story arcs to describe the problem and solution. 

- Keep it simple. This isn't the Odyssey. 

Now let's dive into it. I get the impression you're starting to feel the barley turn to mud.