The Renegade Writer Blog

I’m reading Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath (Random House, 2007), and I highly recommend it for anyone who makes a living selling their ideas — like, say, writers.

In the book, Chip and Dan Heath break down the criteria for sticky ideas. Here are two of their recommendations:

1. Make your idea concrete.

Which idea sticks better:

• Three to four million homeless dogs and cats are euthanized every year in the U.S.

• In the U.S., we euthanize enough homeless dogs and cats to fill 1,500 large Hefty trash bags every single day.*

I’m assuming you chose the second fact as the stickier one. People have trouble understanding abstract things like huge numbers, but the picture of Americans tossing out 1,500 trash bags full of euthanized pets is likelier to stick in the mind.

In a case study from Made to Stick, the Center for Science in the Public Interest — you know, the buzz-kills who ruined Chinese food and pizza for us — wanted to get across the idea that a typical serving of movie popcorn had 37 grams of saturated fat. But what does “37 grams of saturated fat” mean to the average American? Even if the CSPI noted that the recommended limit for saturated fat is 20 grams a day, meaning one serving of popcorn has almost twice as much saturated fat as you should have in a whole day, the stat isn’t really memorable. In fact, it’s downright boring.

The solution: The CSPI called a press conference, laid out a buffet of greasy food for the cameras, and announced that one typical serving of movie popcorn has more saturated fat than a bacon-and-eggs breakfast, a Big Mac and fries lunch, and a big steak dinner with all the trimmings — combined. The story was featured on TV stations and in major newspapers across the country. Can you imagine the fact “A typical serving of movie popcorn had 37 grams of saturated fat” causing such a sensation?

I realized that I’ve been following the “be concrete” rule for a long time; for example, I always try to replace generic nouns with specific items. Instead of writing, “If your shoes are too tight, you risk injuring your feet,” I write something like, “Cramming your size-8 feet into size-6 Manolos is likely to injure your feet.”

2. Make your idea unexpected.

Ideas that violate the way we typically perceive life are sticky. We automatically, instinctually pay attention to surprising facts so that our minds can repair the gap between what we thought was true and what we have just learned is really true.

That’s why I always recommend that my students, when writing queries for service articles, start with the most surprising fact first. It’s also why “opposite ideas,” like my article “Bad Foods That Are Good for You” (sold to Oxygen), often succeed.

The authors give four more criteria for sticky ideas, all of which can help us hone our writing and develop article ideas that are more likely to grab editors’ attention.

What do you think makes an idea sticky? How have you slanted your ideas to make editors buy your articles and keep readers engrossed through to the end? Please post in the Comments!

* I roughly calculated this stat as part of a project I’m working on that will recruit writers to help save homeless pets…more on that in the next few weeks. [lf]

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