My first story in a recent series
has a shocking twist
in it.
Many readers loved that.
It grabbed them emotionally.
My second story also had a twist
but, knowing readers would expect one,
I also increased another emotion.
Readers said it was ‘predictable’
(and it was
because they were expecting a twist)
but it gutted them,
making them cry
so they were happy,
recommending the story to others.
Shock is a great attention grabber.
It is often quite easy to accomplish also.
Do something that hasn’t been done.
But it is difficult
to shock the same people
twice.
There are plenty of emotions
in a marketer’s toolbox.
Use shock sparingly.
If you repeat a shock campaign,
consider adding an additional emotion
to it.