Don't be a Guy!

What makes a book or its message memorable?

What makes them stick in your head?

... Become part of the way you think and talk?

I've been wondering about these questions lately. Partly, because I want my own writing to have that kind of "stickiness" — to borrow back the term used about Web sites. Partly, my interest comes from trying to help other authors achieve it.

But most recently, I've been trying to figure out how our friend Seran Wilkie did it in her new book, what a day ... What a Day!

(We'll get back to the title of this post, Don't be a Guy!, in a moment, I promise.)

Now, Seran is a professional communicator and, as the Director of the Center for Mental Efficiency, her business revolves around helping others communicate better — with each other and with themselves. But I must confess, it's been a surprise to me and all of us around the office how often we find ourselves refering to What a Day! and repeating catch phrases like:

"Don't be a Guy!"

and (if anyone says they're having a bad day):

"Have we got a book for you!"

After all, What a Day! is not offered as a literary classic. It's not a treatise on some deep subject. So what is it about this book that has those who read it repeating — even encoding — its message into their everyday interactions and then passing on copies to their friends and acquaintances.

Just last week, we had a new author come into WME Books and provide one of those "full circle" experiences. In the course of the conversation, he pulled out a copy of What a Day! that had been given to him by a friend of his who works at a company where Seran consults.

Here are a few of my tentative conclusions. First, Seran kept her message simple and clear. Read the subtitle: Never have another bad day. Yes, she really means it ... NEVER have another bad day. Everything in this slender volume points toward showing us how our own chosen responses to events allow "bad days" to happen and then it shows us how to stop them from happening again.

So clarity of message seems to be the first essential to a memorable book.

Second, Seran delivers her message in the form of a story. Storytelling has been the most effective way to deliver a message since humans learned to speak. What a Day! tells the story of a day in the life of Guy, through a series of events that you'll no doubt find all too familiar. Beginning at the moment Guy awakens, we share his experiences, his interactions with family and coworkers, and his thoughts about these events, until after he tucks his six-year-old daughter, Irene, into bed that night.

By letting us "live" the day along with Guy, Seran's book helps us understand at a personal level how Guy's responses at a few critical moments caused his downhill slide into what most people would call a "bad day." Seran reminds us in her Preface and After Story commentary that these responses are learned and become largely automatic over time, but they can also be unlearned and offer us many daily opportunities to make conscious choices that lead to different results.

At the end of Guy's day, he glimpses a different way of looking at things in the words of his daughter Irene, "Lucky Daddy!" Seran's delightful little story ends with Guy falling aspleep himself, not quite sure what to make of Irene's "innocent" response. By forcing us to speculate whether Guy will "get it," Seran succeeds in making the problem clear and the solution our own.

Finding ways to get your readers personally involved, then, seems to be another effective way to make your book memorable.

Note: I hope that this last point clarifies the title of this post?!?!?

Finally, Seran sprinkled a handful of photo illustrations through her story to supplement her words at crucial points.

The downhill slide,

from the hectic race to get ready for work after waking up late,

to the frustrating drive through rush hour traffic,

to Guy's feelings of being trapped in his job,

our emotional responses are guided with pictures, as well as words.

This technique continues to the plot twist at end of the story, when Guy's bedtime conversation with Irene leaves him pondering her completely different way of looking at the same event that had started out his "bad day." We experience the charming moment right along with Guy, aided by another image Seran provides.

The lesson for authors: whenever possible use graphics to add to the emotional punch of your writing.

Seran's lesson for the rest of us: Don't be a Guy!

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We'd love to hear your ideas on what makes a book and its message memorable. And your examples to illustrate (!) your points.

Comments

[Erin]

I love reading books that could learn from. This sounds funny, but before I got engaged, I read the book, "He's Just Not Into You"....I loved the stories from real life people. It made the reading interesting and funny!