Fortune Cookies: storytelling OG 🔥🥠
The Not-So-Secret sauce of brevity, relevance, and naked potato frying.
Which one of these 3 statements is true?
"You will travel to many places."
"You will receive money from an unexpected source."
"Don't fry potatoes while naked."
That was a trick question. I’m sorry. They're all true—especially number 3.
But what do they have in common?
They're open enough for you to fill in the blanks.
The story is already in your head.
If your brain is the Olympic flame, a fortune cookie is Snoop Dogg carrying the torch that'll make it blaze.
Wanna know how to light that fire?
Wonton Foods churns out 4.5 million fortune cookies per day. They pick from a pool of 15,000 fortunes written by professionals.
I'm frankly offended that no one told me "fortune cookie writer" was a viable career path. I've chosen poorly.
In the meantime, I'll have to make do with the next best thing: short-form content. Which, if you squint, looks a hell of a lot like a fortune cookie.
The not-cookie-cutter recipe for a successful content cookie is:
Brevity: "You will travel to many places."
Personal relevance: "You will receive money from an unexpected source."
Relatability and vivid imagery: "Don't fry potatoes while naked."
Storytelling, fortune cookies, and relationships all benefit from the same principle:
Leave room for the other to grow, and you might get lucky and be heard.
See you on the next one! 🫶
Matias.
If you want to become a better short-form storyteller, sign up for my free newsletter at www.atomicstories.net ✏️❤️⚡️