I recently enrolled in Creative Writing: The Craft of Plot, a Coursera course taught by Brando Skyhorse through Wesleyan University. As a content marketing specialist, I wasn't sure what a fiction-writing course would teach me about my day-to-day work. Two classes in, I'm starting to see connections everywhere.
If you're a content marketer who's curious about creative writing but doesn't know where to start, I want to share what I've learned so far — and why I think it matters for what we do.
Plot isn't a sequence. It's a connection.
The first thing Skyhorse clarified is something I'd been getting wrong for years. Plot isn't just "this happened, then that happened." Plot is about causation: X happens because of Y.
That single distinction changed how I think about content. In marketing, we often structure pieces chronologically or topically — here's a list, here are some tips, here's a recap. But the content that actually sticks with people tends to have a thread of cause and effect running through it. One idea leads to the next, not because it's the next bullet point, but because the previous idea made it inevitable.
Skyhorse introduced Freytag's Pyramid to illustrate how this works in storytelling: Exposition, Inciting Incident, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, Resolution, and Denouement. You've probably seen this framework before, but hearing it explained alongside real examples made me realize something. The best case studies, the most compelling brand narratives, the emails that actually get replies — they follow a version of this arc. There's a setup, a tension, a turning point, and a resolution.
We already know this intuitively. We just don't always apply it deliberately.
Characters want things. So do your readers.
The second class was about Character and Action, and this is where things got really interesting for me.
Skyhorse's central prompt is deceptively simple: Create a character that wants something. He draws a sharp line between a character who needs something and one who wants something. A character driven by need is a character of fate — things happen to them. A character driven by want is a character of will — they go after something, and the story moves because of their choices.
For content marketers, this is a powerful lens. When we write for our audience, are we treating them as characters of fate or characters of will? There's a big difference between writing for someone who passively needs information and writing for someone who actively wants to achieve something. The second approach creates more energetic, forward-moving content because it mirrors the reader's own sense of agency.
Weaknesses are more interesting than strengths
One of Skyhorse's most memorable points was this: Make sure your character's weaknesses are more interesting than their strengths.
I keep thinking about this in the context of brand storytelling. We spend so much energy highlighting strengths — our product is fast, reliable, innovative. But the stories that build real trust are the ones where you're honest about the struggle. The founder who failed three times before getting it right. The team that shipped a broken feature, learned from it, and rebuilt. Vulnerability isn't weakness in storytelling; it's what makes a character (or a brand) feel real.
If you're writing content and everything sounds polished and confident, ask yourself: is it also interesting? Sometimes the rough edges are where the connection lives.
"Where are they from?" has two answers
Skyhorse asks his students to consider where their characters come from, and he notes that there are always two answers: a literal one and a deeper, more emotional one.
A character might be from Chicago. But emotionally, they might be from a place of loss, or ambition, or restlessness. Both answers matter, and the tension between them is where the richness lives.
This maps directly to understanding your audience. Your reader might literally be a junior content marketer at a SaaS company. But emotionally? They might be coming from a place of imposter syndrome, or excitement about a career change, or frustration at being underestimated. When your content speaks to both the literal and the emotional origin, it resonates in a way that purely tactical advice never can.
Rising action is about obstacles, not just progress
The last idea that stuck with me is about rising action. Skyhorse emphasizes that your characters need to keep overcoming obstacles — and that those obstacles should escalate. The rising action isn't just forward motion. It's forward motion against increasing resistance.
In content, this translates to something we often skip: acknowledging that the reader's journey is hard. If you're writing a how-to guide, don't just lay out the steps. Anticipate where things get difficult. Name the obstacles. Show that you understand the resistance they'll face. Then help them through it.
That's what turns a blog post from a list of instructions into something that feels like it was written by someone who actually gets it.
Where I'm going with this
I'm still early in the course, and I'm sure there's more to unpack. But even two classes in, I'm convinced that creative writing isn't some separate discipline from content marketing. It's the foundation underneath it. Plot structure, character motivation, emotional depth — these aren't just tools for novelists. They're tools for anyone who writes with the goal of making someone feel something.
If you're a content marketer who's been meaning to explore creative writing, consider this your inciting incident.
I'm currently taking Creative Writing: The Craft of Plot by Brando Skyhorse through Wesleyan University on Coursera. I'll be sharing more insights as I go.
