One of my favorite childhood shows was Phineas and Ferb.
It’s a Disney show about two boys on summer vacation, and figuring out how to make their days fun.
It’s a show that I never got tired of, even though each episode was extremely predictable.
Here’s what I mean.
Like all TV shows, almost all the episodes follow the exact same structure, and it goes a little something like this:
• The show starts off with the two main characters starting another summer vacation day.
• A few minutes into the episode, an idea pops up in Phineas’ head and says one of his famous one-liners, “I know what we’re going to do today!”
• He notices that his pet platypus is missing and asks, “Hey, where’s Perry?”
• Perry, who is secretly a secret agent, goes to his hideout to talk to his boss, Major Monogram. Monogram informs Perry about a scheme by his enemy, Dr. Doofenshmirtz, and sends him off to stop him.
• Phineas and Ferb’s sister, Candace, sees what his brothers are doing (Usually they’re building an extremely advanced contraption) and threatens to tell their mom.
• Perry breaks into Doofenshmirtz’s headquarters, gets trapped, and Doofenshmirtz explains his evil plan to Perry and introduces a device, which always has a name and always ends in -inator, that would achieve that plan.
• Perry then breaks free, defeats Doofenshmirtz, and it always ends with Doofenshmirtz yelling, “Curse you Perry the Platypus!”
• Phineas and Ferb complete their project. But right before their mom returns home, their contraption disappears and Perry reappears.
And this doesn’t just go for TV shows, but songs, books, and movies too.
They all follow a standard structure of their own. But each song you listen to, each book you read, each movie you watch is still fresh and interesting, no matter how predictable it may seem.
And there’s more.
With structure, it’s beneficial for you in terms of productivity as well.
Take email copywriting for example.
I follow a specific structure every time I write emails for myself and my clients. It helps me stay on track and write faster.
In How to Become an Email Titan, I not only go over the different email structures, but also how I structure my writing process that helps me write quicker.
Well, the latter part is included in the full version of the book. You can still read about the different email structures in the sample chapters. If you’re curious, then click the link below to get your copy and read about them.