Issue 001 is officially out! 🎉 Why do some brands feel impossible to ignore? They’re not just telling better stories. Every week I’ll show you one piece of the invisible structure that makes brands unputdownable. You’ll get examples, story science, and one thing to change this week.
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You can have a perfect story.
A clear message. Emotional beats. Even great moments.
And it still won’t land.
Because there’s something else you’re supposed to be building.
Something invisible that holds the whole thing together.
That’s what we’re uncovering today.
Issue #001
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I rewrote the first novel I ever sold four times.
Not revised. Rewrote.
As in: open a blank document, question every life choice that led me here, and start over.
The strange part?
The story was good.
My critique partners loved the premise.
The heroine had depth.
The romance had heat.
But something kept not working.
Around rewrite three, my critique partner finally asked:
“What are the rules of your world?”
I stared at the screen.
“It’s Regency England,” I said. “The rules already exist.”
She gave me that look. The one that says you’re missing the point.
“I know what Regency England’s rules are,” she said. “What are your world’s rules?”
Oh. Oh.
I was writing historical romance, which meant the world already had rules.
Readers would absolutely call me out if I got the hierarchy wrong or put a zipper in 1815.
But here’s what I didn’t understand yet:
I still had to build my world inside that existing one.
What were the unspoken agreements in my version of the ton?
What promises was I making about how power worked?
How reputation mattered?
How love could win?
I knew what happened in my scenes.
I knew how my characters felt.
But I’d never built the structure that made any of it hold together.
That was the day I stopped being someone who tells stories and started becoming a storyteller.
Once you see this in story, you start seeing it everywhere.
Especially in brands.
And this is where brands start to stall.
Not because they lack content or messaging, but because the foundational story underneath it all was never built.
When there are no shared rules holding the brand together, every touchpoint can be “fine”… and the brand still goes nowhere.
When your customers experience your brand, through your website, your onboarding, your emails, your customer support, they’re building a story about what kind of world this is.
Do I belong here?
Does this matter?
Will I leave different?
Most brands keep fixing the surface:
better copy, clearer messaging, stronger CTAs.
But if the structure underneath isn’t answering those questions?
None of that matters.
🔎 Under the Magnifying Glass
Let me show you what I mean with an example everyone thinks they already understand.
Disney World feels magical.
But it’s not because of pixie dust.
(Sorry to ruin this for you.)
It feels magical because every detail is built on rules you’re not supposed to notice.
Here’s one:
When a child hugs a character in the park, the cast member has one rule:
Never let go first.
It looks like a sweet gesture.
Wholesome Instagram content.
But it’s not just kindness.
It’s architecture.
A structural promise built into the world:
You’re safe here. You decide when the moment ends.
That’s not customer service. That’s world-building disguised as a hug.
Here’s another:
Guests constantly ask cast members, “What time is the three o’clock parade?”
Disney doesn’t train their people to answer literally. They train them to answer the real question underneath:
Where should I stand?
How early do I need to get there?
Will my kid be able to see?
Because Disney’s operating rule isn’t “give accurate information.”
It’s this: No one ever feels lost here.
They’re not answering what you asked. They’re maintaining the world where confusion doesn’t exist.
🏛️ The Rules That Hold the World Together
These aren’t random nice touches.
Every cast member decision runs through the same rulebook. These rules aren’t about customer service.
They’re about consistency.
Rule #1: The guest controls the moment.
A child decides when the hug ends.
You decide when you’re ready to leave the parade spot.
The world adapts to you, you never have to adapt to it.
Rule #2: Confusion doesn’t exist here.
Cast members don’t answer “What time is the 3 o’clock parade?” literally.
They orient you inside the world.
You don’t notice these rules the first time you experience them. You just feel something.
It works. You want to stay.
That’s not an accident.
🧠 Why Your Brain Calls This Magic
Your brain is constantly building models of how the world works. It looks for patterns so it can predict what happens next.
Neuroscientists call this predictive processing.
When Disney’s rules are consistent — every cast member, every interaction, every moment — your brain relaxes. It recognizes the pattern. It trusts the world.
That trust feeling?
That’s what people call magic.
Break the pattern once and your brain flags it.
That’s why brands with inconsistent experiences feel “off” even when each individual touchpoint is technically fine.
Your customer’s brain isn’t judging your copy.
It’s asking one question:
Is this world safe enough to stay in?
What this changed for me
Every time I’ve helped shape a story, whether it’s a book, a brand, a message, I’ve watched the same pattern repeat.
When the world is missing, the story can’t do the job you’re asking it to.
Once you start seeing the structure underneath, including the story logic, the world logic, you notice something else:
Stories don’t hold worlds.
Worlds hold stories.
And storytellers know how to build them.
👀 Where To Look Now
You don’t notice this the first time you experience a well-built world.
You just feel it.
But now you know what to look for.
Think of a brand (or a book or a tv show or movie) that feels like a place you want to belong.
Now look for the invisible rule:
What promise is it making?
What would break if that promise wasn’t kept?
Can you name the rule even though no one ever said it out loud?
Most people feel this and can’t name it.
You can name it now.
🙈 Why Brands (and Stories) Stall Here
When a brand or a story stalls, it’s rarely because execution is weak.
It’s because the foundational story (the rules that tell people what this world is and how to move inside it) was never built on purpose.
So the brand keeps adding touchpoints.
Writers keep adding scenes.
But neither is building structure.
And no amount of “more” can fix that.
🧡 One Thing To Do Differently This Week
Pick one touchpoint in your work:
your homepage, your onboarding email, your intro call, a chapter.
Ask yourself:
What rule am I operating from that I’ve never said out loud?
Not your positioning.
Not your messaging.
The rule underneath.
It might sound like:
- Have it your way. (You’re in control.) – Burger King
- We’ll pay for you to return it. (You never risk a bad choice.) – Zappos
Most brands have been operating from invisible rules without realizing it.
The difference now is simple:
You can see if you have one and whether it’s the right one.
This isn’t about crafting content. It’s about understanding how every story builds your world.
You’ve felt this before. Now you know what you’re feeling.
And next issue, we’ll start building from it.
🐘 The One to Remember
“Worlds have invisible rules.
Storytellers learn to see them, and build accordingly.”
Until next time,
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What my world-building looks like most days: a comfy couch, ☕ + dogs + a book (on something nerdy most likely)
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