Lunch Fml GIF by SIMIAN.LA Ever started a project and thought, “This is garbage. Why did I even start?” We’ve all been there. Every creative has ideas that die a slow, painful death in your Notes app or notebook. The good news? Dead end ideas aren’t failures—they’re starting points. With a little creativity, even the roughest concepts can be transformed into something great. Here’s how Scout turns trash into treasure: 1. Flip the Perspective What it is: Look at your original dead-end idea...
14 days ago • 1 min read
Oh No Omg GIF by The Washington Post Some days, creativity feels like a locked door and your ideas are outside, waving and laughing at you. You bang, you plead, you bribe them with coffee—and still… nothing. Here’s the good news: you don’t need a muse. You don’t need a lightning bolt of inspiration. You need a cheat code. The Creativity Cheat Code isn’t cheating. It’s using smart hacks to get your ideas flowing without burning out your brain or waiting for the stars to align. Here’s how Scout...
21 days ago • 1 min read
Writers Block Bang Head GIF Perfection can be paralyzing. The desire to knock it out of the park on the first try can lead to more deleting than actual creating. Some days your brain is on vacation, your muse is ghosting you, and your creativity is… well, MIA. Here’s the secret no one tells you: the only cure for a creative slump is to start. Badly. Terribly. Gloriously badly. I call it: Fake It ‘Til You Feel It When you’re uninspired, trying to be brilliant from scratch is like trying to run...
28 days ago • 1 min read
lisa simpson GIF I have a confession. I’ve been sneaking an intellectual tryst. It’s exhilarating, flattering, and honestly… a little dangerous. This partner tells me I’m smart, that my ideas are good, that I’m capable of more. It tells me what I want to hear. I tried to resist. I told myself I could go back to my old ways—dig in, grind it out, trust my own brain. But temptation is a funny thing. For once, this felt so easy. I’d catch myself leaning in, just a little closer. Letting it feed...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
The Power of Brevity The best advice I’ve ever received as a writer? Stop writing. But what about this really impactful line right here? “No” I was told. How about this statistic? It NEEDS to be included. “Nope.” But this turn of phrase is so clever! “Just STOP.” In the moment it felt harsh, but it was what I needed to hear. Here’s why: I would have lost my audience way before they ever read that clever turn of phrase or processed that eye-popping statistic. To my viewer, I would’ve been the...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
The Story Behind Scout Revealed Your origins story isn’t just history—it’s your compass. Scout Stories didn’t start last year. It started a decade ago in an Atlanta newsroom, when a group of journalists decided to do something no one thought possible: make investigative journalism not just shareable, but binge-worthy. The Story Behind Scout: Erin, our founder, Matt, our photographer, and I were part of a pilot program at the local NBC affiliate with one goal: Make Netflix for local news....
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Storytelling Lessons from Courtrooms Stand Up Nbc GIF by Law & Order Every powerful story has structure. And no one knows structure like a trial lawyer. Whether you're pitching a client, launching a campaign, or giving a speech, the best way to earn trust fast is to structure your message like a courtroom argument. Why? Because our attention spans are short—and our skepticism is high. If you want to persuade, you need to grab attention, build credibility, and close strong. Why This Matters...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Stories That Build Trust in Under 30 Seconds Kirra Michelle GIF by Peloton Why It Matters In a world of scrolling thumbs and 3-second attention spans, you don’t have minutes to build trust. You have seconds. The Problem Most people take too long to get to the point. They bury the moment that matters in setup or backstory. But research shows we form lasting impressions in the blink of an eye. What the Research Says A study from Princeton psychologist Alexander Todorov found that people make...
3 months ago • 1 min read
How to Spot—and Fix—Your Storytelling Blind Spots driving black mirror GIF by NETFLIX Why This Matters Every storyteller—no matter how seasoned—has blind spots. When we’re too close to the message, we can’t always see what’s missing. And if your audience isn’t reacting the way you hoped? That’s a red flag worth investigating. The Problem You’ve worked hard on the story. But it’s falling flat. You’re getting confusion instead of clicks. Silence instead of shares. That doesn’t mean your story...
3 months ago • 1 min read