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Outside the Marketing Bubble: What Writing a Novel Taught Me About Home Builder Marketing, Part 3

AI has certainly made our lives as marketers easier. We can crank out content faster than ever, but I’ve noticed something interesting happening along the way. When everyone has access to the same tools, knowing what to say, how to say it, and what deserves to be published becomes a whole lot more important. Great marketing still requires creativity, an understanding of human behavior, and the ability to recognize when something is good enough to publish or needs another round of polish.

Generating more words has never been easier. Deciding which words matter has never been more important.

Over the past year, I’ve been exercising those skills in an unexpected way: writing my first Romantasy novel.

In Parts 1 and 2 of this series, I shared how entering the world of authors, Bookstagram creators, and small entrepreneurs has sharpened my marketing perspective. I’ve learned from creators who build passionate communities around shared experiences, and we’ve explored how Utah custom builder Tyler Farrell turned behind-the-scenes construction content into a powerful business asset.

Now I want to share something more personal. Writing fiction has reminded me that creativity is a skill we can deliberately develop, and the discipline required to tell a compelling story has direct applications to the marketing content we create every day.

The Creative Muscles Every Marketer Needs

I’ve spent more than 25 years studying communications, buyer psychology, marketing, and persuasion. Writing fiction has given me an entirely different environment in which to practice many of those same principles.

A novel demands that every scene serve a purpose, every character have a motivation, and every description help readers understand or experience something meaningful. The writer must decide what readers need to know, when they need to know it, and how to communicate it without overwhelming them.

Sound familiar?

Those are the same decisions we make when writing a website, creating a video, developing an email campaign, or guiding a prospective buyer through the homebuying journey. The difference is that fiction makes the consequences of weak communication painfully obvious. If readers don’t care about the characters, understand their motivations, or feel invested in what happens next, they stop reading.

Your prospective homebuyers are equally willing to move on when your marketing fails to hold their attention.

Here are five creative muscles I’ve been strengthening through fiction writing, along with practical ways you can exercise them in your own marketing.

1. Point of View: Learn to See Through Someone Else’s Eyes

My novel is written in the first person, which means readers experience the story through my main character’s perspective. Every description, observation, emotion, and interaction must make sense through her eyes. I have to understand what she notices, what she values, what she fears, and what she wants before I can decide how she will experience a particular scene.

That exercise has an immediate application to home builder marketing.

We spend enormous amounts of time thinking about what we want buyers to know. We want them to understand our floor plans, appreciate our construction quality, recognize our value, and visit our communities. Effective communication requires us to spend just as much time considering what buyers are trying to understand.

A prospective buyer exploring your website may be wondering whether a floor plan provides enough privacy for working remotely, how much maintenance a new home will require, or whether a community offers convenient access to the activities they enjoy. Those questions determine which details matter to them.

The ability to see your marketing through the buyer’s eyes is one of the most valuable creative skills you can develop.

Try This: Change the Point of View

Choose one page from your website and read it as though you’re encountering your company for the first time.

Before you begin, write down three questions a prospective buyer might have about that particular home, community, or service. Then read the page and identify where those questions are answered.

Ask yourself whether the content explains what matters to the buyer or simply describes what the builder offers. Look for opportunities to replace internal terminology, generic claims, and feature-heavy descriptions with language that helps readers understand how the offering fits their needs.

This is a simple exercise, but it requires a meaningful shift in perspective.

2. Specificity: Make the Reader See It

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned writing fiction is the power of a well-chosen detail.

A character can walk into a beautiful room, but that description gives readers very little to imagine. When the writer describes sunlight spilling across worn wooden floors, the scent of fresh bread drifting from the kitchen, or the sound of rain against tall windows, the room begins to exist in the reader’s mind.

Specific details create the experience.

Home builder marketing benefits from the same principle. Consider how often we describe homes using familiar phrases such as “spacious interiors,” “thoughtful design,” “luxurious finishes,” and “perfect for entertaining.” Those descriptions communicate positive qualities, but they rarely help buyers visualize what makes a particular home distinctive.

Now imagine describing a kitchen with an oversized island that provides generous preparation space while allowing guests to gather nearby. Or a private study with a door that closes, creating a quiet environment for video calls and focused work. The details help buyers connect a physical feature to an experience they understand.

This is the difference between describing a home and helping someone imagine living in it.

Try This: The Specificity Challenge

Take three generic phrases from your website, social media, or email marketing.

For each one, ask:

• What specific feature supports this claim?
• What does that feature allow someone to do?
• What everyday experience makes the benefit meaningful?

Then rewrite the description using those answers.

For example:

Before: “Enjoy a spacious kitchen designed for entertaining.”

After: “An oversized island provides plenty of room for meal preparation while giving guests a comfortable place to gather, keeping conversation flowing between the kitchen and living area.”

The second description gives buyers something they can picture.

Specificity makes your marketing memorable because it gives the audience something to imagine.

3. Motivation: Understand What Your Buyer Really Wants

Every compelling fictional character wants something. That desire drives the story forward, influences decisions, creates conflict, and gives readers a reason to care about what happens next.

The most interesting characters also have obstacles standing between them and what they want. Those obstacles create tension, and tension keeps readers engaged because they want to discover how the character will overcome them.

Homebuyers experience their own version of this dynamic.

Someone considering a new home may want more functional living space, less maintenance, a more convenient location, or greater flexibility in how they use their home. At the same time, they may be concerned about affordability, timing, financing, selling their existing home, or making a decision they’ll regret.

Great marketing recognizes both sides of that equation.

When we understand what buyers want and what might prevent them from moving forward, we can create content that addresses their motivations and reduces uncertainty.

This connects directly to the buyer psychology principles we’ve been discussing in our recent editorials. The most effective marketing helps people recognize possibilities while building the confidence they need to act.

Try This: The Motivation Exercise

For your next campaign, complete these three statements before writing a headline or opening an AI tool:

Our prospective buyer wants:  

A clear description of the outcome or experience they’re seeking.

Our prospective buyer is concerned about:  

The questions, uncertainties, or obstacles that could delay their decision.

Our marketing can help by:  

Providing the information, reassurance, evidence, or inspiration that moves them forward.

Use those answers to guide your messaging.

This exercise can transform a generic promotional email into communication that addresses something buyers genuinely care about.

4. Pacing: Give People the Right Information at the Right Time

Writing fiction has also taught me to think more deliberately about pacing. Readers need enough information to understand what’s happening, but the writer must decide when to reveal details, introduce complications, build anticipation, and move the story forward.

Too much information at once can overwhelm the reader. Too little can create confusion or frustration. Effective pacing keeps the story moving while giving each important moment enough room to matter.

Home builder marketing faces a similar challenge.

Think about the amount of information available to prospective buyers. Floor plans, pricing, communities, financing, construction processes, design selections, incentives, timelines, warranties, and dozens of other considerations compete for attention.

The goal is to organize that information around the questions buyers are likely to ask as they move through their journey.

Someone discovering a community may initially want to understand its location, lifestyle, and available homes. As interest develops, questions become more specific about floor plans, pricing, personalization, and the purchasing process. Later, buyers may need reassurance about financing, construction timelines, or what happens after signing a contract.

Each stage creates an opportunity to provide the next useful answer.

Try This: Answer the Next Question

Choose one piece of marketing content and identify the primary question it answers.

Then ask:

What is the next question a buyer is likely to have?

Use that answer to improve the content’s call to action, supporting links, or follow-up communication.

For example, a community overview might naturally lead to available floor plans. A floor plan description might lead to personalization options. A Build On Your Lot article might lead to information about homesite evaluations.

This approach creates a more natural progression through the buyer journey and helps reduce the friction that can cause buyers to disengage.

5. Editing: The Discipline That Separates Good Content From Great Content

Of all the creative skills writing fiction has strengthened, editing may be the one I appreciate most.

Creating and editing require different kinds of thinking. The creative process encourages us to explore possibilities, generate ideas, experiment with language, and get words onto the page. Editing requires us to evaluate those choices, question what we’ve written, recognize what isn’t working, and make deliberate improvements.

And here’s where artificial intelligence has changed the game.

AI makes creation extraordinarily easy. You can ask for ten headlines, five email variations, a dozen social captions, or a complete blog article and receive them almost instantly. That convenience creates a powerful temptation to move directly from generation to publication.

I believe one of the most important skills marketers can develop today is the discipline to resist that temptation.

The first draft gets the idea onto the page. Editing makes the idea worth reading.

When I’m working on my novel, I often discover that a sentence communicates exactly what I intended but still isn’t the right sentence. Perhaps the language feels awkward, the description is too generic, the pacing is wrong, or the character’s reaction doesn’t feel authentic.

The same thing happens with AI-generated marketing content.

A paragraph can be grammatically correct, factually accurate, and perfectly professional while still being completely forgettable. It may lack specificity, emotional relevance, personality, or a clear reason for the reader to care.

That’s where the human editor becomes essential.

Try This: The Reread, Question, Polish Method

Before publishing your next piece of marketing content, build a simple three-step editing routine into your workflow.

Step 1: Reread for the Reader

Give yourself a little distance from the content before reviewing it. Even a short break can help you see the writing with fresh eyes.

Then read it from beginning to end without making changes.

Pay attention to your experience as the reader. Where does your attention wander? Which sentences feel awkward? What information seems repetitive? Where do you have to stop and reread something to understand it?

Reading aloud can be particularly helpful because your ear often catches problems your eyes overlook. As a professional speaker, I’ve always appreciated how quickly spoken language reveals awkward phrasing, unnecessary words, and unnatural transitions.

Step 2: Question Every Paragraph

Now put your marketing hat back on and evaluate what the content accomplishes.

Ask yourself:

• Does the opening give the reader a compelling reason to continue?
• Is the primary message immediately clear?
• Does each paragraph contribute something useful?
• Have we explained why the information matters to the buyer?
• Are we using specific examples or relying on generic marketing language?
• Does the content sound like our brand?
• Have we answered the questions a buyer is likely to have?
• Is the call to action appropriate for where the buyer is in the journey?

Here’s one additional question I find especially valuable:

If I removed this sentence, would the reader lose anything important?

If the answer is no, the sentence may not need to be there.

Step 3: Polish With Purpose

This is where you make deliberate improvements.

Replace vague descriptions with specific details. Combine repetitive thoughts. Strengthen weak verbs. Remove unnecessary adjectives. Improve transitions. Check that the opening creates interest and the conclusion gives readers a clear next step.

Then read it one final time.

The goal is to make every sentence earn its place.

And remember that editing includes more than improving the writing. Verify facts, confirm links, check names and numbers, and make sure claims are accurate and appropriately supported.

AI can help with many of these tasks, particularly when you give it specific editing instructions. But the final judgment about what deserves to be published should remain with someone who understands your audience, your brand, and your business objectives.

AI can generate the options. Human intelligence determines which options deserve attention.

Make Creativity a Practice, Not an Occasional Event

One of the unexpected benefits of writing a novel has been the realization that creativity improves through repetition. Every writing session gives me another opportunity to practice describing something clearly, understanding a character’s motivation, building emotional connection, improving pacing, and making stronger editorial decisions.

Marketing teams can develop those same abilities through deliberate practice.

You might dedicate 15 minutes during a weekly content meeting to rewriting a generic headline, improving a floor plan description, or finding a more interesting opening for an email. Ask team members to explain why one version works better than another. Compare approaches and discuss how different word choices change the message.

You can also use AI as a practice partner. Ask it to generate three versions of a paragraph, then challenge your team to identify which one is strongest and explain why. Give it an ordinary home feature and ask for several benefit-focused descriptions, then edit the results until they reflect your brand’s voice and the buyer’s needs.

The important part of the exercise is the evaluation.

When marketers learn to explain why one sentence is more compelling, one example is more relevant, or one headline is more effective, they strengthen the judgment that makes their work better.

That’s a skill worth practicing, regardless of how much technology changes.

When I began writing my first novel, I expected to learn a great deal about storytelling, character development, worldbuilding, and the craft of fiction. I certainly didn’t anticipate how much the experience would influence the way I think about home builder marketing.

Yet that’s exactly what has happened.

In Part 1, we explored how stepping outside the homebuilding industry can reveal fresh ideas for connecting with buyers. In Part 2, we examined how studying successful influencers can help us create more compelling video content and turn attention into business opportunities. Here in Part 3, we’ve explored how practicing the craft of writing strengthens the creative judgment that makes marketing more effective.

If there’s one lesson I’d encourage you to take from this series, it’s to remain curious about the world beyond your industry and intentional about developing your own creative abilities.

Follow people who do something completely different from what you do. Study the content that captures your attention. Practice writing, storytelling, and editing even when AI can produce a perfectly acceptable first draft in seconds.

And the next time you’re about to hit Send or Publish, give yourself one more opportunity to make the message better.

Because in a world overflowing with content, the competitive advantage belongs to those who know what is worth saying and how to say it well.

Categorised in: Content Marketing, Digital Marketing, Email Marketing, Small Business Marketing, Technology