The Simple Story No One Taught Me

A novel, a failed product, and one question that fixed both

Jul 25, 2026

When I started reading books on writing, each book explained story structure in its own way.

By the end of every book, I felt more confused than when I began.

The complications the authors created in my mind paralysed my thinking—and I ended up writing nothing.

And yet, whenever I met people, they would often tell me they remembered a story I had written or a story I had told them. Many of them said I was a good storyteller.

That made me wonder.

There had to be something I was doing instinctively—something that worked—without consciously knowing any structure.

So one day, I decided to stop overthinking and simply write my first novel, That One Little Thing, using the only story formula I had ever naturally followed:

A character has a goal.
He fights for it.
He fails.
He tries again—differently.
And in the end, he either succeeds or fails.

That’s it.

I sent the draft to a few publishers. One of the top publishers accepted it.

I was surprised.

More surprised when I learnt that publishers receive thousands of manuscripts and select only a handful.

When I asked them why they chose my book, they said something unexpected.

They liked the story—and it naturally followed the three-act structure that most good stories follow.

The irony was that I barely understood story structure at the time. I had simply written what felt right and kept it as simple as I could.

I later learnt the same lesson in business.

In one of my education ventures, we had a good product—but very few takers. When I revisited the product, I realised the problem wasn’t quality. It was complexity.

We had over-explained.
Over-designed.
Over-complicated.

Customers don’t want sophistication. They want clarity.

Once we simplified the product, the benefits became obvious—and sales grew.

These days, before I finish anything—a story, a product, a page—I ask myself one question: could someone understand this in the first minute?

If not, I’m not done. I’m just not simple yet.

Quiet Clarity: Complexity complicates. Simplicity clears the way.