There was a joke in my house growing up, that things always happened in threes—good luck, bad luck, it didn’t matter. If the car broke down, that meant two other things were sure to break within a few weeks. Someone got a raise, well, then two more good things were certainly on the way.

.

Most of the time it did actually happen—but probably not for the reasons you’d think. Good and bad things happen all the time, but we don’t always notice them or make the connection to other similar events. It’s part of our culture and so ingrained in our subconscious that we notice (if not seek out) patterns that fit this rule.

.

Using the rule of three in our writing lets us tap into this understood principle and helps pique reader interest as they look for these patterns.

People remember “things in threes” better. (Really, they’ve done studies) Think of famous speeches (Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness), or clichéd ad copy (location location location). Even our stories are broken down into three acts. Three makes people pay attention, and we can use that to make them pay attention to our stories.