“There is no such thing as a failed test. You will learn every time you challenge yourself.”
Marsha Blackburn
As you write, keep in mind that no one cares.
First, you have to make your readers take notice of you with a catchy title,
absorbing cover blurb,
and intriguing back cover copy.
That is the easy part. The hard part is just beginning.
The savvy writer knows he must keep reader interest at every point and go to whatever lengths it takes to grab and hold that interest.
Ask yourself:
since my reader may have no interest in this,
what do I have to do
to conceive this story in an interesting way,
to start off with an interesting premise
and to sustain that interest throughout my book?"
since my reader may have no interest in this,
what do I have to do
to conceive this story in an interesting way,
to start off with an interesting premise
and to sustain that interest throughout my book?"
No one cares about you, about your book, about what you are writing about ...
Go on from there.
You must make them care by being riveting,
by appealing to universal needs ... from chapter to chapter, never letting up.
When you finish one chapter,
you must work to make the next even more interesting, building on what you have already written.
Keep it interesting,
knowing that there is a seductive world out there,
calling to them to put down your book and come out and play in it.
Pick a storyline you care about.
If you care enough about something, you can more easily make it interesting.
Go on from there.
You must make them care by being riveting,
by appealing to universal needs ... from chapter to chapter, never letting up.
When you finish one chapter,
you must work to make the next even more interesting, building on what you have already written.
Keep it interesting,
knowing that there is a seductive world out there,
calling to them to put down your book and come out and play in it.
Pick a storyline you care about.
If you care enough about something, you can more easily make it interesting.
What do you say in your head as you write?
Don't forget I am at Hunter Shay's Blog and Diane Wolfe's too:
Don't forget I am at Hunter Shay's Blog and Diane Wolfe's too:
Sound advice, thank you
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting and staying to talk awhile. It means a lot.
DeleteAnd if we don't care, the reader really won't care.
ReplyDeleteI've read the later books of a series where it is sadly apparent that the author is only writing the books to fulfill a contractual obligation. Haven't you? :-(
DeleteIt is so true that writers must indeed earn their readers. Takes a LOT of work.
ReplyDeleteI just posted this in reply to your comment you just made on my Lost Opportunity story:
Don't we all make mistakes! I just hope as I get older that I also get wiser so that, as you say so eloquently, my friend Roland, our "tomorrow will not be filled with aching longings to have done better."
I'm still savoring your Not So Innocents Abroad. As I told you, I'm a very slow reader. I just love the poetic flow of almost every sentence in the story. You must never give up writing!
Hope you're having a good week, as good as possible in this sometimes difficult world.
As ever, Ann
@ anncarbinebest.com
Thank you for such an eloquent comment, Ann. Nothing wrong in taking your time reading -- eating fast gives you indigestion!
ReplyDeleteWorking as a rare blood courier is always a challenge. Taking over for another co-worker is giving me this weekend off for the first time in a year! May your weekend be happy and healing. Thank you for being my friend, Roland
Yay! So happy you connected with Hunter.
ReplyDeleteGreat advice. All I hear when I write are my characters talking to me.
Your tips will serve me best in the rewriting phase.
Best of luck in your re-writing phase. :-)
ReplyDelete