Saturday, May 31, 2008

The Killing Of . . .

By Keith Fisher

I flinched as my finger pulled the trigger. The stolen pistol bucked as the blast made my ears ring. The bank teller fell—no, she flew backward from the velocity of the hollow-point bullet.

Do I have your attention? In order for a new novel to be successful, it must have three things. A great hook to entice the reader, cliffhangers to keep the reader reading, and an ending that makes the reader think about your book for a week.

Did you ever notice the number of new blogs being created? There must be hundreds everyday on the subject of writing alone. I was blog surfing the other day, and discovered something about myself. I have a list of blogs I always visit. But I read them because my friends write them. For the others, I noticed a tendency to skim the first line. If it doesn’t hold my interest, I move on.

So I looked at my own blogs with a cold, critical eye, and I have to admit, most of them would make me move on.

We were in a minority when I began to blog here at LDSwritersblogck. There were fewer sites that talked about writing in the LDS market. Since then, I’ve heard many sources say you must start promoting yourself and you must establish an Internet presence. Consequently most of us blog because we plan to sell a book someday. We’re promoting ourselves in an effort to develop a readership.

So maybe we should hook the reader with our blog. I’m going to try.

Good luck in your writing and blogging—see you next week.

4 comments:

Tristi Pinkston said...

You perked my attention!

Malcolm Leal said...

I had ONE story to tell and I held it back for 10 years. Fear of retaliation and concern for my family kept me from sharing the story. I am done and it sits comfortably on my shelf. I believe it is a very inspirational and compelling story but I have no intentions of becoming a writer. Based on my research, it (the story) will remain quietly on my shelf. I wish there were posts or avenues for peer review for all not just full time aspiring writers.

Malcolm

Nichole Giles said...

Keith,
Great beginning. Do I detect yet another new idea?

Can't wait to read the rest.

Nichole

Kimberly Job said...

I'm hooked. Great post, Keith!