Truth Seeker and Story Teller
How many years have you put off writing a book? For me, it was 25 years and a lot of reasons why I couldn’t or shouldn’t…right now.
When you look at yourself in the mirror and see another wrinkle, when you blow out another candle on your birthday cake, when the kids move out from home…will you write? How many times have you said, “My family needs me,” or “I’m too busy with my career,” or “I’m not really a writer.”
What’s stopping you from writing…and when will you start?
I can personally recommend Heaven’s Gate to anyone looking for a great story about what happens when our energy leaves our bodies at the moment of death. I personally know this author and she has the background and expertise to make her story totally believable. This was a great interview. You will find the link to Deborah’s book at the end.
Quickly, give us the title and genre of your book and a short tagline:
The title of my novel is Heaven’s Gate.
Heaven’s Gate is a fiction novel about a young man who finds the location of heaven’s gate by tracking energy as it leaves the body at the moment of death only to discover that someone is collecting the energy and preventing it from getting to its intended destination. His discovery leads him on an adventure of action, mystery and enlightenment as he uncovers the true purpose of life.
It’s a lot of bloody work trying to get your website found on the Internet. There are some two billion people online and, according to Netcraft, there were over half a billion active websites when they conducted their 2012 survey.
How does your “mom and pop” site compete? Let alone get found? It’s not easy and it will take consistent work and determined focus. Whether you use keyword tools or are taking online training there are ways to succeed.
But first and foremost — you must show your passion through your writing.
This evening I was listening to a Podcast by Simon Sinek from startwithwhy.com about starting with “your why”. And, of course, as any writer should do…I asked myself why do I want to write? Now, to be frank, I was listening to this while on the treadmill so it’s a little difficult to have pen and paper in hand to jot down the explosion of ideas that came spilling forth.
Whoa! Let’s slow down. Focus only on the basic question that Simon asks: Do you know your why? What is the purpose or what inspires you to do what you do? And, I think most importantly, what is the belief that drives what you to do or want to do.
With this focus in mind, here’s my take on why I want to write; and please note that this is not outlined or scripted, it’s simply me talking out loud.
Colson’s Law is available FREE on Kindle October 1st to 5th! Written in the style of Louis L’Amour and some of the other great Western writers, this book is about a gunfighter who must overcome odds and help a young heiress claim her ranch. You can read a complete review here.
[bluebox]If you’re looking for free Western books you don’t want to miss the FREE Kindle release of my first book, Colson’s Law. This will be available for a limited time only: October 1st to 5th, 2014![/bluebox]
BOOM! How was that? Or does BAMB work better? What about, “Yeah, I’m talkin’ to you!” Did any to these grab your attention? Were they eye-catching or annoying? These are just examples of the importance of the opening line in your book…or even a blog post such as this.
Now, for blog posts you have maybe five seconds to grab your visitors attention. And if you don’t do it that quickly they click away to the next website. You probably have the same amount of time to convince a reader to buy your book. Sure, maybe they’ve read the back cover for a quick book synopsis but then they may crack open the cover to see how your book starts (how many of us have done the same?)
If you haven’t reached out and grabbed your perspective reader’s attention with a great first line then they aren’t likely to reach for their wallet!
For new and aspiring writers it’s sometimes difficult to decide on the type of genre that you want to write for. This includes whether you want to write fiction or nonfiction, write on your own website (a blog), or become a copywriter. So how do you decide which type of genre writing is for you?
Finding your writing genre or niche is based on two things:
You will need to find a way that helps you focus where you will spend your time writing. Starting with what you know and are passionate about is always the top recommendation. However, if you’re prepared to spend the time and become a subject expert then you can delve into a genre that you know little about but have always wanted to learn (passion and curiosity will take you far).
Remember all the research you did in school when you had to write a paper or create a new project? Hours spent writing out your notes because we couldn’t highlight encyclopedias and we had to avoid plagiarizing like the plague. Ugh, tedious, boring work just so we could get a good grade.
Guess what? If you want to become a published author those years were not in vain! And whether your story takes place on another world, in another country, or in another time you must do your research BEFORE you put ink to paper or fingers to keys. Your story must be based on facts, accuracy, and attention to detail; otherwise your reader may do their own research and, if what you say is not true then you will lose credibility and likely a reader.
