How to Write What You Love and Make a Living at It by Dennis E. Hensley

Author:Dennis E. Hensley [Hensley, Dennis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-77964-9
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2011-05-04T00:00:00+00:00

Having asked yourself these questions and having come to the conclusion that your title is a winner, it is time to test it. Try your title on people. If a Person’s head turns and his or her eyes light up, you’ll know you’re on target. However, if a person says politely and calmly, “That’s nice,” you’ll know you need to come up with a new title. So write one. Readers are entitled to the best you can offer.

WRITING GRABBER LEADS

Your title may attract attention, but you will need to keep the reader from slipping away from you. To do that, you will have to write an opening paragraph, known as the “lead,” that will grab the reader and compel his or her involvement in the story. That is quite a challenge for a beginning writer.

As a writing teacher, I have lectured on campuses everywhere from Florida to Michigan and from Massachusetts to Oregon. I have discovered the one common problem all beginning writers have is not being able to grab the reader’s attention quickly.

I always tell students, “Keep in mind that what you write only has about ten seconds to win or lose a reader. If your narrative hook is something fascinating that intrigues the reader, he or she will stay with you. If your opening is unimaginative, slow, or routine, your reader will desert you—and fast!”

Why do I say ten seconds to win or lose? Well, let’s use you as an example. Let’s say you arrive at the dentist’s office and are told it will be twenty minutes before you can be seen. You scowl, shrug your shoulders, and flop into a chair. You grab a magazine off the table and begin to thumb through the pages.

You pause at the first article. You glance at its title and read the first two paragraphs of the story but then give up on it. You flip the pages to the next article. The same process occurs.

On the third article, however, you find a captivating title: “Skydiving into the Canals of Venice.” The opening paragraph describes a leap from an airplane, a parachute that fails to open, a sense of panic.

You read on and on. Time passes quickly. When the receptionist finally says, “Dr. Adkinson will see you now,” you flash her a cutting glance. How dare she! You slowly begin to walk toward the inner office, the magazine still in your hand. You’ve got to see how this thing turns out.

That author snagged you and refused to let you escape. She piqued your curiosity, maintained your interest, and pulled you rapidly along the path she wanted you to follow. That’s exactly what you want to do when you sit down to write a devotional or feature or interview.

Let me show you four surefire methods of how to open your articles with strong reader hooks.

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