I'm Back!

Wow! That was a good vacation! I hiked mountains, I finished editing my book (for the first time anyway), I went to museums, went to the top of Pikes Peak, ran in mountain lion country, and I had a run-in with druggies at a park!

But enough about me.

One thing I've discovered that is essential if you're writing anything is to be organized and focused. Before I try writing a book, I like picturing the back cover. The back cover has to drag people into the material like the gravitational pull of the sun.

When designing the back cover, here's three paragraphs to define it as outlined by Bob Hostetler.

The Hook Paragraph:

This one grabs the readers eye and gives attention to your book's best selling point.

The Nuts and Bolts Paragraph:

After hooking the reader, you have to tell them how you're going to convey your ideas.

This is where you tell the reader how you're going to tell them the story. If it's fiction, is it fast-paced thriller? Is it a mystery? If it's non-fiction, is it a how-to, are there sidebars, vignettes, or quotes in the chapters?

The "Why Me" Paragraph:

This is paragraph gives information about yourself and shows why you're the perfect person to write on your topic. You don't need to graduate from Harvard, have written 1,000,001 articles or short stories, or have a book already published. What is important is you tell them everywhere you've been published. Another thing that will qualify you for your topic might be your passion. If you're writing fiction, you can say you're an avid reader of whatever genre you're writing.

Hope this helps!

What are your writing goals for this school year?