To catch a reader

What makes someone pick up a book and keep reading it?

Yes cover art is important, after all, our eyes can't get past the dislike of something. EVEN if it's being talked about a lot. That is the first thing that catches our eye.

Then there's the first few pages, the key point in which you need to grab the reader. Engage them. Captivate them.

How easy is that?

When I first started writing I had no idea what to do. I started this blog and thought that it would push me to write a book. It worked. It also allowed me to realize how out of reality I was. Ideas are great but it's what you do with them is most important.

Voice is key. How do you obtain it?

Reading.

I found the easiest thing for me was to read A LOT. I started with Susan Elizabeth Phillips, and if you've blogged with me from the get go you'll know she is my favorite romance author ever!

I mimicked her writing style, I just wanted to get words out on paper. It took me weeks to write something solid and even then it still didn't feel like my own. Page by page I continued to write and slowly I started using my own voice, Susan Elizabeth Phillips soon disappeared and it was just me and what I wanted. I felt the words, the characters, the life I'd created.

If you're engaged in the story, chances are that your readers will be too.

How did you gain your voice?