Maryann, I do a lot of dramatic monologues, some contemporary, some mythic. If you handle the IP in a conversational way, most readers will not even notice that you are writing blank verse. I'd say that the ways to grab interest include creating a striking voice, characterizing the speaker through what he or she says, describing surprising or moving events, suggesting that the speaker is unreliable, using intriguing metaphors, irony, vivid images--much as you would do in any poem. It can help if you have some idea of whom the speaker is addressing and why. Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology added some interest by having the speakers all be dead, addressing the reader from beyond the grave.
Susan
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