Tagline: Linda was rusty at flirting, but a chance meeting with a handsome car-show member gave her the confidence to get behind the wheel again.
Observations: This story is a good example of showing character arc. As I talk about in my book, Story Sparking, How to Generate Ideas for Woman's World 5-Minute Romances, one jumping off point is to choose a fear and show the character getting over it.
Let's look at the progression in this story where Linda's fear is getting back into the dating world. By the end of the story, though, she literally says, "I'm ready."
1. She starts out so closed to the idea dating that she doesn't even hear Larry call her pretty.
2. Her friend points this out and suggests she take the man up on his offer.
3. Linda reflects on what happened and admits/realizes her friend was right.
4. Linda gives one last feeble attempt to avoid taking action but her friend nixes that in the bud.
5. Linda does some more introspection and gives us readers a chance to connect with her. No one likes to feel lost and invisible. We want her to succeed with Larry.
6. She accepts Larry's invitation to go for a ride in his truck.
7. Her confidence blooms when she insists he let her drive.
So, you can easily see how she starts out closed off but ends up self-assured. We all like to see hard work rewarded and showing character growth makes you feel like the heroine earned the happily ever after.
If you'd like some more ways to generate story ideas, again, check out my Story Sparking book.
Photo by Rebecca Siegel via Flickr CC License
1 comment:
Cute story. Loved the character growth.
Post a Comment