Tagline: Not feeling very lucky in love, Lisa skips a party to stay in, but a late-night grocery run turns her quiet Saturday into a surprising moment of connection and chemistry.
Observations: I love a good grocery store story, especially if it involves cooking! I have very very fond memories of a little cafe on Third Street in West LA that I would walk to for lunch because they had the most amazing potato leek soup.
Christopher Vogler wrote a famous book on the "formula" for fictional antagonists called The Writer's Journey. At one point in time Disney was using it as a template for their movies. Vogler lists 12 stages characters should go through in order to craft a satisfying story, but with Woman's World romances, we don't have the luxury of showing the heroines moving through all the stages.
The first step is to show the heroine in her Ordinary World. In this case, we see Lisa at the grocery store and talking to her friend Kim. In a longer work, this is so we can see where the hero started and compare it to where they end up, changed by their adventure.
The second phase is when the character receives a Call to Adventure--the friend Kim inviting her to the party.
The third step is Refusing the Call, which Lisa does. She opts to stay at home to read and do chores.
But like I said, we don't see the other nine stages because the word count doesn't allow that, but if you're interested in writing longer fiction, I highly recommend Vogler's book.
You know what? On secont thought, I might be wrong. Maybe it's actually possible to include all 12 stages. I guess you never know unless you try!
Photo by Janet Hudson via Flickr CC License
