Tagline: After her divorce, Jane worried she faced a lifetime of lonely nights, until Steve's bright smile lit up her heart with new hope.
Observations: I am going to do a stream-of-consciousness analysis this week, which means, I read the story and type thoughts and observations as I go.
I find myself wondering why she wants pumpkins after Halloween and for what purpose, but I peeked to see who the author was, and it's Diane Crawford, an author who has sold quite a few stories to Woman's World. So, I assume my question will be answered eventually.
I adore this vivid description:
As she opened the door, taking a moment to watch the golden sunlight cresting over the cornfield just beyond her, a tall handsome man with gray-streaked hair emerged from the stalks like a vision.
What a beautiful image. As you know, Woman's World stories are only 800 words long, so sometimes you have to skimp on imagery, but Crawford gives us a wonderful image and a character's physical description in one succinct sentence.
And here she skillfully summarizes the heroine's backstory in one sentence:
Since she'd gotten divorced three years earlier, the mornings had become a respite from an endless stream of lonely nights.
She needs fifteen pumpkins? What on earth for? I'm even more intrigued.
Ah, she teaches at the community center, which is exactly the type of good-citizen profession one might expect from a character in a Woman's World romance.
"Budgeting Makes Cents" - clever name for the class!
Aha! Mystery solved. She's teaching her students to make pumpkin bread from real pumpkins.
Here's a bit I'd like to highlight...
On the way home, Jane's stomach fluttered nonstop. It had been years since a man had flirted with her...or since she'd been interested in a man at all. She resolved to return to the farm after class, to thank Steve and Eric with some fresh loaves of pumpkin bread...or, if she was being honest with herself, just to see Steve again.
This paragraph is pivotal in showing Jane's character arc. This is where she makes the realization that she's truly ready to move on past her divorce. Character arcs aren't mandatory in these romance stories, but I believe they add some emotional heft and make the stories feel more complete and satisfying.
In the last paragraph I noticed a little fire theme. The only word that didn't fit in was "bloom."
"I'd love to," Jane said, feeling a warmth bloom in her chest. Suddenly, he took her hand in his. And as his strong fingers closed around hers, Jane felt a new spark of hope blaze in her heart.
Photo Credit via Flickr CC License: Martin Brigden
10 comments:
I wondered about the pumpkins, too! Great review, Kate. I always enjoy Diane’s stories.
Diane Crawford's stories are always some of the best. Of course, we should keep in mind that the story you analyze, Kate, is the edited version that finally appears in the magazine. "Bloom" may have been the decision of the WW editors. It could be interesting to know.
I had to laugh about all the pumpkins. When I was small, my grandma took my Halloween pumpkin and cooked it up into a pumpkin pie. I was so upset because I thought the jack-o'-lantern would last forever.
Loved the stream of consciousness method. Yes, this was a beautiful and fun story. And I too wondered about all those pumpkins AFTER Halloween. I should have guessed, since I used to cook for a living and also taught community classes. Ah, the things that get buried in our heads when experiences happened eons ago. Guess I need to make a list of those for future story ideas! Great job Diane and Kate.
Great story, Diane! Very sweet and well-written. I loved it.
--Mary Ann Joyce
Loved Diane's story though I also was a little confused about so many pumpkins. Loved that she was teaching seasonal cooking at the community center.
Thanks, Jill. :)
LOL, Mary Jo about your childhood misconceptions.
Deb, isn't that the truth? I can't tell you how many times I've read a WW story and thought to myself that I could easily have written that story myself because something in it mirrored something in my own life that I could have mined for a plot.
Good story, but I was curious if the maximum word count had expanded. It seemed longer to me than most and was around 850–900. But anything pumpkin or baking in a story and I’m there! 😋
The story about the parking space I recently had published was longer.
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