by Audrey Wick from the 1/22/24 issue=
Tagline: When Rayna takes a French cooking class, she never expects to whip up romance...until she meets the handsome chef and sparks fly.
Observations: This was a charming story. I love cooking and am a genuine foodie. I love watching cooking shows. The Great British Baking Show is a fave of mine. I imagine Ms. Wick likes macarons and perhaps even makes them. Or, if she's like me, she wants to try her hand at them one day. To be honest, I've even had daydreams of starting a macaron making side gig, selling at farmer's markets and online. Probably never gonna happen, but it's fun to daydream.
The thing is, you can take one of your daydreams, and turn it into a Woman's World story. I talk about this at length in my book, Story Sparking: How to Generate Ideas for Woman's World Magazine 5-Minute Romances. (If you're interested in buying the book, the link is down below.)
For instance, let's say you thought it might be fun to be a blackjack dealer. Maybe your heroine's friend owns a catering company or is a party planner. She needs someone to help her with a casino night and your heroine has played blackjack in the past with her late husband, so she knows the game. Her friend is desperate, so she volunteers to help. One of the guests has never played before so she teaches him some tips and tricks her late husband taught her. One thing leads to another and they make plans to see each other the next weekend.
Now, I have to tell you, I also used another story sparking idea in that story outline, above. Look at your own life. What is going on at this moment? At this moment, I'm at the Red Rock Resort outside of Las Vegas, so when I asked myself, what kind of kooky, out of the norm daydream/interest could I use as an example for this blog post? Blackjack dealer!
Try it yourself. Try either method--current events in your own life or a hobby or interest--and see if you can come up with a story plot. Do this often and it will get easier. The more you brainstorm story ideas, the better you'll get at them.
To buy Story Sparking: How to Generate Ideas for Woman's World Magazine 5-Minute Romances, click here.
Photo credit: Takeshi Kuboki via Flickr Creative Commons License
3 comments:
I'm noticing a focus lately; last five stories critiqued have been about food. Probably just a coincidence.
Interesting observation! I hadn't noticed!
Pat said...
I didn't notice that either and I'm playing catch-up on reading them.
Kate, I have to thank you. I know I'm behind on reading my WW issues and commenting here, but I have been in such a slump lately. You have just brought me out of it by your suggestions on finding topics to write about. So thank you so much
Anyway, I also love to cook and bake though at my age it is getting more difficult. I could really use and handicapped kitchen for people who need to cook and bake sitting down.
I've always wanted to try making Macarons and this story reminds me of that. I loved how the writer used all those baking terms as emotional images for feelings. Great story. Loved it.
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