It's been super fun reading your posts here on the Forum.  To get to know each other better, I'm curious - who (or what) inspired you to get into writing?  Was it a favorite author?  A book?  Or was it something that you always enjoyed?

Here's her question to you:

What is the most difficult aspect about writing for Adorned Women so far?

We'd really appreciate it if everyone would take time to post an answer. Alicia is always trying to make this experience the best it can be. Let's help her by speaking up.

Teresa

But when we’re writing work-for-hire, as we are in Adorned Women, we are aiming at a very specific target. That makes the outlining method especially helpful.  In this article, I’m demonstrating a generic outline that could work for a story.  It may be helpful to fill out one like this as a test to see if you have a single-event story.

1. Introduction: In this part, we tell, not show. When and where was the subject born? What is she famous for? Or what is the history of her life that will set the stage for today’s story?  And—what about the setting and people in the story needs to be set up so we can understand the story?
2. Creative Title: Look about 2/3 of the way through the story and see if you can pull out an inspiring phrase.
3. Opening paragraphs:
   1. When and where is the subject?
   2. What is the subject’s goal in this story?
   3. Why does she want that?
   4. What will happen if she doesn’t get what she wants?
4. Show her trying to reach her goal, but a conflict arises. Show the conflict and her reaction.
5. Black moment: Show the time when it looks as if all hope is lost and she is not going to get what she wanted in the opening.
6. Then something happens—she remembers, or she reads something, or someone intervenes --and she comes to realize something new.  This is generally where the inspiration shows up.
7. Whatever happened has changed her life. Show a little bit of the changed life.
8. Optional summary

Hi Everybody,

Karin Lovold did a great job on narrowing down to a single story idea and producing a blurb that revealed the story.   I copy it here so we can all enjoy it.

In 1884, at age seventeen in Belfast Ireland, Amy Carmichael was dressed in her Sunday best and walking home from church with her siblings. A beggar woman staggered nearby to them, dressed in rags—even muddy rags around her feet for shoes. She was hunched over, carrying a heavy load of sticks. Amy knew the kind thing to do would be to help this woman with her load, and so she did. She and her siblings helped the woman walk through the alley. Along the way, they spotted others from church staring at them. Amy was so embarrassed she tried to hide her face. At this moment, God moved in her heart and spoke clearly to her, reminding her word-for-word of a specific scripture. Amy was sickened and ashamed inside at the embarrassment she’d felt, and it was a turning point in her heart and in her life. She never wanted to feel embarrassed helping another human being ever again. From that point forward, the poor, the suffering and the needy was front and center in her heart, and it set her on a mission and an adventure to help those in need that endured for the rest of her life, and still endures to this day.

This is going to be a terrific story. 😎 

Teresa