Our most intimate thoughts and experiences are often expressed in our characters.  They are our closest confidantes, reminding us of loved ones, people who have hurt us, and sometime, ourselves.  Significant events in their lives matter to us, or we would just quit reading.

So what brings a reader into your story? Is it the portrayal of a major life event, such as a bride walking down the aisle, or is it the little moments that tell us what is really going on? When we are looking at people we love, what do we really remember?  It may be the way they looked, or what they wore, but often it is something smaller. For me, it is intimate moments, those close-ups in time that bring the story to life. They may be intense, or they may reflect the simplicity of life.  What scenes share is that they bring a vision to our readers.

Grandad had died.  After 71 years of marriage. Grandmother was composed and gracious, even though her house was full of people. The multitudes had descended. The  morning of the funeral, she was sitting out in the sun, with her long white hair drying in a soft spring breeze. I had stepped outside under the grape arbor. “Connie, would you mind doing my hair for me today?” It was so simple. She had been pinning up her long hair daily for more than 80 years. I picked up the hairbrush and began to brush through her soft hair, gave her a little shoulder rub, and then picked up the first pins. A few moments later the French rolls were  positioned.

Our long day was under way.