Every story has a beginning, middle, and ending. That is something on which we can all agree. But all authors have their own ideas about what constitutes a good beginning, middle, and ending to a story. As for me, I know where my stories start and end but can’t define the middle.
So, here are two excerpts from my latest, The Red Dress: one from the beginning and one from the ending. If you’ve already read this book and think you know where the middle is, you can enlighten us in the comment field below.
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Beginning
Finally, Charlene said, “Ugh! There’s nothing good here. If you’re not gonna go to the dance, could I borrow something from your closet?”
“Sure.”
Eve was anxious for Charlene to leave. She turned back to her desk.
Hangers in her closet scraped against the metal bar as articles of clothing were shoved aside.
“Oh, look at this!” said Charlene.
Eve turned and could only stare at the bright red dress she’d almost forgotten.
Charlene held the garment at arm’s length, admiring the three–quarter–length sleeves, low neckline, and gathered waist. “Oh, my God! This is beautiful! Where did you get it, and why do you keep it way off to one side in your closet?”
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Ending
“Eve, come closer, dear,” said Norma. “Let me have a look at you in that dress. It turned out beautifully, didn’t it?”
As she fastened the flower to Eve’s dress, Norma looked panicked. “Oh, I don’t have my glasses! Jack, where are my glasses?”
“They’re right here,” said Jack, picking them up from the nightstand and placing them on her face.
Norma opened her arms to her daughter for the first time in years, and Eve walked into them.
As she held her mother and felt hot tears slide down both their cheeks, she said, “Mom, I love this dress so much. I’ll always cherish it.”
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If you haven’t read this book, I’m sure that by now, you have a lot of questions. Where did Eve get the dress, and why does she keep it in the back of her closet? Why does Eve’s mother open her arms to her for the first time in years? Where are these scenes taking place? Well, you’d better read the book and find out for yourself.
Thanks to blogger Stevie Turner for inspiring this post. If you’d like to participate in her blog hop on the subject of beginnings, middles, and endings to stories, click here.
By the way, for those of you who use the National Library Services for the Blind and Print Disabled, The Red Dress is available for download from their site here. No matter how you read it, please be sure to review it wherever you can. That goes for all my books. Thank you for stopping by. Stay safe, happy, and healthy.
Copyright July 2019 by DLD Books
When Eve went to her high school senior prom, she wore a red dress that her mother had made for her. That night, after dancing with the boy of her dreams, she caught him in the act with her best friend. Months later, Eve, a freshman in college, is bullied into giving the dress to her roommate. After her mother finds out, their relationship is never the same again.
Twenty-five years later, Eve, a bestselling author, is happily married with three children. Although her mother suffers from dementia, she still remembers, and Eve still harbors the guilt for giving the dress away. When she receives a Facebook friend request from her old college roommate and an invitation to her twenty-five-year high school class reunion, then meets her former best friend by chance, she must confront the past in order to face the future.
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