I can remember when we moved from Ohio to California at the end of my freshman year of high school. I looked forward to the change, although I was quite nervous about switching schools.

However, the one thing that inspired me to want to move was the possibility of going to college. If we had stayed in Ohio, I most likely would never have been able to afford tuition and so would have had two choices: work a low-wage job or get married. I didn’t want either.

California had community colleges whose tuition would be affordable as long as I worked doing something. This was my door to a bigger, brighter, happier world.

For this reason, moving was a defining moment in time for me.

What about your character? What is her defining moment? Was it the birth of her first child? Graduating from law school? Getting hired at the tech company of his dreams? Being accepted into nursing school the first time he applied?

Your task is to make a list of at least three defining moments for your protagonist. Make them huge. Next to each item, write a few words about how that moment changed your character’s life.

Choose just one moment and write a scene that includes not just how it impacted her life, but her emotions when it occurred. Think before, during and after.

After you’ve finished, reread and see if you captured the emotions. If you have, then congratulations are in order. If not, then rework it until you have.

Have fun with this one.