Lamb chapter 6 exercise 2

Here, Lamb is stressing the importance of beginnings. The writer must create two paragraphs in which the character is about to meet somebody. Certain elements that she has outlined as crucial to the beginnings of stories for children ought be included:

Joanna walked past the entrance to the lane three or four times, checking her watch nervously with each pass. She had arrived twelve minutes early, and thought that such overwhelming punctuality might actually constitute an imposition. But she had been waiting for an eternity to meet him. That is, if you count three long months in the mind of an eleven-year-old as an eternity. And she did.

He was just a few houses down on the right. The big brick house with the burnt red shutters. Joanna had imagined that he would live in a home more modern, something that reflected his twenty-first century state-of-mind. But something in the traditional structure of his home comforted her. Maybe he could fix it all, cure her of this terrible memory and let her resume her life. That seemed like a lot to ask.

The exact exercise can be found on p. 42 of Lamb's book, I encourage anybody to pick up the book for his or herself.