I know you thought it was going to be my truly inspired insight on getting published, but I thought I'd post this link to a great article by Jane Friedman on how long you should keep trying to get published by a traditional publisher.
She comments on a lot of details, including what you're trying to get published and whether it is commerically viable on a national level or if it's regional or niche. And to me, the most important question of all: what your goals are.
Your character walks into a restaurant and has a conversation with the hostess (or host). He (or she) says he has a reservation, for two people. Hostess says he is the first to arrive, would he like to sit down or wait in the front. Your character has never met the person he is dining with (is it breakfast, lunch, dinner?), and he doesn't know what they look like, so he's not sure what to do, since he won't recognize them when they come in. How does the conversation go with the host/ess? Who is your character? Who is the person he (or she) is meeting? Why are they meeting? Finish the scene when the person comes in (or doesn') and they recognize each other (or don't). Try to be a little bit more creative than 'a blind date.'
Remember that person you wrote about in the last exercise and how they were preparing for an imminent storm? When the wind dies down and the rain stops, and they come out of their hibernation, and step out into the world for the first time, what happened? What are they faced with, damage, flooding, calm? How did their preparations help, hinder, or have nothing to do with the the outcome of the storm? And more importantly, how do they react to the situation?
Is there a tree down that crushed their car?
Do they have any shingles left on the roof?
Is the electricity out, and all that food in the refrigerator they bought is going to go bad anyway?
And more importantly, how do they feel about what they see? And what do they do first?
