  Short Stories
This week: That Uncle Henry! Edited by: Legerdemain  
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The purpose of this newsletter is to help the Writing.com short story author hone their craft and improve their skills. Along with that I would like to inform, advocate, and create new, fresh ideas for the short story author. Write to me if you have an idea you would like presented.
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Anecdotes
Anecdote~A brief account of an interesting or entertaining nature.
Anecdotes differ from short stories in that they are usually a single scene, from real life, and usually uncomplicated. Often, anecdotes contain lengthy dialog. Historically, numerous anecdotes of famous people sprout when they've left office, have passed away, or committed some sort of faux pas.
Early in his career, mystery writer Erle Stanley Gardner earned a living churning out stories for pulp magazines at the incredible rate of 200,000 words per month.
As he was paid by the word, the length of a story was of no small importance. Noting that his villains were invariably killed by the last bullet in the chamber, Gardner's editor once asked why his heroes were so careless with the first five shots.
"At three cents a word," Gardner replied, "every time I say 'Bang' in the story I get three cents. If you think I'm going to finish the gun battle while my hero has got fifteen cents' worth of unexploded ammunition in his gun, you're nuts!"
Blogging is a fun way to relate anecdotes. Revealing the quirks of human nature and your Uncle Henry are often painfully entertaining because we all have an Uncle Harry in our family. Not everyone permanently burns a patch of hair off the back of their head trying to save a kitten, but you understand what I'm saying. Even if you don't have an Uncle Harry, blogs are a great place to find interesting characters for your stories. You don't and probably shouldn't use a story verbatum but it's a fun place to fish for ideas. Small town newspapers are a great place to fish too. Years ago, I had a friend whose parents ran away and joined the circus. Really! I met them and yes, they smelled like the circus. Stories about that family gave me fodder for many a character.
And if you notice you have several blog/books and hundreds of anecdotes in your portfolio...it's probably time to contemplate writing a book. Only change the names of the innocent. 
This month's question: Have you used a personal anecdote or family member as a character in your stories?
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Excerpt: He came to our house the second Wednesday every four months to clean the chimney--my Father was very paranoid about fires, so he had poor Walter come quite often-and each time Walter would have some new, crazy invention to get the job done faster. Last year, he had released 20 "chimney beetles" into our chimney, assuring us that they would scuttle along with their little "brushes", sweeping the chimney clean. Unfortunately for him, the beetles were not very effective and went haywire. Pouring out of the fire place and scrambling around the sitting room. Luckily, neither Father nor Mother was home at the time; for the beetles made quite a mess, leaving trails of soot and grime all over the sitting room.
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Excerpt: Dan cradled the tarnished metal star in the palm of his hand. The attached ribbon was wrinkled after being folded in the container for almost fifty years. In his other hand he held a snapshot of a young soldier leaning on a fence and smiling cockily at the photographer. The photograph captured the vitality of a young warrior decked out in his dress uniform. The young man was his uncle, a member of the 325th Glider Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division. The world knew them as the All American Division. This exclusive fraternity of warriors banded together and fought for liberty and freedom on the fields of Europe during the Second World War. The cocky grin of the young man in the photo told nothing of the trials which he experienced during his trek across France, Belgium, and Luxemburg. No, that story was hidden deep within the unpolished metal trinket Dan held in the palm of his hand; it was a Bronze Star.
Excerpt: Roaches. Thousands... no, MILLIONS of roaches came streaming out from under the old refrigerator, the rusty stove, and the broken-down cabinets. They scuttled over the countertops, and from beneath the peeling wallpaper. We looked on in horror and absolute disbelief as the tide of insects swept unerringly in our direction.
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Excerpt: Flea is a nickname many call me by, and despite the meaning of the word (I hate fleas!), I think it's an attractive, original and meaningful nickname. I don't remember how Flea originated because it is a nickname that goes way back in time to when I was about three. I have since been told by parents and siblings the story of its origin.
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Excerpt: Uncle Joe is something of a family icon. He was a practical joke artist. I'd lost count of the times he'd tricked his siblings, nephews, nieces and friends. He'd covered the toilet bowl with cling film, put joke soap in the kitchen which rather than leaving the user's hands sparkling clean and germ free, had left them with black ink stains. Whoopee cushions were permanently in his pocket and he pulled them out with alarming regularity and everyone who knew him now checked their exhaust pipes for bananas, fire crackers and tin cans if he'd been near their cars.
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Excerpt: The wrap-around porch of Aunt Shannon's house, my favorite place to play when I'd visited as a child, was a black ashen ring, but the fire had fizzled when it came up against the house's brick facade. I didn't get my hopes up though; bracing myself, I passed through the charred threshold, and sure enough, the entire living room had been torched by a separate fire. There was nothing left but soot and boot prints, the skeleton of the sectional couch, and gadgets from the home theater system, melted and fused like some Dali-esque interpretation of modern entertainment. An antique oak bookcase had once stood in the corner of the room. If I'd wanted to start a fire in Aunt Shannon's living room, that's what I would have used as kindling.
Excerpt: Kath and Amy heard many ghost stories of the Bell Witch Cave growing up in Brentwood, Tennessee. Now old enough to go there themselves, they packed up Kath's Volkswagen Jetta and took off for a weekend of fun.
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This month's question: Have you used a personal anecdote or family member as a character in your stories?
Last month's question: What personal experiences have you used to create more depth in your story? ?
katt  replied: I once had an art teacher tell me that artists always put their own features into their art, because it's their face they're most used to seeing. I think the same goes for writing, and I can't think of a story I've written that did not somehow, on some level, reflect an experience I had at some point in my life. I think every person you meet, every place you go, every mistake you make and every success finds its way into your writing.
Writer_Mike  responded: The 1st and 3rd of my currently Highlighted items draw on my time in the Army, CLOSE ENOUGH in particular. There are other stories in my port that draw on my past, as well, whether as a youngster, in the Army, or at my current job. It's nice to be able to use personal experiences to flesh out a storyline.
sdodger sent: My imagination soars when I vacation at the beach.
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Short Stories: July 04, 2012 Issue [#5128]
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