The word “anecdote” comes from a Greek word, anekdota, which means “unpublished things.”
Back in the day—way back in 1998—I founded an online writing workshop community called Coffeehouse for Writers. (If you want a laugh, you can still see the site here. But for the love of the gods, don’t click anything. The website’s owner hasn’t touched it in a very long time and it’s been overrun by casino bots.) And when I worked with new writers, I always found myself saying, “What you wrote here is an anecdote, not a story. Stories have more than just a beginning, middle, and end; they have a character arc.”
Then I’d remind them that they wanted to get published, and anekdota literally means “unpublished things.”
But now, here I’ve gone and published an anecdote this week. (What can I say? I’m a rebel like that.) It has no character arc, no redemption, no real plot development. Here it is:
Want to start writing your story? My rebelliously cool paid subscribers receive a weekly writing prompt—an invitation to join in the reflective, revealing, rebellious act of truth-telling. I’d love for you to join us on the journey.
With love,
Karen
