Woohoo! It’s week one of our micro-memoir session and challenge. I’m excited and a bit nervous to get started, but let’s do this together.
This week’s topic is close to a crime. As I said in one of our sessions, I will not give you direction, hints, or guidance on what you might write.
If a story does not automatically come to mind, I suggest you brainstorm the topic for ten minutes and list everything that comes to you that’s related, closely or loosely, to the topic.
Then, write your piece of 500 words or less using any structure you wish. After you’ve written your story, post it in the comments section below before Sunday, July 7, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. ET. For extra credit, tell us what structure you used to write your piece.
Here are two micro-memoirs that deal with the subject of close to a crime: “Wide Open Spaces” by Kathryn Miller and “Alive” by Laurie Lynn Drummond, both found in Brevity.
One type of micro-memoir structure we have not yet talked about is a found structure. A found micro-memoir (or poem, essay, etc.) is more compiled than written. It combines bits of text from different sources into a piece that tells a story.
The sources of text used can come from almost anywhere–newspaper or magazine articles, street signs, sticky notes, letters, billboards, journals, graffiti, advertisements, shopping lists, web pages, conversations, anywhere where words are found.
The words used include sentences or phrases, not paragraphs of text. It’s not an easy structure to write because it takes attention, sometimes research, and other means to find material and fashion it into a meaningful piece.
An example of a found micro-memoir is “Women These Days” by Amy Butcher in Brevity. Butcher created this hard-hitting piece using search results from national news sources over twelve months. It’s a powerful essay but not an easy one to read.
More Excitement
Not exactly Mayberry RFD where you live. A well told tale with suspense.
Here’s my Close to Crime micro memoir:
:
Glad you subscribed. So many local newspapers are dying. Local crime, with its familiar names and places, seems closer.
My six word micro memoir:
Shoreline cruise
Cabin view
Covid stung
Here’s my list micro-memoir:
You made a fun list. Like the ending.
Micro Memoir
CLOSE TO A CRIME?
Barbara Anne Gardner
(July 9, 2024)
(14 words)
Elevator door opens
Hesitate
Enter
Lone man
Unbidden visceral dread
Turn
Exit
Run
Relief
Daily vigilance and fear men don’t experience.
Indeed. You’re on point David! You are thoughtful and empathetic.Thanks.
My Six Word Memoir 20240708
Bad guys
Criminal things
No thanks.
Good one!
Micro Memoir – Close Crime 20240708 (Style – List)
Very good use of a list format. And, more importantly, I’m sorry you experienced that fear.
I don’t care what grade you were in…no child should have to live with these terrifying occurrences. And they are still going on today…so sad. I am thankful that you ran and you were probably a good runner too.
I missed the start of the session so I’m catching up today. Here’s my offering for “close to a crime”.
Dear Terry Deer, you have lived a very exciting life, what with robbers, and troubling neighbors and hurricanes and somehow I think other events of drama will show up the longer I get to read your stories. I’m glad you keep moving….
Oh my, what an experience. Intense, yet told with a dash of levity.
I could feel your uneasiness in this story. I lived in a place like that once, and also moved away as soon as I was able!
Wow! When I still lived in an apartment my main complaint about my neighbors was loud music, which I was probably also guilty of.
better late than never!
Wow, Kit, that sounds exciting.
YOU MET PERRY MASON!!!!! I can’t believe he was out without Della. I’m a fan also so I’m jealous.
Another attempt to attach my story. Regret the error.
Lorna I’m sorry you had that sad experience. It sounds quite unnerving.
Thank you for your comments, Lisa Marie. It was at the time. Now that is behind me.
I love the format and so well executed. Your empathy for the boys who took your necklace, and understanding their motivations, reveals your character.
ditto, what David G. said! I also liked the action-filled verbs you chose: Doling, chase, assuage, kicked, stumbled and so on.
Thank you Kit. Pleased the verbs had the desired effect. Also, please see my response to David’s comments.
Here is my close to a crime story, under 500 words. I have told it in Poetry.
My six word memoire is, “Dreams should carry Best By Dates.” (Reposting from the Thirty Day Challenge).
you didn’t attach the poem
I have now attached the story, Dave. Thanks for heads-up.
Here is my crime story. 359 words.
My six-word memoir: The day that never ends. Flooding.
You took us right into the story Linda. Your telling of the story was concise,and clear. Great story,that ended well for you and Gordon.
Good story, Linda! I guess life is not as boring on a farm as I thought it might be. He He.
Linda, imagine what goes through peoples minds when they hear about the arrest, these unpredictable situations can go in all and many directions. Especially in the isolation of countyside. You and your husband let your instincts emerge for the better. You got me out there in the moment, right with you guys.
Glad I drew you in. My young neighbor had egg all over his face. I had a couple other less humorous instances I didn’t write about.
Great story Linda. Dance lessons? Couldn’t they have come up with a better scam than that?
On a cold night? I guess not. You have to wonder what they were smoking, drinking…
Oh my gosh Linda…you folks dodged a bullet in this story. Well done, Well told..
Here’s my crime story. It’s 403 words, and I used a scene structure.
My six-word memoir: Disaster lurks, one bad decision away.
Intense and vivid story, Patricia, I can see the scene, and the story as it unfolds, and am privy to the screen/ stage notes of the director of the production. All the shifts in gaze and body, the proceedings overshadowed by that stare. Great story.
I loved how you built the tension in this story. I could almost feel what you were going through. His presence in the room and your reaction to his glare were palpable.
Thanks, Etya. I was in my early twenties then and still vividly remember those two days. I hope he’s in prison to this day.
Me too. Certain memories are here to stay.
Patricia, you are a writer after all! (: Ten feet is really close for such an encounter. And Herman was of no assistance to you. As you describe the scene, I am transported in a typically American courtroom as we see in movies. Bored bailiff, weapon and all. Love the closing.
Ah, I appreciate your confirmation. I haven’t been feeling like a writer for the last couple of years, so it feels really good to be writing again.
I’m sure the picture you have in your mind is accurate. It was a typical American courtroom, and yes, he was way too close. I had made plans to climb over the judge’s bench if I had to. To get out of my desk, I would have had to move even closer to him, and I wasn’t going to do that. Thankfully, he did nothing but stare.
i’m so happy you have joined us for this session. If this story is any indication, I look forward to all your posts. You definitely put me right into the ‘scene’ and I could feel how creepy that guy was. Yuk, yuk…but some how I think he was looking at the young and beautiful woman thinking he might charm her with his devious ways. What a jerk. I bet you went home and took a shower!
Thank you, Dar. I’m glad to be writing with you all this session. It helps me to walk in your shoes right alongside you.
If you could feel that sense of yuckiness, I feel like I’ve done my job. Yes, I could not wait to get out of that courtroom.
I had to look up the term Minute Clerk. You introduced The Stare, and in subsequent paragraphs, described what it meant to you. An intimidating presence, boring into you, made him feel closer than he was, and the conclusion. He got to you. Your topic of intimidation is relatable and your piece emphasized an emotion you felt rather than just a telling of an event. At what point did you ask yourself how the event made you feel? I think this is an element missing in my writing.
That’s a really good question, Dave. I definitely had to put myself back in that time and place and recall the feelings I had. Sometimes, the telling of the event comes first. I just need to get it down on paper. Then, I can go back and insert the emotion. Other times, the emotion comes as I write it. I think a good thing to do is do an emotional inventory as part of the brainstorming process. Search out the emotions that might go along with the piece and then list how those emotions presented themselves. This is a great… Read more »
My six-word memoir: Against extreme odds, I survived craniotomy. Here is my story, Close to Crime. 500 words. I wrote in a present tense structure.
Great descriptions, Etya. Detective Sarah Mitchell’s keen powers of observation had me rooting for her. She seems well on the way to cracking the case wide open.
Hi Etya…have you been watching too many murder mysteries? Keep writing, you may well be on the track for a new career.
I used to watch many murder mysteries, especially the ones based on real-life events, but I do not think I will ever write a crime novel, Dar. However, I challenged myself occasionally to write fiction to the prompts.
Great opening to a crime novel!
I agree. Nice one, Etya!
Thanks, David.
Now you got me hooked Etya, is it fiction or reality? Someone you know? Were you involved? Great scene description too.
It is a fiction. I could not think of anything else.
Body Guard Create High Alert Exterior. My anti-crime story.
Good story, Jackie. Great how you showed sound advice from your parents
as relevant now as it was then. Sad what happened to the little girl in your area, when you were a child.
Your story exposes the reality of women and is well told.
Hi Jackie, I know the feeling of instincts in alert. A necessary level of consciousness wherever we are. Let’s just not get dependent upon responses to fear, keeping us from enjoying life. Good rendering of your experience.
Here is my story Close To A Crime in scene.
Dear Norma. We know that this is definitely no way to treat a child or any other living being. Donnie is the one who could have possibly used the mulberry switching. So sad that it was you.
Thanks Dar. She probably thought I disobeyed her. Yet no question was asked. I knew better than to fight her. Sometimes our worst enemy is within the household. Most seniors nowadays would not have been so cruel. Maybe that’s how she was raised.
A remarkable story. Some people characterize these experiences as useful, helping to forge the person you are now, but I don’t believe that. I think abuse is plain horrible and inexcusable, and has no value. You are lucky to have survived it. I am sorry this happened to you, and glad you persevered.
Thanks David. See my reply to Judy. I have forgiven my grandmother for that incident. I’m sure something happened in her past that influenced her reaction.
Norma, what a terrible experience. I’m so sorry you had to go through that. Very well written, it begs for more.
Thanks dear. Sometimes your worst enemies are of your own household. I have written a story in which I quoted a psychologist. It’s not what happens to you but what you do with your life afterwards. I have done well.
Hi Norma, a crime indeed in our days, even if a lot of children are still living similar abuse just about everywhere on earth. When a child needs to be more courageous than loved, the world can become a sad place. You obviously already had that resilience that characterizes you today. Thank you for sharing that episode amongst others.
My Six-Word Memoir; ”CRIMES ARE NOT WHAT THEY OFFER”
Micro-memoir 497 words. I guess it’s ”Enumaration”!
Great, stories Thierry. Close encounters, told with your usual sense of humour, never omitting to show redeeming qualities of good and beauty where they existed, and never allowing the futility in many of your efforts, to mar who you are as a person..
Oh Thierry, the stories you could tell, this list whets my imagination into what causes people to make the choices they do. You have the makings of at least four stories in this micro memoir. Well written with well chosen words.
Thank you Dar, I’ m working hard at being faithful to the english language and it’s rendition. Love xx
Excellent series of vignettes about brushes with crime in your life from 43 to 18 years of age.
Thank you David, I’ll take the ”Excellent”, see you soon!
Thierry, I would never have imagined you hanging out with the bad guys. What a story! Good writing!
Bonjour Etya, thank you, no worries, mostly circumstantial. Also in my line of work! Have a good weekend.
My six-word memoir: “Let me tell you a story.”
My micro-memoir. Structure: Dialogue
Such a touchy subject Judy. I liked that you have this ordinary everyday type of conversation linked to the unacceptable. Your short dilaogues incompass , schock, acceptance, incapacity and destruction. Without judging it seems. Works for me.
Enjoyed reading your story. The dialog runs smoothly. Good job, Judy!
Very well done in the dialogue structure. I imagined either a coffee klatch or a phone conversation. So much learned in just over 200 words.
Thanks Dave. I’m glad it worked.
The conversation about this crime is powerful. Speculation.
Thanks Nancy. This event actually happened to a friend of ours many years ago. It was shocking and sad.
My six-word Memoir:
Danger Will Robinson. In I go.
Close to crime. I think this is a list story but I use time instead of numbers.
David,I really liked that you detailed the events using the hours as reference all along. The tension built up is perfect as more people, mostly men, intervene in the resolution (or not) of the assault. Not an easy task for you to take on or for the assaulted to affirm herself.
Wow! Powerful story of something that happens far too often.
Good story, Dave! Well done. Loved the cliffhanger at the end.
Dave, well done as usual. What a tough position to be in. I could really sense your determination when you said your voice reached through the phone and grabbed him by the throat. Your emotion came through perfectly.
I always think about how it was for her. First assaulted, then embarrassed having to detail the assault, then tried in the court of public opinion later-(victim blaming).
Was it worth it? Should I have let it go like she asked? I think I did the right thing but wonder sometimes.
You did the right thing. He might have hurt other women, thinking he got away with it once, why not do it again.
This story has a cliffhanger ending. I want to know more. Looks like you are in the thick of things.
Ditto to Nancy’s reply. Sitting on the edge of my chair waiting!!!
six word story:
Door Opens
Wrong House
Door Closed
I did that with a car once. When i saw all those wrong things inside, I knew it was wrong.
A nice twist to an old saying.
Crying Helps – Reduction Structure Micro Memoir – 500 words.
Innocent tears? IHuumm! Would I have let you off the hook Dar? Did a little flirt suddenly take over the pain? Who can resist a man in a uniform? Good for you.
Dar, beautiful story. I could relate. Had a few incidents like that where the kindness of a police officer helped me out of trouble.
Compassionate traffic police officers are a wonderful thing.
I so agree, Judy!
Our lives are enriched by people who do more in their job than follow the rules. I am glad you were shown compassion. great story.
Boy, you were lucky. Your story shows there is hope for intergenerational compassion.
Close to Crime – List Memoir – 500 Words
Nancy, So many layers and events to this linear friendship. I have to be admirative of you for your faithfulness to Autumn over the years and by bringing her into our lives as well. Isn’t it what friendship is all about? I wouldn ‘t know, I never cultivated friendship. Loved it!
This is an interesting memory. I especially loved this sentence: ” I took the longer route because their cows were scary.” Your friend Autumn is a character I would not want to hang around. Great job, Nancy.
Unfortunately, I can relate to having a friend like Autumn. Some relationships in our lives are just toxic and aren’t worth the high maintenance and pain we have to invest.
Autumn is a true Frenemy (friend/enemy). This story was very well done. I felt I knew autumn, and something about you as well.