"Did I ever tell you about the time I...?" "Can you believe that she...?" "Did you hear that he...?" And so begins another story, part of the daily stream of anecdotes that falls upon our ears. Perhaps the abundance of true stories in our lives is why so many of us enjoy reading creative prose--- short stories or novels. This form of writing lets us step into made-up lives and experience fictional characters' exciting, embarrassing, or entertaining moments. It leads us to connect with, laugh at, or detest these characters, in whom we can often see something of ourselves and our own lives.
