Do You Remember Ann Landers?

Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What if? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers prompts —

The Exercise —

Collect Ann Landers columns, gossip columns, and stories from Weekly World News or True Confessions that seem to you to form — either partially or wholly — the basis for a story. Often, these newspaper accounts will be the “end” of the story, and you will have to fill in the events leading up to the more dramatic event that made the news that day. Or perhaps the story leads you to ask what is going to happen to that person now.

Clip and save four or five items. Outline a story based on one of them, indicating where the story begins, who the main characters are, what the general tone (that is, the emotional timbre of the work) will be, and from whose point of view you elect to tell the story. These articles can be used for shorter or focused exercises. For example, describe the car of the person in the article, or the contents of his wallet. Or have the person from the article write three letters.

The Objective —

The objective is threefold. One is to look for an article that triggers your imagination and to understand how, when you dramatize the events, the story then becomes your story. The second is to increase the beginning writer’s awareness of the stories all around us. And third, to practice deciding how and where to enter a story and where to leave off.

Dear Abby: I’m falling hard for a friend and coworker, but I’m afraid to let her know

Published: Nov. 25, 2025, 12:00 p.m., By Abigail Van Buren

DEAR ABBY: My best friend and co-worker is 57. I’m 32. Her husband died two years ago, leaving her and her 22-year-old son alone. We’ve been best friends and co-workers for the last six years, but over the last few months, I’ve been realizing she’s a lot more to me than just a friend.

I am nervous about trying to make advances because I don’t know if the feelings are mutual or how she views our age difference. I don’t want to risk ruining our friendship. I just know that my heart skips a few beats when our eyes meet or our fingers accidentally touch. I’ve realized these last few months that I’m falling hard for her, and I’m afraid to let her know. If I don’t, however, my feelings are going to eat me alive. What should I do? — FALLING FOR HER IN KANSAS

DEAR FALLING: Ask your best friend (and co-worker) to join you for a casual lunch or dinner. Keep it light but tell her how much you enjoy her company and ask if the age difference between you bothers her. If the answer is no, explain that you care very much for her and wonder if she’d be open to the idea of dating you.

If she says yes, and there are rules at your job that discourage “fraternizing,” you may have to find another place to work. If she responds that dating would be awkward, let her know you will always be her friend because you think she is special.

What is going to happen to Falling For Her In Kansas now?

Fallon Kansas, decides to do just what Abby recommended. He will ask Frenly out for lunch to have a serious talk. In that way, he will know for sure what direction their friendship will take. He is hopeful, although he is not interested in changing jobs. That is what their company requires.

Frenly may consider the job change if we begin dating, he thinks. Fallon calls his sister to fill her in on his plans. He has told her about his feelings for Frenly before, and she told him, “Are you sure you are interested in her as a partner or are you wanting a mother?”

When Sis answers the phone, and he tells her his plans, she tells him that she thinks Abby is crazy! Then she said, “If you really love her in the way you are telling me, can you stay friends? Won’t the admission make you and her uncomfortable if she doesn’t feel the same way about you?”

Sis went on to say, “See a therapist before you do that!” Fallon told Sis I thought you were a therapist? Sis said, “You can’t expect me to counsel you! My recommendation is that you see a therapist. That is the best I can do for you. Love you, brother.” And she hung up.

So, now what does he think? Does he follow Abby’s advice or his sister’s advice? He thinks my sister knows me better than Dear Abby does. I do like her advice for others, though. But come to think of it, I never hear how it works out for them when they take her advice.

Then Fallon thinks, if I were the woman and she were the man, this wouldn’t be such a big deal, as older men are often dating younger women without anyone saying anything. Do they ask the woman if she is looking for a dad?

Fallon decides he will schedule a session with the therapist that Sis recommended last time he had a relationship issue. Then his thoughts are, I think she has to already know how I feel, and it has only been two years since her husband died. I am talking to that therapist as soon as I can.

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First published by Mercury Press on medium.com