Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Six Word Memoirs: Wee Little Tales

I was listening to NPR's Talk of the Nation today and they interviewed two editors from SMITH magazine. They were promoting a new book length compilation of six word stories.
Apparently the six word story was started by Ernest Hemingway on a bar room dare(surprise). He was challenged to come up with a tale in only six words. Hemingway's six word story: For sale: baby shoes. Never worn. Pretty powerful, huh?
The editors also read lots of other examples and invited listeners to submit their own.
Here are some of my favorites from the SMITH magazine site:

spel chek haz cumpleetlee spoyld mee.


Spat into life. I spat back.


Last night. Fun. Wait.... He's married???


I started thinking about what I would write for my own micro tale.

Privileges sans responsibilities. Welcome to teenage-hood.
(Do you think I might be living with three teenage girls?)
or
Pillow talk? I mean about pillows.

They're hard to come up with, especially within the confines of so few words, but fun nonetheless.

I was so inspired by the concept of six word stories that I decided to write six-word captions for the photos I uploaded to Flickr today.
They started out pretty tame.



Nate Pillow with improv sashing...aah


But, quickly degenerated to:



Threesome. No, not that kind, silly.

This one was probably my favorite.



Patches pillows. Plump, but precariously perched.

An alliterative six word story. I could have hours, maybe even days of fun coming up with these things.
What about you?
Pray tell, what's your six word story?

17 comments:

Jessica said...

Finally coming into my own.

Frummie said...

Oh my G-d, love your pillows.
Frummie

Deere Driver said...

Smitten by the idea...but bedtime.

Dorothee said...

"Yesterdays' highlight: visit to pediatric dentist."

Yes, my day was that crappy!

patty a. said...

My six word story - "Dye to live. Live to quilt."

pklaw said...

The pillows are wonderful. I am going to try to keep your line in mind at the next gathering I attend with people I am introduced to! "What's your six word story?!" My story: Four grandchildren visit Grandma. Silly chaos!

JoyLeanne said...

Surprised by love, by motherhood, by happiness.

This will pass, for seasons change.

thefinaltouchideas said...

Love the pillows!

DianeY said...

Such lovliness I have never seen!

Anonymous said...

Needle, pencil, or spatula in hand.

GORGEOUS pillows!

Rossie said...

i love the six word memoirs!
one of my all time favorites is

'brought things to a boil, often'
which is by that chef, mario something...the one who wears all the orange!

Vivika said...

Broke down and bit the apple...

Looking forward to more temptation tomorrow...

v

Anonymous said...

Found, loved twenty years, gifted death.

Sorry, today my story is sad.

Jennifer said...

Snow days every day this week!

(Only this week, though.)

The Washington Post used to have a Sunday feature in the Style section called My Life as Haiku. Readers submitted 100 word biographies. They were often poetic and usually hilarious. I loved that feature.

Quilt or Dye said...

At last! Comfortable in my skin.

Getting old has some benefits!

Cheryl Arkison said...

Office not studio: frustration not inspiration.

Josie said...

Ooh these look fun!

Found your blog. Inspired. Beautiful Things.