I first heard of the Six-Word Story when a friend of mine who's on Flickr tagged one of his photos with the term... and it led me to finding out about an entire category of such pictures/descriptions that qualify:
Ernest Hemingway was once prodded to compose a complete story in six words. His answer, personally felt to be his best prose ever, was "For sale: baby shoes, never used." Some people say it was to settle a bar bet. Others say it was a personal challenge directed at other famous authors.
Then I heard about the new book (below) dedicated to the phenomenon - "I was hooked. Gotta love Google!".
Chuck Klosterman: "Nobody cared, then they did. Why?"
Adam Schlesinger: "We still don't hear a single."
Keith Knight: "I was a Michael Jackson impersonator."
Hannah Davies: "Cursed with cancer. Blessed by friends."
Zak Nelson: "I still make coffee for two."
Scott Birch: "Most successful accomplishments based on spite."
Rip Riley: "No wife. No kids. No problems."
Amy Sedaris: "Mushrooms. Clowns. Wands. Five. Wig. Thatched."
And even more here...
SONG: To Make a Long Story Short by Willie Nelson
BOOK: Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure by Larry Smith, Rachel Fershleiser (Editors)
POEM: Curriculum Vitae by Lisel Mueller
BOOK: Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure by Larry Smith, Rachel Fershleiser (Editors)
POEM: Curriculum Vitae by Lisel Mueller
1) I was born in a Free City, near the North Sea.
2) In the year of my birth, money was shredded into
confetti. A loaf of bread cost a million marks. Of
course I do not remember this.
confetti. A loaf of bread cost a million marks. Of
course I do not remember this.
3) Parents and grandparents hovered around me. The
world I lived in had a soft voice and no claws.
world I lived in had a soft voice and no claws.
4) A cornucopia filled with treats took me into a building
with bells. A wide-bosomed teacher took me in.
with bells. A wide-bosomed teacher took me in.
5) At home the bookshelves connected heaven and earth.
6) On Sundays the city child waded through pinecones
and primrose marshes, a short train ride away.
and primrose marshes, a short train ride away.
7) My country was struck by history more deadly than
earthquakes or hurricanes.
earthquakes or hurricanes.
8) My father was busy eluding the monsters. My mother
told me the walls had ears. I learned the burden of secrets.
told me the walls had ears. I learned the burden of secrets.
9) I moved into the too bright days, the too dark nights
of adolescence.
of adolescence.
10) Two parents, two daughters, we followed the sun
and the moon across the ocean. My grandparents stayed
behind in darkness.
and the moon across the ocean. My grandparents stayed
behind in darkness.
11) In the new language everyone spoke too fast. Eventually
I caught up with them.
I caught up with them.
12) When I met you, the new language became the language
of love.
of love.
13) The death of the mother hurt the daughter into poetry.
The daughter became a mother of daughters.
The daughter became a mother of daughters.
14) Ordinary life: the plenty and thick of it. Knots tying
threads to everywhere. The past pushed away, the future left
unimagined for the sake of the glorious, difficult, passionate
present.
threads to everywhere. The past pushed away, the future left
unimagined for the sake of the glorious, difficult, passionate
present.
15) Years and years of this.
16) The children no longer children. An old man's pain, an
old man's loneliness.
old man's loneliness.
17) And then my father too disappeared.
18) I tried to go home again. I stood at the door to my
childhood, but it was closed to the public.
childhood, but it was closed to the public.
19) One day, on a crowded elevator, everyone's face was younger
than mine.
than mine.
20) So far, so good. The brilliant days and nights are
breathless in their hurry. We follow, you and I.
breathless in their hurry. We follow, you and I.
QUOTE: "Brevity is the soul of lingerie." ~ Dorothy Parker
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