Capturing a Life (in 6 Words or Less)

According to legend, Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in a mere six words. The result of his literary genius was reportedly, “ For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.”  Now, that’s a short short-story.

So began the tradition of the six-word memoir.  A compendium of 1,000 Six- Word Memoirs were collected in the volume, “Not Quite What I Was Planning”, which became a bestseller.

That amusing collection featured the work of the famous, the infamous and the merely clever.  So successful was that effort that a sequel was born, and in 2009 the book Six-Word Memoirs of Love & Heartache was published.

 Perhaps in the age of Twitter these are the new memoirs for the 21^st century.  In fact, Smith Magazine and Twitter originally teamed together for a contest in 2006, which received 11,000 submissions  and resulted in the book deal.

I loved reading “Not Quite What I Was Planning,” a book I stumbled upon from a review on the blog of Tiffany Shlain, (www.tiffanyshlain.com) the gifted filmmaker, of the short film “The Tribe.”

Never one to shirk a challenge, I‘ve tried my hand at  6  Six -Word Memoirs that might work for the Love and Heartache book.

 Moved in, cheated, married her instead.

 Positive I'm negative.  Call me tonight.

 Loved, lied, left.  Took him back.

 Black shoe missing mate.  Me too.

 Blue eyes,  black heart, saw red.

 Slept together Friday, married another Sunday.

I don’t know what Hemingway would have thought about my efforts, but I know I found my super short stories the perfect exercise for a writer short on time and long on imagination.

Anyone, amateur or pro, can try their hand  at writing their own memoirs by registering at http://www.smithmag.net,.

In addition to the memoirs  SMITH Magazine hosts a site where everyone with a story can be a storyteller.  Who knows, you might end up in one of their books.

And at the very least you can share your stories with family and friends.