Say it all in Six Words!
Mark K March 21st, 2008
“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
Legend has it that Hemingway won a bet with some fellow writers by writing this six-word masterpiece. The words that are omitted tell as much as the words which we read - our imaginations are left to finish the story.
There is a new book, Not Quite What I Was Planning, which is a collection of tiny six-word memoirs, many of which came from on online contest from SMITH magazine. Some of my personal favorites:
- “Fix a toilet, get paid crap” (written by a plumber)
- “Woman Seeks Men - High Pain Threshold” (a dominatrix)
- “Brought it to a boil, often” (Celebrity chef Mario Batali)
- “Yes, you can edit this biography” (Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia)
- “God called; Mother listened; I responded” (a Canadian minister, imagining what Jesus might write)
- “Birth, childhood, adolescence, adolescence, adolescence…” (someone suffering from arrested development?)
- “Well, I thought it was funny.” (Stephen Colbert)
In the spirit of Pause for Purpose, I offer my own six word memoir:
- “Not known for speed - What race?”
Let’s hear yours.
