Legend has it that Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in only six words. His response? “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Starting in 2006, SMITH Magazine re-ignited the recountre by asking their readers for their own six-word memoirs. Readers sent in short life stories in droves, from the bittersweet (“Cursed with cancer, blessed with friends”) and poignant (“I still make coffee for two”) to the inspirational (“Business school? Bah! Pop music? Hurrah”) and hilarious (“I like big butts, can’t lie”).
The result is an ever active feed on the Six Word Memoir web site, hundreds of stories about the project (check out these from the New Yorker and NPR) and the New York Times bestseller Not Quite What I Was Planning: Memoirs from Writers Famous and Obscure. SMITH Magazine calls it both a moving peek at the minutia of humanity and the most inspirational toilet reading you'll ever find. The most recent publication from this project was Six Word Memoirs on Love and Hearbreak.
SMITH Magazine has a teen site affiliated with their main (otherwise very adult) web site. And their next publishing venture is a collection of six word memoirs by teens. They are looking for submission to both their blog and for the upcoming book, Six Word Memoirs Famous and Obscure.
I have been trying out this genre myself and am loving it. I have had fun trying it with different contexts: six word memoirs about rasing children, six word memoirs about a particular class or cohort of students, six word memoirs about coaching...... you get the idea.Here are a few examples from that site:
He lied, so now I'm writing. by CobbleStone
Driver's Ed, check. Parallel parking: unmastered. by Nosygrrl
Here is my six word memoir. I love how it captures my purpose and mission:
Help me, help you, help us. by Christy
Jump in and give it a go. Post your try-its in the Comments section. I will collect them and publish them in a future post. And if you try it with teachers or students, let us know how it goes. Share your process and your products!
