Six-Word Memoir Assignment Rumor has it that Ernest Hemingway once had to write a story in six words. What he ended up with was this: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” SMITH Magazine, an online publication dedicated to fostering creativity and writing, was founded in 2006. In November of that year, many people were churning out thousands of words during the annual National Novel Writing Month; however, the editors at SMITH decided to do something different in honor of Ernest Hemingway’s literary feat. The magazine called for all writers, both novice and professional, both known and unknown, to submit a six-word memoir. They received thousands of submissions and published their favorites in a book called Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure. Some examples are as follows: “No Wife. No Kids. No Problems.”—Rip Riley “Tried everything once, few things twice.”—Ed Zevetski “I’m my mother, and I’m fine.”—K. Bertrand “Time heals all wounds? Not quite.”—Jonathan Miles “Oldest of five. Four degrees. Broke.”—Kaitlin Walsh “Alive 38 years, feels like 83.”—Bryan Lowry “I thought I was someone else.”—Tysa Goodrich “Followed rules, not dreams. Never again.”—Margaret Hellerstein “I sell hamburgers and French fries.”—Richard Maurer “Cursed with cancer. Blessed with friends.”—Hannah Davies “Coulda, shoulda, woulda: a regretful life.”—Joe Maida “Coffee junkie journalist seeks trendy nerd.”—Jackie Olson Here is your mission: Write a six-word memoir describing your life. Due Date: Tuesday, September 6th, 2011