Six-Word Memoirs

Tonight you're going to write six six-word memoirs (or memoir vignettes).

Here is where it seems to have begun: Once asked to write a full story in six

words, legend has it that novelist Ernest Hemingway responded: "For Sale: baby

shoes, never worn."

In this spirit of simple yet profound brevity, the online magazine Smith asked

readers to write the story of their own lives in a single sentence. The result is Not

Quite What I Was Planning, a collection of six-word memoirs by famous and not-

so-famous writers, artists and musicians. Their stories are sometimes sad, often

funny — and always concise.

The book is full of well-known names — from writer Dave Eggers (Fifteen years since last professional

haircut), to singer Aimee Mann (Couldn't cope so I wrote songs), to comedian Stephen Colbert (Well, I

thought it was funny).

The collection has plenty of six-word insights from everyday folks as well: Love me or leave me alone was

scrawled on a hand dryer in a public bathroom; I still make coffee for two was penned by a 27-year-old who

had just been dumped.

Let's start with some definitions.

A memoir is an account of one's life, including personal experiences and observations of one's surroundings. Memoirs

differ from autobiographies in that they tend to focus (1) onmemories from a particular section of one's life and/or (2)

on personal development, whereas autobiographies tend to focus (1) on one's life as a whole and/or (2) on one's life

as history.

A memoir vignette is a scene from one's life that leaves the reader with a particular impression of one's self, one's

development, one's environment.

So each of your six-word memoirs could sum up a particular section of your life, or show personal development, or focus

on a particular scene from your life that leaves the reader with a strong impression of yourself and/or your environment.

How to get started?

You might begin by brainstorming particular moments in your life that have stayed with you. These moments could be big

and personal. They could be small but memorable. You could weave in some general statements about your childhood,

or you can make a statement about how you perceive yourself, too.

Then choose some parts of your brainstorm to shape into six-word memoirs. Think seriously about word choice,

punctuation, and syntax. Consider connotation (the association words have beyond their literal meaning) and tone (ironic?

contemplative? dour? witty? objective? emotive?).

Follow these links for examples of six-word memoirs.

Six-word memoirs at Smith magazine.

Six-word teen memoirs at Smith magazine.

Six-word memoirs from Not Quite What I Was Planning.

(The above link has an audio story about six-word memoir.)

Six-word memoirs at National Public Radio (with

accompanying art).

(If you'd like you could create a sketch or sketches to go

with your six-word memoirs.)

Assignment: Create your own and share it on the google sheet (Six Word Story Link).

Please be sure to put your name in column A and your story in column B.