Six Word Stories

                                                

For Sale: baby shoes, never worn. 

This heartbreaking six word 'novel' is most often attributed to a cocky wager made at a writer's lunch by Ernest Hemingway. A wager that he won with gusto.

The six word story is an extreme example of a genre called "flash fiction" or "sudden fiction"- the idea that you can convey a world of emotion in a story that is barely a full sentence long.

These short stories are addicting to read and surprisingly complicated to write. They are consistently surprising, conjuring laughter one moment and tears the next, gasps of fear or anger, even an occasional romantic sigh.

There is a sub-reddit worth checking out if you want more examples: these are a few of my favorites.

His first kiss was her last. [submitted by Jaws_Elevator.]

Found myself in someone's written words. [submitted by Volition_Trigger]

They came. I hid; she couldn't. [submitted by TableanNealbat.]

And a few to find on pinterest, that are hard to attribute to their true author.

The smallest coffins are the heaviest.

Brought home roses. Key didn't work.

I just saw my reflection blink.

Writing these stories has proved equally addictive. To convey anger or grief or joy without establishing a backstory, a history, or character development simplifies the process, but finding the right six words takes longer than I thought. Most of my attempts end up being emotional sentences that don't really tell a whole story, they just explore a moment or a scene. Trying to expand the moment into a novel has been a great challenge. My short walk to and from work has been consumed with crafting novels, words ticked off on my fingertips.

Here are some of my latest attempts:

Coronation day; crown is too big.

Could be, we are the villains.
Are you sure we're the heroes?
(Not sure which one I like better...)

She is drowning on dry land.

"I do," he cried. She smirked.

Give it a go!