Six-word stories

I imagine most of you have heard of these. You attempt to write an entire story with only six words. There are plenty of examples online, but I'll post four that I just wrote here:

Car, door, seat, key, ignition: BOOM.

I'm white. Wifey's white. Baby's mulatto...?

"Who're you?" said the dead athiest.

Redneck surgeon: "Pass the duct tape."

This is a fun mental exercise that also happens to hone your word-choosing skills. Have fun, Writer-Readers!

-Danny Birt

Not quite the same thing, but along the same lines, are one sentence stories. I love to pop onto this website from time to time.

Boy met girl. Flirted, fought, ...

(Work out the last word for yourself. I'm uptight and there are some words I just don't like using.)

Pregnant woman. Who is the father.

Redneck surgeon: "Pass the duct tape."
I love that.

I tried a few last year. Ugh. Yeah, not really my forte:

Won lottery. Now Jed's a millionaire.

Her thigh. His hand. Her fist.

Short but sweet: Honey, I'm gone.

This kind of reminds me of Haiku. Interesting idea.

Cat stalks, climbs. Birds fly. Stuck.

Clicking, clicking. Children screaming. Ride's over.

Shadows. Footsteps echo? Heart beats. Run.

#6 - I'd always wondered how cats so often ended up in that situation. I can just picture how the cat's face would look at the end of your story: "Aw, man! ...wait, where am... AW, MAN!"

>7 buchleser:, Take out one word and that could be a story! Say...

Aw, man! ...wait, where...? AW, MAN!

How about six sentence stories?

sixsentences.blogspot.com

take zolof. wife leaves. become spiritual

**********

not 6 words but a good shortie:

come to Florida
on vacation
Leave Florida
on probation
Return to Florida
on violation.

*********

dog-cat. cat-rat. rat-lawyer.

Bloody hungover. Husband yelling. Kitchen knife.

Does that make sense?

This reminds me of a couple volumes of "fifty-five fiction" I have, edited by Steve Moss. The first one is called The World's Shortest Stories.

Interesting challenge. I'm not a writer, but I thought I'd try my hand at being a multi-genre author.

Headshot, headshot, headshot, missed! Zombies win.

Grit, dirt. Soldiers die. Bittersweet victory.

One ring? No ring. Sauron defeated.

Continuum attacked! Timecops kill other emperor.

Awe-inspiring landscape and fascinating people. War.

"I was there," said the mountain.

Is this idea based on the Hemingway story?

I'm unsure, anowalk. I've seen them before, along with many other length stories (55-word stories being the most prominent). It's not my original idea, for sure.

...but since you asked, would you care to post a story or two for us?

#3: Boy met girl. Flirted, fought, ...

(Work out the last word for yourself. I'm uptight and there are some words I just don't like using.)

That's hilarious!

I can't remember where I heard this:

Baby shoes for sale. Never used.

That was the Hemingway story that started the whole thing. I think the wording was a bit different, though. It might have been "For Sale: Baby shoes. Never used." But I'm too lazy to look it up...

Sorry, useless posts and edit in #18.

Here is source for the Hemingway story (described as flash fiction): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_fiction

Kid's pet. Much loved. Great supper!

(Comes from the time my grandfather killed the goose.)

Kid's pet. Much loved. Great supper!

OMG! lol

Thanks for the Hemingway help.

Man reading. Wind blows. Toupee flies.

Elevator rises. Man farts. Blames kid.

Dark hood. Red pupils. Morgue breath.

WIRED did this (as a contest, maybe?) about a year ago.

The two I remember are -

Margaret Atwood's:

Longed for him. Got him. Shit.

and Charles Stross'

Internet 'wakes up'? Ridic-
(no carrier).

All of these have me lol! It's amazing what you can convey in six words. Very funny.

Oooh.... Now I have to try!

Bored cat, ball on stairs. Whoops!

She woke up old one day.

The phone rang. Where was I?

The houseplant died. So did friendship.

Are these stories? Or random sh*t?

#26 Rana-

I think your best one of the bunch was "She woke up old one day." It's singling out a point in time, yet it also begs the question(s) of what happened before/after. It allows for change.

The cat made me smile, too. :)

#26: The houseplant was not watered enough.

I think "She woke up old one day" is a great start for a novel!

I just thought of the unoriginal: He came. He saw. He conquered.

Bald head. High branch. Big pigeon.

Disturbed. Shakes Head. Looks for more.

Cat's claws, dog's teeth, livingroom destroyed.

Here are my quick ideas:

Tempting mango. Sharp knife. No bandaids.

Suspicious lump. Doctor visit. Good news!

My brother's long-haired cat. Ah-choo!

Opressive guilt. The cross. Complete forgiveness.

He's thoughtless. He's profound. He's mine!

I will love this man. Forever.

re: Hemingway's story--"For Sale: Baby shoes. Never used."

So Sad.

Along the same lines:
Our miracle never happened. Nobody knows.

Typing story. "K" key gets stuckkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

Beautiful eyes. Great legs. Smoking gun.

media1001, is that memoir? :)

#39: heh heh. Appears that way. These are actually pretty fun to create. Here's a few more:

Driving fast, full coffee cup...ACHOO!

Laughter punishable by execution. Hilarity ensues.

Red wire?! Green wire?! Red...BOOM!

Living. Loving. Laughing. Repeat until death.

-- M1001

In honor of Election Day:

Blather. Vote. Repeat. Blather. Vote. Repeat.

Told him the truth. Bad idea.

Many of the postcards at http://www.postsecret.com are mini-stories.

If you're into short, short fiction, try Flash Fiction for stories ranging from one to three pages.

Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention http://www.scrawlers.com, a free online writing workshop encouraging original 100-word short stories.

Of course there's:

"I came. I saw. I conquered."

But that's translating three words.

Been there, done that, won't again.

Although it could deal with many things, this refers to the 4 a.m. day after Thanksgiving sales.

Re: Baby Shoes

I told that at a ladies' meeting I was speaking at and there was a definite (unanimous?) groan from the audience at that story. Funny how 6 words can touch the heart.

White stripes, a road. No pelicans.

Hey! This is fun.

All night long, waking, touching --
remember?

Schoolbus coming
Gotta hurry Ohno!

Slamming door, screeching tires
alone again.

Green lettuce
little rabbits
empty garden.

Traffic light
turning yellow
watch out!

Pretty kitty, black, white stripes -Phew!

6 word stories too addictive, goodby.

Cute puppy. Small bladder. Expensive rug.

No break fluid. Angry former girlfriend.

Zoo. Kids. Lions. No more carpool!

Hello? Who's there? Click. Click. Boom!

What's that smell? NO DON'T LIGHT....

Can I have a six word story trilogy? :o)

Tired mom. Comfy bed. Sleepless child.

Amorous dad. Sleepless child. Broken mood.

Sleeping child. Now I have insomnia.

The Best American Non-Required Reading 2007, ed. by Dave Eggers, has a section called "Best American six word memoirs." Here are some of my favorites:

"ABCs MTVs SATs THC IRA NPR"

"Lucky in love, unlucky in metabolism"

"Found true love, married someone else"

Ex-wife and contractor now have house."

And Mine:
Planned on writing but started teaching.

love this one!

Six word memoirs, I never heard of these. So cute.

Smile, erotic dream; awake, wrong partner.

Biographers write non-fiction, autobiographers write fiction.

Twenty-something "Tweety" tatoo, sixty-something odd bird.

I like the memoir theme.

"I saw. I loved. She didn't."

"The ''gun'' was a plastic toy."

"Once this planet was alive."

“Kids who tell, go to Hell.”

"Home help needed. Must like rubber"

“What does this red button do?”

"Dental surgeon required. No experience necessary. "

"Not everyone we bury is dead."

"Can anyone here fly a plane?"

"But that makes him her father!"

"Nobody needs lifeboats, the Titanic's unsinkable"

"Blackmail is such an ugly word."

“It's only murder if it's human.”

"Three months. Four months, tops. Sorry."

“Listen, this plan is foolproof!”

"Joan continued cashing Harold's security checks."

"Nobody noticed the stain getting worse."

"One day, all the Jews disappeared."

"They're testing Chernobyl's safety systems tomorrow."

"High above Hiroshima, a tiny aeroplane."

"He wrote as he lived. Badly."

Born.
Played.
Learned.
Worked.
Married.
Dead.

Problem. Fix. Now a bigger problem.

For a moment, all was OK.

Who knew the boat had holes?

He says he loves me. Why?

I remember last night. Do you?

Tall. Dark. Handsome. Mine? Yes, please.

Moroccan sunset. Two lovers. Perfect ending.

How many beers? Who ARE you?

Where did it go? Home. Forever.

Empty bed. You left your shape.

She smiles, imprisoned in a photograph.

why? A breakthrough, then another wall.

to sum up, optimism wasn't enough.

enlightenment, enrapture...wait, what's that? Damn.

Apologies, I am frustration in progress.

Sleep? No. Graduate student. Coffee, please.

Lose keys. Lose head. Duct tape.

Window. Light breeze. Hard shove. Splat.

Cat. My friend. Cancer. A tear.

She said yes. She regretted it.

They killed him. He came back.

What's that, oh no, floatation device!
Weird word, got me.. ehm stuck..

Once upon a time, the end.

Eyes lock, arms embrace, lips meet.

The bird soars into the windshield.

Ronald McDonald's head, between two bits of bread

Silk sheets and After Eight mints

Sea, sand, sun. Drinks, dance. Divorce

I'll never get married again.

That last one is only five words, reading_fox. Writers need to push the limits. ;-)

Out of the darkness, it came.

Her nose in the daisies, smiling.

Tight grip, slippery palms, hard landing.

Roadtrip, hair tangled by the wind.

Audacious, Audacity! BTW, In 73 I should have said break rules.

*74*
That is a very impressive six-word story. I love it.

I did this in a blog meme. It was your biography in six words /or less./ Mine:

http://lilysea.blogs.com/peterscrossstation/2008/03/another-meme.html

Hermit_9 and WickedlyLovely, Thank You!

I really enjoyed coming up with them. What a fun thread!