Brevity is a virtue. Or so I am told.Herman Melville’s classic novel Moby Dick (which many completely insane people believe is the greatest book ever written) includes over 200,000 words. Needless to say, it takes approximately 17 years to read. I’ll save you the trouble. I can sum it up in six words.
“Call me Ishmael.” Everyone else dies.
OK. Perhaps a little more than that happens, but as the old cliché goes, sometimes less is more... and that is precisely the idea that once inspired a wager between famous American writer Ernest Hemingway and some of his colleagues back in the 1920s.
They bet him that he couldn’t write a complete short story in just six words (or so the legend goes).
The result was a piece of writing that Hemingway considered possibly his best work ever. How did he manage to win the bet? Like this:
For sale: baby shoes, never used.
--Ernest Hemingway
The story is indeed quite powerful, poignant and tragic. It is also unbelievably efficient and currently serves as the inspiration for a website called Six Word Stories (www.sixwordstories.net.)
Launched by Pete Berg in December of 2008, the site collects six-word stories from various famous people, as well as readers and Web visitors.
Today I will present ten taken from the site. You may recognize some of the names of the authors.
1) He got syphilis. She got alimony. — Amit Kapoor
2) Starlet sex scandal. Giant squid involved. — Margaret Atwood
3) Let’s keep this giant wooden horse! — Prattle Assassin
4) “Forgive me!” “What for?” “Never mind.” — John Updike
5) Gepetto doesn’t inhale. Pinocchio remains inanimate. —Lenny
6) Dead all around. One bullet left. – Bryan
7) I win lottery. Sun goes nova. — Steven Meretzky
8) Rolls. Falls. Pencil rues pointless existence. — M. Hari Prasad
9) House for rent. Must tolerate ghosts. — AJ Brown
10) Seeker fails. Hider starves to death. – Graham Edwards
And, as an extra special bonus, I'll include a handful that I've written as I find this art form to be uncomfortably addictive.
1) The suicidal vampire bought a convertible.
2) Love conquers all, sometimes even itself.
3) Sleepwalkers really shouldn't live on boats.
4) Eve bites apple. Adam invents profanity.
5) "She is smoking hot!" thought Oedipus.
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2 comments:
The six word stories are great! Looking at your number 5, has anyone used the idea to provide a description of film plots?
I don't know if anyone has used it for film summaries, but that's an excellent idea. I could see a lot of humor in that.
I, too, enjoy #5, but then, I know what cracks myself up. I love the Six Word Stories because it makes it easy for everybody to become an author, and it doesn't take long. The official site has some good ones. I will be posting some more samples in future blogs every now and then.
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