Your sweet face heals my heart.

Make your own pop art photo here!

An exercise I particularly like to use in workshops is the six-word memoir. This is based on Smithmag.net and their popular six-word collections. For more information click here.

The idea is rumored to have started with Ernest Hemingway. He was challenged to write a six-word story and he wrote:

Baby shoes for sale, never worn.

I think the six-word memoir is a great way to get your creative writing juices flowing. Having trouble starting your life story? Why not write a six-word memoir and use it as the title for your book. Alternatively,  turn it into the introduction to your story. These mini memoirs can be intriguing and often call out for a fuller explanation.

To give you some inspiration, here are a few of the six-word gems from the participants in my recent Dawson Creek workshop.

• Mom’s revenge, I am my mom!
• Who said it couldn’t be done?
• I’m aching, broken but I’m alive!
• Work hard. Live well. Enjoy life.
• Waiting to see what is next.
• Daughter, sister, wife, mother,  grandma, wow!
• Have motorcycle, will travel. I’m free!
• Family is my Love and Joy.
• Love it all. Not enough time.
• Years happen. Still learning. Constantly amazed!
• Investing in others now. Rewards coming.

Here’s mine: Learned much. Much more to learn.

What’s your six-word memoir? Jot it down in the comment box below. To encourage you, I’m offering a free 30 minute telephone consultation. You can ask me any burning questions you have about personal histories and I’ll do my best to answer them.

I’ll select a winning six-word memoir on Thursday, November 20th, at 7 pm PST. Good Luck!

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We’ve learned a lot about being concise, but could you tell your whole life story in SIX WORDS?

The Six-Word Memoirs project does just that.  It began in November 2006 when SMITH Magazine editors Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser put a new spin on an old literary legend.  Supposedly, Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to tell an entire story in six words.  The result: “For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

Now that’s concise.  Completeness and brevity, right Van Wyke?

Really, journalists might be able to learn a lot from the project.  SMITH Magazine is an online mag with the motto “Everyone has a story.  Tell us yours.”  Its content features blogs, word clouds, Six-Word, viral videos and other “personal media”.  For Six-Word, readers turned out in droves to contribute. The  project has since become SMITH’s most notable accomplishment and made its way into print publications. The first book, “Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writer Famous and Obscure” was published in 2008 and was a New York Times bestseller.  Follow-up projects have cropped up everywhere. There is now a more interactive site for teens, SMITH Teens, with features that center around Six-Word Memoir and SMITH partnered with eco-website TreeHugger to launch a Six-Word Memoir Project that focused on “The Green Life.”

Some Six-Word Memoirs I saw and liked:

“Well, I thought it was funny.” -Stephen Colbert
“Clumsy girl found adventure. Also, bruises.” -Rebecca Campbell
“Fearlessness is the mother of reinvention.” -Arianna Huffinton
“Anything’s possible with an extension cord.” Billy Sirr
“She kissed me and said yes!” -Ricardo Saramago

Do you think this project is worthwhile? What would your six words be?