Six-Word Memoirs
May. 3rd, 2009 04:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
talkstowolvesOver a year ago, my friend copperwise IMed me with a succinct phrase: "6 Word Memoirs."
copperwise: 6 word memoirs.
talkstowolves: 6 word memoirs?
copperwise: Yes.
copperwise: Mine is: Never played well with others. So?
talkstowolves: Hah!
talkstowolves: I must think of mine.
I didn't actually think of mine at that point, though. I was distracted by the horrors and tedium of my current teaching job at the Crossroads School, so "6 word memoirs" completely slipped my mind untilcopperwise linked me to the recent contest at Powells to get your Six-Word Memoir published and told me to go play.
I hadn't realized this mini-memoir phenomenon was the subject of whole books! Yes, plural. It seems the editors have collected enough short sentences encapsulating entire lives to fill at least three and a half books so far: Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Both Famous and Obscure (a revised and expanded edition of the original), Six-Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak by Writers Both Famous and Obscure, and the forthcoming I Can't Keep My Own Secrets: Six-Word Memoirs by Teens Famous and Obscure. And it doesn't stop there; if you check the Six-Word Memoirs website, you'll find tons of user-generated content, so many tiny life-sentences.
I was inspired. Who, in this era of blogging and memery, wouldn't be tempted by the exercise of succinctly capturing one's life in six words? I wasn't only tempted. I was hooked!
I penned five tiny memoirs for the contest, then chose the one I liked best to submit.
This? I asked for a lesson. (The submitted piece.)
I danced in dreams. They ended.
I believed in life; life, complications.
A dynamic dervish whirls indefinitely still.
Industrious bee encoded life in honey.
I don't think I'm done with this particular exercise, though. The practice of trying to write such a precise, evocative sentence is invaluable practice for a writer and the memery aspect lends an extra element of socialization and fun. And, so, in that spirit:
What's your Six-Word Memoir?
copperwise IMed me with a succinct phrase: "6 Word Memoirs."copperwise: 6 word memoirs.talkstowolves: 6 word memoirs?copperwise: Yes.copperwise: Mine is: Never played well with others. So?talkstowolves: Hah!talkstowolves: I must think of mine.I didn't actually think of mine at that point, though. I was distracted by the horrors and tedium of my current teaching job at the Crossroads School, so "6 word memoirs" completely slipped my mind until
copperwise linked me to the recent contest at Powells to get your Six-Word Memoir published and told me to go play. I hadn't realized this mini-memoir phenomenon was the subject of whole books! Yes, plural. It seems the editors have collected enough short sentences encapsulating entire lives to fill at least three and a half books so far: Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Both Famous and Obscure (a revised and expanded edition of the original), Six-Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak by Writers Both Famous and Obscure, and the forthcoming I Can't Keep My Own Secrets: Six-Word Memoirs by Teens Famous and Obscure. And it doesn't stop there; if you check the Six-Word Memoirs website, you'll find tons of user-generated content, so many tiny life-sentences.
I was inspired. Who, in this era of blogging and memery, wouldn't be tempted by the exercise of succinctly capturing one's life in six words? I wasn't only tempted. I was hooked!
I penned five tiny memoirs for the contest, then chose the one I liked best to submit.
This? I asked for a lesson. (The submitted piece.) I danced in dreams. They ended. I believed in life; life, complications. A dynamic dervish whirls indefinitely still. Industrious bee encoded life in honey. I don't think I'm done with this particular exercise, though. The practice of trying to write such a precise, evocative sentence is invaluable practice for a writer and the memery aspect lends an extra element of socialization and fun. And, so, in that spirit:
What's your Six-Word Memoir?