SIX WORD STORY©
published in NARRATIVE Magazine 2016
The story, possibly apocryphal but fun nevertheless, is this: Hemingway at a table in a p.o.s.h. New York restaurant, bets his friends that he, master of spare, description-free writing, can craft an entire story / novel in just 6 words.
Cash is thrown into the center of the table.
Papa H. brandishes a writing instrument over a napkin, then scribbles. The napkin circumnavigates the table. Heads nod. Hemingway’s big, hairy arms scoop in the pot.
The napkin says "For sale: baby shoes, never worn."
Disciplining your writing to such a concise form is actually a very useful exercise. It has spawned numerous contests over the years.
Another example that rivals the visceral impact of Hemingway’s is by author Margaret Atwood:
“Longed for him. Got him. Shit.”
Narrative magazine offered a contest. I entered. Won. Here it is:
“Seminary student, taught to think, disenrolls.”