≡ Menu

Six-Word Memoirs, part II

Last year (wow it seems weird to write that), I read and reviewed Not Quite What I Was Planning, a book of six-word memoirs edited by SMITH Magazine.  The concept of the book comes from an urban legend that Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in six words.   Based on that story, SMITH Magazine editors opened up the floor for “writers famous and obscure” to submit their own six-word memoirs.  They accepted more that 15,000 entries, then reprinted about 800 of them in the book.

Today I was excited to learn that a second edition of memoirs, Six-Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak, is now available on Amazon.  You can also watch a YouTube video about the book if you’re curious.   And if you follow smithmag on Twitter, you can get a daily six-word memoir about love between now and Valentine’s Day.  You can also submit your own six-word memoirs to SMITH Magazine.

I feel a little like a publicist, but I am pretty excited about this book and plan to pick it up as soon as I can.

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Steph January 28, 2009, 9:53 am

    Well, if brevity is the soul of wit, then these must be some of the wittiest memoirs ever!

    Interesting concept, though I’m not sure if it’s for me. I can barely do short stories! 😉

  • Care January 28, 2009, 10:02 am

    “The Sophisticated Dork Writes Great Reviews.”

    new tag line?!

  • Betty and Boo's Mommy January 28, 2009, 10:45 am

    I had no idea there was a new edition! I’ll have to look for it.

  • Dorte H January 28, 2009, 1:06 pm

    “She did what she could”
    – five words I found on an old tombstone.
    My friend thought it was hilarious. I tried to explain to her that this was typical understatement in my part of the world (far-out Jutland).

    By the way, I wonder whether I have misunderstood something. I think I joined your blog improvement challenge 3 weeks ago, but as you have never visited my blog, I´d like to know if it is because I did not get the URL address right (I was a real beginner back then!), or if I joined in too late or something. (Hope not, because I really enjoy being part of it).

  • Kim January 28, 2009, 5:33 pm

    Steph: I tried to do my own six word memoir when I read the first book, and it’s quite hard! It’s a good exercise in precise word choice and good punctuation though, so I always try it again from time to time.

    Care: Ha 🙂

    Betty and Boo’s Momma: I didn’t either, but I signed up for the Smith Magazine newsletter and found out about it that way.

    Dorte H: I love that! Coming up with six words for your tombstone might be a dark and funny idea though 🙂

  • belleofthebooks January 29, 2009, 8:04 am

    That’s great! I’ve flipped through the first book while in bookstores, so I’m excited for the new one. Maybe that would give me the inspiration to do my own because right now I find only six words daunting!

  • Dorte H January 29, 2009, 10:09 am

    Six words for Hemingway´s tombstone is an easy one, though.

    He was born, wrote, and died.

    – and please don´t see this as disrespect. Hemingway was excellent at what he did, and I often use his short stories in my English classes.

  • Kim January 30, 2009, 5:12 pm

    belleofthebooks: Me too. I tried to write one before and got nowhere. I think because I was reading memoir too broadly, trying to encompass my whole life, when really a memoir is just a tiny snapshot of some part of life. Maybe if I tried again with that attitude it would be easier.

    Dorte: I love that too! And no disrespect at all, he was excellent at his form and style.

  • Brenda February 6, 2009, 9:12 am

    It is a lovely AND sad little book. I wrote about it at http://www.squidoo.com/six-word-memoirs-on-love-and-heartbreak and would be thrilled if you visited. I also created a page at http://www.squidoo.com/yourlifesentenceinsixwords about the first book on which many, many visitors left their life sentence!

    Brenda