Six Word Stories

ix-Word Stories

Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in six words. Rumor has it that he considered his result ("For sale: baby shoes, never used.") to be his greatest work. In its most recent issue, Utne reprinted a piece from the Fall 2004 issue of BlackBook in which that magazine asked 25 big-name writers to write their own six-word stories. Unfortunately, neither magazine had the story online, but here are some of the highlights:

Irvine Welsh: "Eyeballed me, killed him. Slight exaggeration."

Robert Olen Butler: "Saigon hotel. Decades later. He weeps."

Norman Mailer: "Satan--Jehovah--fifteen rounds. A draw."

Tobias Wolff: "She gave. He took. He forgot."

David Lodge: "I saw. I conquered. Couldn't come."

Augusten Burroughs: "Oh, that? It's nothing. Not contagious."

I think I like Butler's and Mailer's the best. Here's my own offering:

Aging skier goes downhill. Literally, figuratively.