When you look at the picture of the artwork accompanying this post, what comes to your mind? Think about it for a moment . . . I’ll wait for you.
What comes to my mind is focus, simplicity, and clarity. The stunning artwork immediately gets my attention causing me to be entirely focused on it. The artwork is simple; it is clear. Nothing to complicate it or to guck it up (to use a technical term).
That’s exactly what we want to achieve with our writing. We want our story to be focused instead of running amok. We want it to be simple instead of cluttered. We want it to be clear instead of confusing.
There are, of course, other critical elements such as the content itself, the style of writing, the choice of words, descriptions, and the frosting on the cake: Is it lyrical? Does it sing? Or is it frostingless, a quiet, boring dud?
In writing our life stories, our memoirs, we can get ourselves all tied up in knots with heavy, lengthy sentences and paragraphs that can drone on for pages and pages.
How to avoid this messy, painful trap? Have you ever heard of “Six-Word Memoirs” created by Larry Smith of SMITH Magazine?
If not, let me tell you a fascinating story — what got Larry started with what is now an entire movement called “Six-Word Memoirs”:
Literary legend Ernest Hemingway is reputed to have been challenged to write a story in just six words. Could he do it? Yes he could and he did — brilliantly: “For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
I repeat: “For Sale: baby shoes, never worn”. How many scenarios are running through your mind right now? Isn’t it amazing? I have used this as a writing prompt for my various writing groups and the stories we can spin from just these six focused, simple, clear words are many.
What story can you spin from Hemingway’s six? Give it a try right now. I’ll wait for you. Maybe you need to get a second cup of coffee or tea, or maybe even a cookie to nibble on while you allow your imagination to roam. How you choose to tell the story could be sad, funny, poignant, scary, self-revealing, shocking, raucous, surprising or loving. It’s a writer’s choice.
Hemingway met his challenge. Can you do the same with your next story? Spend the time distilling your story into six focused, simple, clear words. That will tell you what you’re writing about so you don’t get lost in the forest. If you do get lost in the forest — the thicket of words — it will give you the means to get back to a clearing with fresh air by chopping down the excess words, the unnecessary backstory, the random details, the clutter, the gunk.
Today’s writing tip: spend the necessary time to create a title that describes what you are writing about, what your point is, in just six focused, simple, clear words. The six may tell the whole story – but you can still go on for another page or ten to provide the details, to flesh out the story.
Next comes the patient, careful, even tedious editing. But that’s for another edition of “Writing Tips”.
Copyright © 2024 by Jane Iddings
I would certainly agree with Debi!
Hard to write only six words.