The backstory on the six word story is that a writing challenge was thrown down to write the shortest story. The winner was Pappa Hemingway when he wrote,
For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.
The 6WS, since then, has found a bit of a cult following. It’s no Rocky Horror by any means, but it still isn’t mainstream.
The thing about six word stories is they are actually difficult to write. Subtle differences in punctuation, word meaning, or impressions and your story devolves quickly into a ‘tagline’ or descriptive sentence. Stories, in essence, have a plot; they have at least one character, conflict, climax, and a resolution. Developing all of those components and using only six words requires a mastery of language and grammar.
Sometimes it helps to develop a 6WS from a photograph because the photograph helps create the mood. Flickr has a group, or pool, of individuals who do this and submit their best work to be viewed and shared with others; this is my only submission to the pool.
Write a six word story and post it in the comments section. If you want to use a photograph or work of art to assist, feel free to do so but please link the photo so we can share. If you are not the creative type, maybe share one of your favorites (I’m sure there are thousands found by a google search, so now you’ve got an excuse to slack off at work today).
Most importantly, have fun!
Posted by stevebragg 
