The Writer's Meme
Posted: Saturday, April 07, 2007 by Travis Cody inI think I've done more memes over the last week than I've done since I started this blog. There sure have been some good ones too. I haven't gotten to the goals meme yet, since I'm smack in the middle of achieving a doozy. But that's a story for another day.
Today it's about the Writer's Meme. My darling Turn of As the World Turns tagged me for this one. Well, she didn't really tag me. It's another one of those "I tag everyone" things. I thought it was cool, so I'm giving it a go.
The meme is all about very short stories. We're talking stories of only six words. Here's the meme's instructions, as copied from Turn's blog:
A writer's meme.
Ernest Hemingway said the best thing he ever wrote was a six-word story. It is this:
For sale--
Baby shoes.
Never used.
My challenge to you, Dear Readers and Writers, is to come up with your own six-word story. That's all. Six words. How hard could that be? It'll only take a minute.
How hard could it be? Well, it's easy enough to put six words together. But do they actually tell a story? A story generally has a beginning, middle, and end...with characters and plot and conflict and climax.
Look at the Hemingway piece above. On the surface, just a very simple premise. But underneath? So many questions. Of course...it's Hemingway!
I've tried two. Here they are.
Hearts desire hastily spent.
Bitter feelings.
April passions.
November rain.
Never again.
Here's one more:
A life considered carefully was discarded.
It's tough not to turn them into poetry. But this is a fun exercise. Give it a try.
She struggled
without success
no story.