6-Word Memoirs

For sale: baby shoes, never worn. E. Hemingway

:

Watching sunrises means waiting through nights.

Play Hard, Play Strong, WIN BIG!!

basketball.

Eat, sleep, breath,

Then repeat.

Eat

Other  Six  Word  Wonders  

Machine.  Unexpectedly,  I’d  invented  a  ;me  -­‐  Alan  Moore  It’s  behind  you!  Hurry  before  it…  -­‐  Rockne  S.  O’Bannon  I’m  your  future,  child.  Don’t  cry.  -­‐  Stephen  Baxter  He  read  his  obituary  with  confusion.  -­‐  Steven  Meretzky  The  Return  They  buried  him  deep.  Again.  -­‐Joe  R.  Lansdale    

“When  he  awoke,  the  dinosaur  was  (s;ll)  there.”    -­‐  Augusto  Monterroso  “Lie  detector  eyeglasses  perfected:  Civiliza;on  collapses.”  Longed  for  him.  Got  him.  S***.  —Margaret  Atwood  Without  thinking,  I  made  two  cups.  —Alistair  Daniel  Revenge  is  living  well,  without  you.  —Joyce  Carol  Oates    “Geeky  girl  in  a  Barbie  world.  “  -­‐HHS  student  

 

In  Six  words  .  .  .  

Now  –  Write  your  own  six  word  memoir  or  a  few  •  You  don’t  have  to  be  clever  –  just  honest.    •  What  quality  describes  you?  •  An  important  event  in  your  life?  •  Your  dreams,  your  disappointments?  •  Favorite  activities?  

Flash  Fic;on  

A  Rose  By  Any  Other  Name…  

“Smoke- Long”

Nanofiction

Flash Fiction

Postcard Fiction

Miniatures

Sudden Fiction

Short Shorts

Palm- Sized

Short Short Story

Micro Fiction

Micro Narrative

Micro- Story

Micr-O Fiction

(Oprah – July 2006)

Flash  Fic;on  Defined  •  “a style of fictional literature of extreme brevity” (Wikipedia) •  …a story that is finished before the reader has time to finish smoking a cigarette (Chinese)

•  “…trying to tell a story with the absolute minimum of words” (Wikipedia)

•  “Flash fiction is a form that…adheres more than any other narrative form to Hemingway’s famous iceberg dictum: Only show the top 10 percent of your story, and leave the other 90 percent below water to be conjured.” – Grant Faulkner, executive director of National Novel Writing Month •  “[A] form [of fiction that] speaks to the singularity of stray moments by calling attention to the spectral blank spaces around them” – G. Faulkner •  “a complete…[but] compressed short story” – Catherine Sustana, About.com

Most often, flash fiction = a story that’s 1000 words or less; or, the generic name for that brief short fiction form

Characteris;cs  of  Flash  Fic;on  •  Beginning, middle and end – complete

•  Emphasis on plot

•  Brevity – (very) compressed

•  Twist or surprise ending (often)

•  Intensity – “minimal and rapid trajectory” •  part of the appeal and challenge

•  Total unified singular effect

Low  risk,  li2le  3me  investment    

•  If  you  spend  two  years  of  your  life  wri;ng  the  Great  American  Novel  that  s;nks,  well,  you  wasted  two  years  of  your  life.  

•  Flash  fic;on  is  low-­‐risk.  If  you  write  a  terrible  flash  fic;on  story,  you  might  have  invested  a  few  hours  in  it.  You  can  move  on  to  the  next  story  and  try  again.  

•  It  does  not  involve  as  much  of  a  commitment  as  wri;ng  a  lengthy  short  story  or  a  novel  does.  It  provides  instant  gra;fica;on.  In  less  than  a  day,  you  can  have  a  completed  (and  possibly  publishable)  story  to  show  for  your  efforts.  

Great  way  to  improve  your  wri3ng  skills    

•  Wri;ng  flash  fic;on  makes  you  aware  of  every  word  you  choose.  You  learn  to  write  well  using  as  few  words  as  possible.  In  flash  fic;on,  you  need  to  know  the  elements  of  good  fic;on  and  how  they  work  together.  

•  It  is  far  easier  to  write  a  long  story,  was;ng  words,  wandering  off  on  tangents,  introducing  interes;ng  characters  that  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  main  story.  But  flash  fic;on  is  coiled  like  a  spring.  There  is  no  wasted  energy  in  flash  fic;on.  Every  word  in  the  story  is  significant  and  drives  you  toward  the  climac;c  conclusion.  

It’s  fun!    

What  are  the  “Rules”  for  Wri;ng  Short  Stories?  

1. Start in the middle of things; start in motion. 2. Stay in motion by not letting the summary intrude. 3. Never explain too much – a story loses its suspense the moment everything is explained. 4. Stay out of your story; pick a point of view and stick with it. Nobody has less right in your story than yourself. 5. Don't show off in your style. The writing should match the characters and the situation, not you. 6. Nothing is to be gained, except a breaking of the dramatic illusion, by attempts to find substitutes for the word "said" in dialogue tags. "Said" is a colorless word that disappears; elegant variations show up. 7. Stopping a story is as hard as saying goodnight. Learn to do it cleanly. 8. Revise! Revise! Revise!

Stegner. On Teaching and Writing Fiction. Adapted. pp. 94-95.

Flash Fiction = Stories = All These Rules, on Steroids

Elements  in  Flash  Fic;on  • Se@ng  is  where  the  ac3on  takes  place.  This  can  be  told  in  a  sentence:  She  watched  him  go  to  bed.    

• Usually,  there  is  not  room  for  more  than  two  characters-­‐-­‐three  at  most.  But  realize  "characters"  don't  always  have  to  be  human.  In  fact,  they  don't  even  have  to  be  animate.  Can  you  create  a  story  about  a  pebble  and  a  blade  of  grass  trying  to  inhabit  the  same  spot?  

• Conflict  is  just  a  difference  of  opinion-­‐-­‐tension  to  keep  the  reader  reading.  It  can  be  verbal,  physical  or  mental.  It  doesn't  always  have  to  be  villain/hero.  

Elements  of  Flash  Fic;on  

• Resolu3on  is  the  conclusion  of  the  conflict.  "Small"  works  best  in  flash   fic;on;   don't   go   for   miraculous   resolu;on,   in   which   the  protagonist  is  saved  by  some  miracle  not  of  his/her  making.  

• Most  writers  use  surprise  endings,  partly  because  flash  fic;on  lends  itself  to  such,  but  mostly  because  it  makes  it  more  fun  both  to  read  and  to  write.  But  they  are  not  necessary.  Even  with  a  twist,  don't  surprise  your  readers  too  much.  Make  them  think,  "Ah-­‐-­‐of  course!"  Don't  make  them  think,  "Boy,  am  I  stupid!"    

Flash  Fic;on  Wri;ng    Tips  • Write   as   fast   as   you   can.   Write   as   fast   as   you   can.  Don't   worry   about   grammar   -­‐   yet.   Fill   about   half   a  page,   count   the  words,   fix   the   grammar,   then   read   it  aloud   to   yourself.   Does   it   have   secng,   implied   or  otherwise?   Conflict?   Resolu;on?   Does   it   affect   a  change?  • Edit   yourself-­‐ruthlessly.   Write   your   story,   then  go   back   and   erase   all   phrases,   clauses   and  coordina;ng  conjunc;ons   that  are  not  absolutely  vital   to   the   story.   Delete   any   unnecessary  adjec;ves.   You'll   be   lee   with   ;ght,   ac;ve  sentences.  

Flash  Fic;on  Wri;ng  Tips  

Let  dialogue  do  it.    Write  an  all-­‐dialogue  story  using  as  few  tags  as  possible.  

Let  the  dialogue  describe  the  characters  and  create  conflict.  

Stories  to  avoid.    Don't  write  about  a  writer  wri;ng  and    don't  rely  on  "it  was  just  a  dream"  pieces.    And  when  your  story  is  over,  just  stop.  Like  this.  

Tips •  Use  contrac3ons  instead  of  two  words.  

– He  is:  2  words  – He’s:  1  word  

•  Use  punctua3on  instead  of  conjunc3ons.  – She  glanced  over  her  shoulder  and  spohed  the  clown.  – She  glanced  over  shoulder,  spohed  the  clown.  

•  Use  strong  words  instead  of  weak  ones.  

Being Choosy Stronger  Words  •  Verbs  •  Nouns  •  Adjec;ves  

Weaker  Words  •  Adverbs  •  Pronouns  •  Interjec;ons  •  Preposi;ons  •  Conjunc;ons  

Nouns Verbs Adjectives

“The Duel” by Aaron Kidd

Two foes faced one another on a desert battlefield. Sweat beaded both brows. One infamous, clothed in black. The other, a golden star over his heart.

They drew revolvers. Gunshots sounded. A woman yelled from a nearby porch. The combatants fell and lay still. Then, rising, they began to sprint towards

the porch.

Snack Time.

14 12 7

Challenges •  Be  allitera3ve:  Only  use  words  that  begin  with  the  same  leher  for  the  whole  story.  

•  Be  wordy:  Use  a  series  of  nouns  &  verbs,  strung  together  into  one  long  sentence.  

•  Be  jokey:  Turn  your  final  sentence  into  a  punch  line.  

•  Be  talka3ve:  Use  a  voicemail  as  your  en;re  story.  

“The  Scarlac  Tilt”  -­‐  Richard  Brau;gan  

"It's  very  hard  to  live  in  a  studio  apartment  in  San  Jose  with  a  man  who's  learning  to  play  the  violin."  That's  what  she  told  the  police  when  she  handed  

them  the  empty  revolver.  

What  Cons;tutes  a  Word  •  If  it  is  in  the  dic;onary  •  A  hyphenated  word  does  not  count  as  a  single  word  unless  the  parts  

cannot  stand  without  the  hyphen                  (i.e.  re-­‐entry  =  1  word  coffee-­‐stained  =  2  words)  

•  Word  contrac;ons  are  one  word  •  Ini;als  count  as  words  since  they  stand  for  other  things  but  

standardized  abbrevia;ons  (NASA  etc.)  count  as  only  one  word  •  The  ;tle  does  not  go  toward  word  count  but  it  must  be  limited  to  

seven  words  •  While  this  is  not  a  poem  the  layout  of  your  words  can  help  

“Broken Girl” by Jessie Roark Snapped ankle. Out of coma.

Amnesia. Every day goes by the same. The doctors come in and ask hundreds of questions. That social worker won’t leave me alone.

Today a tall man with my high cheekbones, wearing a blue jacket, comes in to see me. “Tess?”

Then I see his cold eyes and I remember.

“Refined Lifestyle” by Lindsey Cox Don’s parents said he’d

never amount to anything. They said he’d never be successful, but here he was, sitting in the lap of luxury. The house had magnificently tall ceilings and elaborate art on the walls that Don admired. He took them down and threw them in the truck with the rest of the plunder.

Basics  

You  will  be  wri;ng  two  pieces  of  micro-­‐fic;on.    Micro-­‐fic;on  -­‐    n.  extremely  short  stories  that  contain  all  elements  of  a  story  

Characteris;cs:  •  55  words  long  •  A  complete  plot  •  Clear  secng  •  Definable  characters  •  Engaging  conflict  

Example  1  

Nervous      I  didn’t  really  want  to,  but  if  I  didn’t  I  would  feel  dumb.  Suddenly  I  was  mouth  to  mouth  with  this  guy  I’d  had  my  eye  on  for  the  past  year.  I  wasn’t  really  sure  what  to  do  so  I  just  breathed  really  deep.  I  guess  I  did  it  right  because  I  saved  his  life.        Amy  McCarthy  7th  grade  Conestoga  Middle  School  

 

Example  2  

Sin      Preacher  John  leers  at  me,  proffering  the  writhing  rep;le.  “It’s  god’s  test  boy”  he  murmurs,  shaking  the  snake.  Reluctantly  I  hold  out  my  hands.  My  eyes  lock  on  Pastor  John’s  as  the  fangs  sink  into  my  forearm.        “God  knows  your  sins!”  he  screeches,  and  the  congrega;on  panics.  I  smile  grimly.  Da;ng  his  daughter  was  worth  it.  

     Zoe  Carpenter,  11th  grade  Catlin  Gabel  School  

 

“My  Stalker”    

•  In  the  dark  alley,  I  saw  something  sneaking  up  on  me.  I  could  see  its  figure  in  the  dim  light.  I  wished  to  run.  I  quickened  my  pace  to  outrun  the  creature.  Sprin;ng  towards  the  light,  I  soon  saw  my  stalker.  A  ;ny  black  kihen  at  the  heels  of  my  feet.  Following  my  every  move.  

 

•  Scared  straight  with  an;cipa;on,  she  studied  the  test.  She  has  wai;ng  and  waited  for  change  her  whole  life,  and  this  test  has  the  chance  to  turn  her  world  upside  down.  Beep  beep  goes  the  wicked  ;mer.  Ready  or  not,  she  grabs  her  test  and  slowly  walks  to  her  husband  to  tell  him  the  good  news.  

•  Bahle  ;me.  He  ran  into  the  chaos.  Gunshots  fly  past  him.  Friends  and  foes  are  lying  everywhere.  He  shoots  at  a  few,  a  few  shoot  at  him.  He  knew  the  dangers  to  be.  A  shot  in  the  leg.  He  was  bleeding  badly.  Restart?  Yes.  Bahle  ;me.  He  ran  into  the  chaos.  

Basic  Elements  of  55  Fic;on  

All  55  Fic;on  selec;ons  should  have:  An  engaging  conflict  Clear  characters  A  known  seJng  A  complete  plot  A  notable  theme