I heard about the Six-Word Memoir on KFOG this morning and haven’t been able to think about anything else since.
Here’s the inspiration for the site, which is now also a book (Not Quite What I Was Planning):
Legend has it that Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in only six words. His response? “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Last year, SMITH Magazine re-ignited the recountre by asking our readers for their own six-word memoirs. They sent in short life stories in droves, from the bittersweet (“Cursed with cancer, blessed with friends”) and poignant (“I still make coffee for two”) to the inspirational (“Business school? Bah! Pop music? Hurrah”) and hilarious (“I like big butts, can’t lie”).
Naturally, I’ve gone through several versions of mine; I finally submitted: “No time to write it shorter.”
But I also thought this would be an interesting way to converse about sex. How would you write your sexual memoir if you only had six words? Anais Nin, Catherine M, Toni Bentley — they all wrote lovely memoirs, but they had more wordcount.
I haven’t composed mine yet, but post yours in the comments and we’ll keep the meme going. And then go to the site and submit your full life story too. *Now that I look more closely, it looks like you can submit sexual memoirs there too; cool!
11 responses so far ↓
1 hoffmanbike // Feb 19, 2008 at 10:59 am
enjoy life, and the finer things
2 Nobilis // Feb 19, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Pain conquers all; yet I strive.
3 Seth // Feb 21, 2008 at 8:55 am
This space reserved for future enlightenment
4 denisio // Feb 21, 2008 at 11:03 am
forty thousand orgasms shared with god
5 Cecily DeVille // Feb 21, 2008 at 10:34 pm
The map is not the territory.
6 ScottE // Feb 22, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Loving more — a blessing and curse.
7 leslewis65 // Feb 22, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Early study in art of love.
8 nerdpwr // Feb 22, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Bacon–what more can you say?
9 snuff925 // Feb 23, 2008 at 7:49 pm
fulfilling, satisfying - false sensation of love
10 msimoens // Feb 26, 2008 at 3:42 pm
life’s too short…
11 regina lynn // Feb 26, 2008 at 5:17 pm
i posted mine in the forum but forgot to add it here:
Oh no! Now I have everything!