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Six-word stories: An exercise in brevity

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magnificent1rascal
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The Six-Word Story Prize, put on by Fleeting Magazine, intrigued me, so I decided to try my hand at the ultimate in precisely concise writing. Here are my entries:

• Relief came, then tears: "It's benign."

• "I'm sorry."
"I know. Leave anyway."

• "Should I leave?"
"No, I will."

• A mother, dead: Our hearts ache.

• She beamed. Two blue lines — finally!

It is incredibly difficult in just six words to tell a story that is complete enough for the reader to fill in something of a plot. I believe, or at least hope, that I've done a reasonably good job of the assignment.
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ElChupacabras
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It All Came To An End

The Snake Took All The Guilt ?

Was That Our Last Trip There ?

The Golden Pot Awaits Us All

The Customer Is Not Always Right

Out Little Escapade To The Hideout
Unknown User
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Quote by magnificent1rascal
The Six-Word Story Prize, put on by Fleeting Magazine, intrigued me, so I decided to try my hand at the ultimate in precisely concise writing...

It is incredibly difficult in just six words to tell a story that is complete enough for the reader to fill in something of a plot. I believe, or at least hope, that I've done a reasonably good job of the assignment.


Well done, it is indeed difficult to tell a story in only six words and have them contain a plot. You did so with all six and I would say you did more than reasonably well. I hope you do well in this competiton!
Lisa
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Those entries are really clever. Good luck in the contest.

This was my favourite one:

Quote by magnificent1rascal
• Relief came, then tears: "It's benign."
1941aaa
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veni,vidi,vici. I came, I saw, I conquered.

No rhyme no reason not poetry.
magnificent1rascal
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Since only five entries per person were accepted, one of my personal favorites fell by the wayside:

"It's over..."
"Oh? So are we."

(Clearly, the end of a relationship was a major theme in my efforts. Don't worry, they are purely fictional.)
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DirtyMartini
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Quote by magnificent1rascal
My entries didn't make the shortlist, found here, but it was a good challenge to undertake nonetheless. I'm glad to have done it.

(And I still think some of mine are better than the finalists.)


Your post here just gave me the inspiration for my own six word story...

"I entered five, but none won."
I once knew a drinker who had a moderating problem...

magnificent1rascal
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Quote by DirtyMartini
Quote by magnificent1rascal
My entries didn't make the shortlist, found here, but it was a good challenge to undertake nonetheless. I'm glad to have done it.

(And I still think some of mine are better than the finalists.)


Your post here just gave me the inspiration for my own six word story...

"I entered five, but none won."




And that would probably be the winner!

My favorite among the finalists is this one: "Groundhog Day. Groundhog Day. Groundhog Day."
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Guest
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It wasn't love. Just another game.
Lisa
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Some of the others they featured on that page were good, but I wouldn't have picked that particular one as the winner.

It would've been a difficult task picking a winner from almost five thousand entries. That's huge!
DirtyMartini
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Quote by magnificent1rascal
The winner has been announced. It is, "No taxidermist loved his daughter more."



Once again, inspires a six word story of my own...

"I don't understand six word stories."
I once knew a drinker who had a moderating problem...

magnificent1rascal
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In the many writing contests in which I have been a judge over the years, one of the most important criteria has been how well a story incorporates the theme of the competition. In this case the only "theme" was that the submissions had to tell a story in just six words.

Hemingway's original, "For sale: baby shoes, never worn," does that splendidly. It gives us a solid basis to fill in the rest of the details for ourselves. So do some of the other finalists, as well as several lines posted in this thread. For example, I think most anyone knows what's going on in, "Relief came, then tears: 'It's benign'", "She beamed. Two blue lines — finally!" or "Boy meets girl’s boyfriend, prefers him."

If anyone can tell me what's happening based only on, "No taxidermist loved his daughter more," I'd love to hear it.

But yes, selecting a winner from among 5,000 entries must have been difficult.
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Quote by magnificent1rascal


But yes, selecting a winner from among 5,000 entries must have been difficult.


There were only thirty thousand words.

All right, that is my slap dash attempt at a six word story, based on the number of entries times 6.

The winning entry makes no sense.

The judges must have been confused.

I'll stop now. More is less.
Unknown User
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Quote by Rumple_deWriter
Rascal, why not send them a note asking what the hell the so-called story meant? It sure eludes me.

Now if I had submitted an entry, I might have gone into a Hemingwayesque mode:

For sale, book manuscripts, never published. sad



HAH! I would never accept that, Monsieur Froissé l'Ecrivain - Rumple_deWriter, for those not in the know. It rides too close to Papa Doc's original take, edge and style to be acceptable, in my opinion.

So with no futher ado and in the parody mode you yourself have set in play is my David Foster Wallace inspired attempt:

Available: unfînished manuscript, yours to complete.

Guest
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I love life. I will die.
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Clegg smirked. Cameron grinned. Clegg giggled.
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Savile travelled to places beyond redemption.
CKAcres
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Learn to dream, dreams come true.
"No one knows when the final grain of sand will plummet through their own personal Hourglass." ~ CKAcres
"If you really want to make a difference, don't over think it, just do it..."
"Scars of life are deeply etched within the minds of curious old souls."
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Six men went to mow meadows.
magnificent1rascal
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Quote by DirtyMartini
Here you go...this ain't far behind...I think it pays too...

Open submissions for a one-sentence story mini-anthology!
http://www.mbennardo.com/blog/2012/12/open-submissions-one-sentence-stories/[/size][/quote]

This task seems even more difficult to me. The submission guidelines call for "...a whole, round, satisfying story told beginning to end in a single sentence." I tried to imagine fitting an entire story into one sentence, but quickly gave up the notion as too daunting.

But best of luck to anyone who is up for the challenge.
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