Life in Six Words You Can Say a

Life in Six Words: You Can Say a Lot in 6 Words. What Do You Have to Say?

Author Ernest Hemingway (1899 -1961) Father of the 6 -Word Memoir Legend has it that in the 1920 s, author Ernest Hemingway said that he could write a complete story in just six words. He wrote: “For sale, baby shoes, never worn. ”

Memoir Defined: • a record of events written by a person having intimate knowledge of them and based on personal observation (Merriam—Webster Online) • a personal story about a significant moment in the author’s life (E. Peters)

Memoirs are. . . • • true written in the first person a reflection of the author´s point of view a description of one important moment, event, lesson, or belief

The Memoir Is a Popular Genre • As a young girl, Malala Yousafzai defied the Taliban in Pakistan and demanded that girls be allowed to receive an education. She was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman in 2012, but survived.

Many Memoirs Top the Bestseller Lists • Subtitled Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun, this book is one person´s account of a year-long attempt to discover what leads to true contentment

Memoirs can be deeply personal, such as this account of a descent into mental illness. • The author describes how she crossed the line between sanity and insanity after an unknown pathogen invaded her body, causing an autoimmune reaction that jump-started brain inflammation, paranoia, and seizures.

. . . or this account of a young boy’s desperate attempt to avoid his troubles • During a year of physical recovery from self-inflicted burns, the author questions what he’d done, undertaking the complicated journey from neardeath back to high school. It is a compelling book about teenage despair and recovery.

This is a well-known memoir that many high school students read

But your memoir will be teeny tiny! • 6 words… • Just six words! • Six MEANINGFUL words

What would theirs be? • Malala Yousafzai: Author of I Am Malala • Gretchen Rubin: Author of The Happiness Project • Susannah Cahalan: Author of Brain on Fire • Brent Runyon: Author of The Burn Journals • Elie Wiesel: Author of Night

Malala Yousafzai • Stronger than fear, I am Malala.

Gretchen Rubin • True happiness is finding peace inside.

Susannah Cahalan • Love and faith can conquer anything.

Brent Runyon • I was wrong. Reality doesn’t burn.

Elie Wiesel • Love’s opposite isn’t hate; it’s indifference.

Examples from the book Not Quite What I Was Planning • Beginning, gurgly. Middle, sombre. End, gurgly. - Roger Noble • Jennie, Emma, Jane, Sophie, Rose, happiness. - Peter Graham • Slow lane. Fast lane. Hard shoulder. - Alex Hansen • Unravelled career reknitted as baby blankets. - Clare Hobba • Head in books, feet in flowers. - Heather Thomson

More Published 6 -Word Memoirs • • • “Get over it. ” Impossible three words. Inside suburban mom beats urban heart. Went to war; never came back. In prayer my true colors show. I’m a Muslim, not a terrorist. It’s easy: be who you are.

What will your six words be? • In order to reduce something significant into just six words, those words must be very carefully chosen. This is a great time to really think about what words mean. • It is also a great time to consider what it means to truly revise written work.

Start with a list List as many words, topics, memories, or personality traits as you can about yourself – activities you do, items, belongings, places you like, and feelings you have. Don’t edit, cross out, change, or rewrite words. Don’t worry about spelling – just write. You are going for quantity, so write as much as you can in about three minutes. You should fill at least one full page.

Example list: Introvert, gardening, reading, content, tired, overworked, cooking, baking, colorful, shoes, daisies, irises, wife, teacher, daughter, literature, singing, laughing, word jumbles, memory games, Indie music, rock music, old country, cats, dog, goat, bubble baths, orange Tic Tacs, Junior Mints, crayons, Hello Kitty, naps, swimming, yoga, Saturday morning, sunrises, sunsets, beach, mountains, mother, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, Nick, thinking, dreaming, chocolate

Now, circle the two or three words that stand out for you, the ones that you could say more about.

Example list: Introvert, gardening, reading, content, tired, overworked, cooking, baking, colorful, shoes, daisies, irises, wife, teacher, daughter, literature, singing, laughing, word jumbles, memory games, Indie music, rock music, old country, cats, dog, goat, bubble baths, orange Tic Tacs, Junior Mints, crayons, Hello Kitty, naps, swimming, yoga, Saturday morning, sunrises, sunsets, beach, mountains, mother, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, Nick, thinking, dreaming, chocolate

Pick one item and freewrite about it. That means you just start writing about that idea, object, role, or event. The only rule is don’t stop writing for at least two or three minutes. Whatever comes to mind is fair game. introvert

Freewrite example… Being an introvert is not easy. People think that I’m snotty, or cold, or prickly. I have trouble talking to strangers, I dislike going anywhere or doing anything by myself, but I also hate going someplace that might have a large group of strangers that I potentially have to converse with. Parties, new situations, crowded places fill me with dread. Why am I a teacher, then? Good question! I haven’t always been this introverted. . .

Freewrite continued… It started in my mid-twenties, after I’d been teaching for a few years, so I had already learned teaching is what I’m supposed to do. I just needed to find a way to deal with anxiety and panic. Somehow, I found a “switch” to turn off the introvert and bring out the extrovert. It’s exhausting! New things and people still create anxiety, but I can handle it. Most of the time. I need a lot of down time for myself, and, fortunately, my husband gets it.

Synthesize As a result of the freewrite, you will gain a sense of your topic. The next step is to synthesize (combine the individual elements into an understandable whole) your writing into six words that capture the essence of what your topic means to you. I attempted to capture the struggle of being an introvert in an extroverted career. It’s pretty complicated, so I’m going to brainstorm some phrases before I write my 6 -word memoir.

Related phrases… No defenses Heart pounding Need an escape reading

Leading to a 6 -word memoir… Scared introvert looking for solitude. Scared introvert seeking peace and tranquility.

Now create a final six-word memoir by following these steps: 1. Create a “you” list – freewrite as many words about you as you can. 2. Pick 2 – 3 items that inspire you to say more. Circle them. 3. From those items you circled, select one. 4. Freewrite about your idea for ten minutes. 5. Brainstorm short phrases that help to describe your topic. 6. Develop a 6 -word memoir that captures a sense of your writing. . . and you! 7. Self-Edit: Make at least one type of change—word choice, varying sentence structure, or punctuation. 8. 2 nd Draft: Conference with another student or an adult. 9. Create your 6 -word memoir final draft. 10. Final effort: Create a Publisher or Word with the six-word memoir and personally relevant background picture(s), which can come from Google images or personal photos. Save your presentation and print it out using the color printer in the library or at home. 11. Turn your six-word memoir on Monday.