''Six-Word Memoirs'' is a project and book series created by the U.S. based online storytelling magazine '' Smith Magazine.''

History

In November 2006, ''Smith's'' editors Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser asked ''Smith'' readers to tell their life story in just six words, taking inspiration from a six word short story, “ For sale: baby shoes, never worn”, popularly misattributed to novelist

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

. ''Smith'' readers submitted their memoirs via www.smithmag.net and ''Smith'''s

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

account. In early 2007, ''Smith'' signed with

Harper Perennial Harper Perennial is a paperback imprint of the publishing house HarperCollins Publishers. Overview Harper Perennial has divisions located in New York, London, Toronto, and Sydney. The imprint is descended from the Perennial Library imprint foun ...

to create the ''Six-Word Memoir'' book series.

''Six-Word Memoirs'' books

The first in ''Smith'''s ''Six-Word Memoirs'' book series, ''Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure'' was released in early 2008. It collected almost 1,000 memoirs, including contributions from celebrities such as

Richard Ford Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story author, and writer of a series of novels featuring the character Frank Bascombe. Ford's first collection of short stories, ''Rock Springs (short stories), Rock Springs ...

Deepak Chopra Deepak Chopra (; ; born October 22, 1946) is an Indian-American author, New Age, new age guru, and alternative medicine advocate. A prominent figure in the New Age movement, his books and videos have made him one of the best-known and wealthi ...

, and

Moby Richard Melville Hall (September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, disc jockey, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "amo ...

. It was a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' bestseller, featured in many stories in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', and was highlighted on

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

's ''

Talk of the Nation ''Talk of the Nation'' (''TOTN'') is an American talk radio program based in Washington D.C., produced by National Public Radio ( NPR) that was broadcast nationally from 2 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. It focused on current events and controversial ...

''. In early 2009, ''Smith'' released a follow-up, ''Six-Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak,'' containing hundreds of personal stories about romance. Another follow-up was released in late 2009; ''I Can't Keep My Own Secrets: Six-Word Memoirs by Teens Famous & Obscure'' dealt with the experiences of teenage life and as such was written by and for teens. The most recent in the series, ''It All Changed in an Instant: More Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous & Obscure'', was released in early 2010 and was marketed as the general sequel to ''Not Quite What I Was Planning''.

Recognition

* ''Not Quite What I Was Planning'' was listed as a ''

'' bestseller in 2008 in the "advice, how to and miscellaneous" category. * In April 2009, ''

The Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in the Denver metropolitan area. it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 mil ...

'' listed ''Six-Word Memoirs on Love and Heartbreak'' as the 5th bestselling non-fiction paperback in the Denver area according to sales at the Tattered Cover Book Store,

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States. Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...

Greenwood Village The City of Greenwood Village is a home rule municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 15,691 at the 2020 United States census. Greenwood Village is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO ...

, the Boulder Book Store, and

Borders Books Borders is an international book and stationery retailer. Borders was founded in the United States in 1971 by brothers Tom and Louis Borders, the first bookshop opened in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In October 1992, it was purchased by Kmart, and wa ...

in Lone Tree.

Community impact

The Six-Word Memoir format has been used as a writing exercise by teachers, with examples ranging from second-grade classrooms to graduate schools; furthermore,

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

created a guide to encourage the format as an instructional tool. Six-Word Memoirs have seen use in hospital wards, appeared in a eulogy, and suggested as a form of prayer by a preacher in North Carolina. Six-Word Memoir videos from individuals ranging from teenager Micah Gray to bestselling author

Daniel Handler Daniel Handler (born February 28, 1970) is an American author, musician, screenwriter, television writer, and television producer. He is best known for his children's book series ''A Series of Unfortunate Events'' and '' All the Wrong Question ...

have been posted to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. 6 Words Minneapolis, a public art project, employed the format to build community and empathy among citizens of

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Official website
Online literary magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 2006 Constrained writing American short story collections