Freebie Mondays: Six Word Stories (Part 2)

Several years ago, while I was looking for content for my (now defunct) Tumblr feed, I stumbled upon a 52 week 6 Word Story challenge. Since Tumblr seemed to favor bite-sized content, I thought this would be the perfect way to generate quick, creative content for my Tumblr feed.

I quickly learned the error of my ways.

For those unfamiliar, the point of 6 word stories is to tell a story in only 6 words. This is trickier than it sounds because you can’t simply write a statement of 6 words or fewer. You need to actually convey a sequence of events.

The most popular example of a 6 word story is: Baby shoes for sale, never used.

As I discussed in part 1 of this post, I enjoyed the challenge of this exercise at first. But as time went on, the mental gymnastics felt less like a helpful exercise and more like a constant struggle. I constantly felt like I was writing statements rather than stories. And I didn’t really have the kind of time to devote to the exercise that it needed.

I gave up on week 32. But because I don’t really use Tumblr anymore, and because I’m actually proud of some of these things, I’ve decided to share them here. The first 10 weeks are available in the first installment. This one covers weeks 11 – 21.

For each prompt, I chose four characters and tried to write a story that fit both them and the prompt.

Week Eleven

“Collaborate with someone on a six word story.” (Since I had no one to collaborate with, I made each story a conversation instead.)

Domerin (featuring Crescent):
“Share your burden?” “Another night, perhaps.”

Rose (featuring Xavior):
“Strength lies where?” “In the mind.”

Cazella (featuring Crescent):
“Love isn’t real.” “It is, rarely.”

Silkfoot (featuring Kestrel):
“What’s your dream?” “Soaring with you.”

Week Twelve

“Write a six word story where all words must have the same number of syllables!” (This was stupidly hard.)

Domerin:
“I came to rest not fight.”

Rose:
Trouble follows clever little kittens around.

Cazella:
Use a smile as a shield.

Silkfoot:
Smiling dispels boredom during simple moments.

Week Thirteen

“Write a six word story about the hardest decision you have had to make in your lifetime.”

Domerin:
“Sacrifice my career on a whim?”

Rose:
“Test fate or trust the vision?”

Cazella:
“A slave cannot marry her master.”

Silkfoot:
“Confession: I’m not what I seem.”

Week Fourteen

“Tell a story from an animal’s point of view.” (In this case, Rose is a shifter and Domerin is a berserker, so I leaned on those halves of their personality for their prompts. For Cazella and Silkfoot, I imagined them both as birds.)

Domerin:
The scent of blood exhilarates him.

Rose:
Lazing in sunbeams, she listens closely.

Cazella:
She can’t break the short chain.

Silkfoot:
The rushing wind is freedom incarnate.

Week Fifteen

“Write a haiku using six words.” (Side note: I love reading haikus, but I hate writing them. Having the extra requirement of the word limit / goal made this exercise so much harder.)

Domerin:
Resistance falters,
Bloodlust consumes everything;
Irresistible.

Rose:
Expoditionist;
Luminescence awakens
Wherever you go.

Cazella:
Eradicate fear,
Embrace Opportunity,
Celebrate Freedom.

Silkfoot:
Imagination;
A critical factor of
Advantageousness

Week Sixteen

“Write a six word story of a personal life event that has really affected you.” (For Rose and Silkfoot, these are basically one line memoires.)

Domerin:
My father failed to kill me.

Rose:
He abandoned his crown for me.

Cazella:
I watched as father killed mother.

Silkfoot:
I stole freedom with this ship.

Week Seventeen

“Write a six word story in which the first letter of each word is in consecutive order in the alphabet.” (This is what torture looks like.)

Domerin:
Affection became cursed; Domerin eventually fled.

Rose:
Rule starting today? Untimely victory. Welladay!

Cazella:
Keep longing. Mistakes never offer pardon.

Silkfoot:
Keen liars make no outrageous promises.

Week Eighteen

“Write a six word story of one half of a two-person dialogue in which readers are left to imagine what the other person is saying.”

Domerin:
“I believe his threat was genuine.”

Rose:
“Waste no more time. Decide now.”

Cazella:
“Am I allowed to say no?”

Silkfoot:
“No plan needed! You have me.”

Week Nineteen

“Write a six word story containing opposites (antithesis).”

Domerin:
After the slaughter, he embraced me.
(destruction and kindness)

Rose:
Discarding prudence, she acted on whim.
(wisdom and foolishness)

Cazella:
Anticipation propelled her. Horror halted her.
(Eagerness and hesitation)

Silkfoot:
Lies are just creatively interpreted truths.
(Truth and lies)

Week Twenty

“Write a six word story in which every word must begin with the letter that ends the previous word. The sixth word should end with the letter that begins the first word.” (Things like this look super cool, but are a huge pain to write.)

Domerin:
“Every year regrets spread deeper. Reconcile.”

Rose:
“Some enigmas survive everlasting guileful labors.”

Cazella:
“Resist temptation? Never! Rather, revel. Linger.”

Silkfoot:
“Gains still left to obtain. No objecting!”

Week Twenty-One

“Write a six word story using only nouns.” (It is nearly impossible to convey a sense of sequential activity without making use of verbs, but I actually do like how some of these turned out. Domerin’s especially.)

Domerin:
Boots, armor, swords, map. Departure time.

Rose:
Guards. Procession. Court nobility. Duty? Tedium!

Cazella:
Whips. Chains. Sealed door. Master’s presence.

Silkfoot:
Statue, broach, painting, secrets; all mine!

You can probably already tell that by this point in the process, most of my “stories” were just sentences encapsulating part of my characters’ past or personality. Usually snippets of dialogue because they’re easy to keep short and clipped.

Some of these feel truly horrible. (The haikus make me cringe.) I’m not sure many of these actually fulfill the challenge requirements.

Then again, I’m probably way overthinking the intended outcome for this particular challenge (despite the strict description laid out by the organizers). If I had been able to think of the intended outcome a bit more loosely, I might have enjoyed putting some of these together.

What do you think, friends? Let me know in the comments!