Six word stories

Flash fiction is popular. Very short stories. From maybe fifty to a few hundred words.

But how short can a short story be?

Ernest Hemingway is credited with the quintessential version. A story of just six words. Coming across it a few months back (it’s easily found on the internet) I began scribbling my own attempts in a notebook.

I soon learned that the six word story has become a genre in its own right. There are plenty of guides out there to help would-be six word authors.

Here’s the gist. Six word stories have a subject and a verb. Most of the narrative however can only be hinted at, or left unsaid. Ambiguity is key.

If you are interested in writing, the six word story is a handy thing to keep in the drawer. It lends itself quite well to auto-biographical reflections. It can stimulate ideas when ideas won’t come. It is also very manageable when it comes to editing.

Here is a selection of my prentice efforts. Feedback welcome!

‘An outstanding academic’. Some said.

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His family was blended. With grit.

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She let the big sky in.

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He’d so many memories. Mostly forgotten.

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Please read! My six word story.

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Apple of her eye. Windfall now.


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David Graham Clark

The number of words we use for any given purpose, seems to be important. It’s easy to over-write a sentence and if persistent, that can ruin the whole work. On the other hand, over-use of short sentences can be irritating and lower the literary tone. One reason for being suspicious of short sentences is that politicians are prone to them. I once saw the comedian Rory Bremner doing an impression of a Barack Obama speech: ‘His sentences have five words. Sometimes two’.

But with all this said, the super-short story does have its appeal. Not over blown, but cutting to the chase. So I’m sticking with it for a while. As Shakespeare observed in six words: ‘brevity is the soul of wit’.