Six Word Memoir (.com)

It is cold outside and the vegetable soup that I ate for lunch was warm, but uninspired.  That's a bit how I feel today.  Warm, but uninspired to complete the list of tasks and goals that I wrote last night.  I am a list maker, and now I have spawned three additional three list makers, but that's another story for another time.  (Note to self:  blog post about lists.)

Also, there is a Secret deodorant on the kitchen counter, which begs all kinds of questions, not the least of which is, "why is this distracting me?"  Not the second-least of which is "why have I left it there all day, as if it's going to NOT be on the counter at some point?"

I fear I am growing accustomed to temperatures preceded by a minus sign, because I'm starting to feel pretty good outside when it's around 13 degrees.  I'm trying to keep Peter's Russian temperatures in mind, really, I am.  My addiction to the weather app on my phone is frightening, as is the frequency of notifications I receive because of my settings.  But again, I digress.

Digression has been the theme of this day.  No, procrastination.  Or, perhaps, distraction.

My list of "things to do" today included both "write book ending" and "edit draft." Those two items have been staring at me from my list since December, so after I procrastinated even more by switching the laundry and checking the freezer for tonight's dinner options,  I wandered toward my desk.  Wandered, yes, like I had nowhere to go.  Aimlessly walking through my house thinking, "well, if I happen to see my computer, I guess I'll sit down and type."

Drat.  There it was.  I knew that the fifty-thousandish words that I had written in November were waiting for me somewhere in the cloud to mold them into something readable.

Like any prepared writer should, I opened up my laptop, and perused eight different websites about writing.   I read about writing for a good, long time.  Good job, me.  One of the websites I stumbled upon was sixwordmemoir.com. If you haven't ever tried to write a six-word memoir, please try.  Whether or not you decide to post it on the site or not, it is interesting and fun.  But mostly, it is more challenging than you might imagine.

The blank space was open before me.  Six words.  Six words.  I had no words.  In November, I wrote over fifty-thousand words as part of a novel writing challenge.  Apparently, I have none left.  I used them all.  Every. Single. Word.  I could not, for the life of me, find six.  Until I did.  And then I couldn't stop . . .


I had no words left inside.
Deodorant on the counter. Why?
Snow is good.  Sand is better.
Writing a novel is super easy.
Six word sarcasm is super funny.
I think I am still procrastinating.

Anyway, try it out.  It's fun, and it's enlightening to see what others are writing and posting.  While some are funny and clever, there are many six word posts that are powerful, a few words that express more than pages and pages ever could.

My mind felt very closed to the rough draft that was waiting for me today.  I could not have been less inspired to pull out that theoretical red pen to edit myself.  However, in the end, it was writing the uber-edited six-word story that opened the creative door.

What are your six words today?

As I prepare to tackle the rough draft that awaits me (in six-word chunks?) I look forward to adding "write memoir" on my to-do list tomorrow.   Can I change the story of my life every day with a six-word edit?  Count me in and pass the red pen.

COUNT ME IN PASS RED PEN (6)