The Challenge

The story goes that Ernest Hemmingway was once challenged to write a complete work of fiction in just six words. His response? An eerily evocative:

“For Sale: Baby Shoes. Never Worn.”

Years later, the challenge was issued worldwide by the storytelling website SmithMag.net: Write your life story in just six words! The result was more than 15,000 submissions and a book, Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure by Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser. Then NPR featured the phenomenon in its piece: Six Word Memoirs: Life Stories Distilled, and the LA Times published a commentary Short on Words, Deep in Meaning. Publishers Weekly wrote:

Can you describe your life in six words? That’s what the editors of storytelling magazine SMITH asked readers in 2006; the results, though decidedly uneven, make for compulsive reading and prove arguably as insightful as any 300+ page biography. Taken as a whole, this cascade of quotes from contributors famous and unknown creates a dizzying snowball effect of perspectives and feelings.

Can I describe my life in 6 words? I took up the gauntlet that was thrown at my feet.

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The Beginnings of my 6-Word Diary

In this blog-happy world of blathering writers ~ of which I am shamelessly one ~ words flow all too freely. As writers, we tend to focus our energies on ways to produce MORE words, not less. The idea of compressing a life into a succinct 6 word message inspired me. Like the fiercest of editors, this exercise calls you to drill down to WHAT IS truly most relevant, important and real.

Intrigued, I committed to try my hand at it in a year-long experiment that began on September 1, 2008. Initially, I created a page to record my attempts on my other blog: Potential Within, a site dedicated to yoga, reflective writing and inspiration. After several months, I was enjoying the process so much that I decided to make the exercise into its own blog, and this site was born.

The Pam-oirs

At the time I started this, the folks at Smith had recently issued another request for 6 word submissions on the topic of motherhood. They called them the “Mom-oirs.” My friend Diane ran with the ball (or more aptly, the keyboard) and suggested that I call my entries “Pam-oirs” and so they were deemed.

I’ve toyed with the idea of explaining the six words in the post that follows ~ sort of a Paul Harvey-esque “Rest of the Story” ~ but I’m not sure if that wouldn’t take away from the mystery of just 6 words. We are intrigued wondering what happened to Hemmingway’s baby. Just think how disappointing to find out it was only an ad on Ebay for some ugly baby shoes he’d received as a gift?!

In addition to the daily Pam-oirs, I’ve created another page on this site ~ Monthly Review ~ to track the patterns and themes that reveal themselves, and the insights that I’ve gleaned from this process. Can you summarize your life in exactly 6 words? Now that’s an interesting question.

Making all days and words count,

Pamela McFarland Walsh

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To view my daily entries, click on the black “home” button above or go to Pamoirs