“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” --What could this story be about? --How does this story’s simplicity still make an impact? (Think about its word choice and its connotations.)

Learning Objectives:  Review diction and its importance in writing.  Practice using precision in language by writing a six-word memoir.

Diction: the author’s choice of words in writing.

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” --Mark Twain Choosing the right word vs. the wrong word can completely change what you want to say. Furthermore, diction is a tool that gives you the ability to communicate EXACTLY what you want to say.

Examples:  The dessert was good.  The chocolate pudding was a delectable, satisfying treat that I had to share with my friends.  The dessert was bad.  The chocolate pudding was a horrid, revolting goop that I had to immediately wash down the sink.

Six-word memoir:  The six-word memoir was inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s flash fiction (“baby shoes”).  Just like Ernest Hemingway was challenged to write a complete story in six words, SMITH Magazine challenged writers and authors to do the same, but to instead write a six-word memoir.  Youtube has many examples… and here’s one… 

The purpose of writing a six-word memoir today is to challenge you to be as concise as you can while telling your life story. In order to follow the six-word format, you need to choose the exact words that describe you—there’s no room for anything less. Let those words connote what you want your reader to hear.

Your six-word memoir:  You need to write a sentence that is your life story in six words.  You may use any kind of punctuation you want—and don’t worry too much if it doesn’t make complete sense. The point of this activity is to get you to think about word choice specifically.  If you finish your sentence and we have time, write 2-3 sentences explaining why you chose those particular words in your sentence.

Anxious puppy inside—remembering to breathe.  I am a little bit of a worrier at heart and I chose “anxious puppy” because I feel like—even though it’s kind of annoying for other people—it’s still a loveable quality of mine.  I also chose to use “remembering to breathe” because I have to remind myself sometimes that I need to slow down.

More examples:  “Well, I thought it was funny.” –Stephen Colbert  “Painful nerd kid, happy nerd adult.” –Linda Williamson  “The psychic said I’d be richer.” –Elizabeth Bernstein  “70 years, few tears, hairy ear.” –Bill Querengesser  “Mother of mine, she was divine.” –canadafreeze  “Head screwed on. Body unscrewing. Screwed.” –Staraj  “Malice doesn’t live here any more.” –L2L3  “Too much dreaming, never enough sleep.” –Laconic  “Down for maintenance, be back soon.” –Larry_D._Smith  “You’re not paranoid. We are watching.” –Bullitt