Writing – Six Word Story

I came across an interesting challenge a couple months ago.

It said every writer should try working in six different writing forms.  The idea was that we should challenge ourselves.

To stretch creatively by stepping outside of our usual forms.

If memory serves it showed up in a forum that focused mostly on long-form writing, which would explain the choices.  They are:

• Poetry
• Six Word Story
• Flash Fiction (50-1k words)
• Short Story
• News Article
• Opinion Piece

I’m always up for a creative challenge, so let’s give it a try.

This month I tried the Six Word Story.  The classic of this style is usually attributed to Ernest Hemingway (although it is virtually certain that he did not write it), which runs “For Sale: Baby Shoes. Never Worn”.  You can fill in all kinds of stories about that.

So here’s my attempt (with an Afterword!)

She is getting on a plane.

In the course of some Uber driving, I was thinking about this challenge.  A passenger told a story about having to get from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh before a special someone flew away.  He claims to have made the drive at 110+ mph in around 3 1/2 hours.  I’ll leave that to the imagination.

But his story popped this one into my head.  And yes, the first thing I thought of was “Love Actually”.

As before, you are invited to play along.  Either here in the comments on your own somewhere.