Life’s Weirder Than Fiction

Wired magazine asked 33 well-known writers to write a six word story:

“We’ll be brief: Hemingway once wrote a story in just six words (”For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”) and is said to have called it his best work. So we asked sci-fi, fantasy, and horror writers from the realms of books, TV, movies, and games to take a shot themselves.”

Here are some of my favorites:

• Machine. Unexpectedly, I’d invented a time - Alan Moore
• Longed for him. Got him. Shit. - Margaret Atwood
• It cost too much, staying human. - Bruce Sterling
• The baby’s blood type? Human, mostly. - Orson Scott Card
• Tick tock tick tock tick tick. - Neal Stephenson
• New genes demand expression — third eye. - Greg Bear
• Bush told the truth. Hell froze. - William Gibson
• Sum of all fears: AND patented. - Charles Stross
• Time traveler’s thought: “What’s the password?” - Steven Meretzky
• Dorothy: “Fuck it, I’ll stay here.” - Steven Meretzky

Five artists used these six-word stories and turned them into art.

The six-word story is not a new concept, but it’s been a long time since it was done. They’re almost a shortened form of haiku. Here are some of my own:

• Black cat, evil eyes, sweet talk.
• Dappled sunlight, field flowers — red puddle
• Knight, Dragon, a kill. No Damsel.
• My favorite jam; my body, dead.

Can you generate your own? If you do, send them to me at telecarb(at)hotmail(dot)com (add the @ and . in the email address), and I’ll post them on my blog.