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Thursday, April 21, 2011

Telling Your Story In Six Words

(katerha/Flickr)

(katerha/Flickr)

Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleisser of SMITH Magazine tell us about the wildly popular initiative in which they urge readers of their online magazine to contribute six-word stories about their lives. The results have spawned books, a Japanese translation, a multi-city live performance series and a teen website with a rabid fan base.

Here & Now listeners wrote their own six-word memoirs and we’ve assembled this little book of them. Write your own in the comments below and we’ll add it in volume two.

You can view it below or on Scribd. The project was inspired by SMITH Magazine’s Six-Word Memoir® project, sixwordmemoirs.com.

Other stories from Thursday's show

We welcome comments from all of our listeners. Post below. Please stay on topic and be civil. Comments may be moderated by us, but you are solely responsible for the content of your comments.

  • Anonymous

    Meaningful enough not to be condensed.

  • Monica Jo

    Appalachian, now attorney, crippled by loans.

  • Samantha

    Wish: no war, no rape. Love

  • Kathy

    What a Mom!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=513454722 Louise Goldman

    thirty aspirin
    one dog
    still alive

  • Samantha

    I have another one

    Want family. Now have a child.

  • Anonymous

    Lupus cancer still alive not living

  • CC

    Misunderstood.All.My.Life.Need.Change

  • Jbart

    Beautiful boy. Great heart. Mother grief.

  • Peggy dargan

    Still learning to live, not worry.

  • Sherry

    For sale: wheelchair, stroller.
    Caregiving completed.

  • holdfastjohn

    born a sinner. by Christ redeemed.

  • Bobjmartin

    If found, please return my promise.

  • Bobjmartin

    Still wondering, “Should I eat that?”

  • jeff

    Started as felony, now a career.

  • Rich80

    Never got it right, still trying

  • Boakes

    My life; like other but different.

  • Boakes

    My life; like others but different.

    • Logank2010

      love is such a strong word

  • Leebree

    Looked for love. Found at last.

  • PS Frog

    Why am I here?……………

  • Sara Morris

    Timing is everything, get a watch

  • Boakes

    My life left its own impression.

  • Donbott

    Terse.
    I am.
    Live with it.

  • Ker0pi

    Mother, Wife, Friend – No Longer Lost

  • Tim Lamiell

    Got my kids through college. Rest.
    Tim

  • Anonymous

    Memoirs are only interesting when the person writing them has actually done something more than merely living. I apply this to most celebrity memoirs especially.

  • http://www.facebook.com/davis.straub Davis Straub

    Found hang gliding, flying ever since.

  • Barbara

    Married three times much happier alone.

  • Mdale

    one dead, one drunk, two damaged.

  • Tabbetha Mccale

    On air you read someones 6 word piece ” analog man in a
    digital world” BUT ….”analog girl in a digital
    world” is a lyric from an Eryka Badu song.

  • http://profiles.google.com/popholliday Randy Rinaldo

    Humility Has No Bullhorn Experiment Plundered

  • http://www.joscarbittinger.com J. Oscar B.

    Changing your viewpoint changes your views

  • Toddy Glaser

    Toddy

    Independent woman, outside looking in

  • Lily B.

    Lived. Loved. Breathed. But no more.

  • Marlene

    Everything for sale, souls the limit.

  • Marlene

    Being seen and not heard hurts.

  • Molly

    Parents growing frail, loving them NOW.

  • Juanalpha

    Sons 3,000 miles away, Dad insignificant

  • http://www.freestateproject.org Free State Project

    Moving for liberty in our lifetime.

  • Tim Killeen

    Recently realized how awesome I am.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=10201959 Andrew Boehm

    Hates things the Today Show loves.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=10201959 Andrew Boehm

    Hates things the Today Show loves.

  • L.Breeze in San Diego

    I’ll Never Be Anybody’s Hero Now

    I can’t take credit for that though, It’s Morrissey. But still…

  • Aubrey

    Family, Career, Impact. Not enough time.

  • Deepcell

    Hungry ghosts; my tyranny of words.

  • Deepcell

    Longing Reaper, closet beckons, I enter.

  • JS

    Internal living
    leaves little
    to write

  • Deepcell

    Stranger in mirror, with my eyes.

  • Deepcell

    You not alone, we share this.

  • Debgooding

    Feeling lost. Looking for my life.

  • Deepcell

    You Me, look find, hijacked minds.

  • Irene B

    New skis, new poles, new cast.

  • Jen_hurt

    Guilt, guilt, guilt. Thank you, mom.

  • Daniel

    Peaked early. Marble champion second grade.

  • Dan

    I gave up religion for lent.

  • Cbusenbu

    nine semesters…where are the jobs?

  • Flicka70

    My children deserve better from me.

  • Clemment Epps

    10253 Woodyard rd. Greenwood, DE 19950
    clemment epps’ six words or less:
    Slavery without chains, money did this

  • Pagan2323

    Please cease oversharing, turning off radio.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Yvonne-Davis/100000872784750 Yvonne Davis

    Worshiped God. Lost it. Found it!

  • C.Liddelle.A

    Depressed, moved away. Happier now, right?

  • Amander5492

    Rides through life on horse back

  • Vze2qjg5

    Cadillac brain, driven like a Ford.

  • Jamie

    Tired – daughter, caregiver, wife, parent – Tired

  • Ellen Dibble

    Alone, lost.
    Liberated, rooted.
    Thwarted, joined.

  • Egon

    Uninformed — how the military got me.

  • Jayaram

    Some struggle, significant success, still searching

  • Tweety

    Late bloomer; still flowering

  • GoneBananas

    He tried and tried and died.

  • Jcollins64

    Angel guided soul in Earth School

  • Shirley

    Humans need religion to be civilized

  • Future Shock

    Constant struggle to prioritize competing truths

    –Christopher D. Shock

  • Barney

    thirty years constructing now I’m DISTRUCTING

  • Mr. Zuba

    Hiking contemplation, loves life’s ironic meanings

  • Sunshinevmartinez

    Continuously dancing, growing, laughing. Spreading love.

  • Mr. Zuba

    Walking contemplation, loving life’s ironic meanings

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1061272532 Jehna Caron

    Growing body–> growing mind–> growing old.

  • Ronan Short

    Frozen outhouse, no paper, The Times

  • Barbara Short

    Darn house, just wont stay clean

  • Connie

    Pain, illness, death – my constant companions.

  • Anonymous

    Middle child, starving for perfection

  • Capebreton1234

    Life, Death, Art, Beauty, Love, Mystery

  • Ann White

    This is my delayed 6 word memoir:

    grow, bloom, wither, die.
    Repeat.
    Wonderful!

  • Erin

    Stillborn child fighting to know what it means to be alive.

    A few too many words yes but not in meaning.

  • Bartonsmock

    i cooed, i waited, i wept.

  • Cofathome

    Wonder, oppression, depression, meditation, activation, self-possession

  • Frank N. Blunt

    Is this supposed to encourage Dubya?

  • Frank N. Blunt

    A citizen of the Universe.

  • Frank N. Blunt

    Here and Now, time well spent.

  • Pinnywearer

    Eldest child, expected to be perfect…

  • Pingback: J Simens.com » Blog Archive » Story in Six Words includes Title

  • Dsodaisy

    Good times take chances in life

  • Jconstantino

    Helping Daily to Heal the Earth 

  • Julie Constantino

    Love our  earth, don’t destroy it!!!!!

  • Jconstantino

    Love the earth don’t hurt it

  • Jconstantino

    Together we can change the world

  • Libby

    we should  care for the world

  • Veer

    I believed God made Earth perfect.

    (I was wrong)

  • Jconstantino

    Celebrate the rebirth of our world.

  • vëëęr

    I believed God designed Earth perfectly.

    (I was wrong)

  • Lol

    Was in diapers now in thongs.

  • Unknown

    Cell, close minded, emotions locked away

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