Many world-renown writers would write stories up to 2 thousand pages, but there is a writer I would like to talk about today, and he is Ernest Heimingway. Ernest Hemingway, as a young newspaperman in the 1920s, bet his colleagues $10 that he could write a complete story in just six words. And what do you know, he won the bet and the cash prize with this "For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn." Well, that is well down to earth that short, actually this "sentence" does not have a definite story line, in addition, as you read, there would be full stops in between which generates 3 pictures in our minds.
"For sale.": Jumble sale, donation drive
"Baby shoes.":Following the words after the sale, there is a pair of baby shoes
"Never worn.": Then a picture appears sad, "Never" is a very strong and negative word,
now you would think about the bad situation which had happened.
What Hemingway does, and in a tricky way, is leave out everything apart from those words which are going to trigger emotions and leave the reader to fill in the story. It's a trick, but a brilliant one. His story doesn't answer questions, it poses them. Then you might poses a question to the question, "What had happened to the baby!" Then like I indicated earlier, that a bad situation strikes your mind about the baby.
This is a response made by a guy in the forum
"What happened to this baby for whom shoes were bought but which are not now required? Why would a baby no longer require shoes? The responses all seem tragic, death, illness, kidnapping, every one a parent's nightmare. The parents then, or those who placed the advertisement, are the protagonists. The group of characters are unknown, the question of what took the baby. By the time we get to the story it is over and we are left to use our own imaginations to fill in the pieces. We must create, in our own heads, the beginning, middle and probably tragic end. "
From this situation, I feel that a story does not have to be long and exciting, but it can be a sentence consisting of a few meaningful words. When writing compositions, we should try to use powerful words to add the feeling.
"For sale.": Jumble sale, donation drive
"Baby shoes.":Following the words after the sale, there is a pair of baby shoes
"Never worn.": Then a picture appears sad, "Never" is a very strong and negative word,
now you would think about the bad situation which had happened.
What Hemingway does, and in a tricky way, is leave out everything apart from those words which are going to trigger emotions and leave the reader to fill in the story. It's a trick, but a brilliant one. His story doesn't answer questions, it poses them. Then you might poses a question to the question, "What had happened to the baby!" Then like I indicated earlier, that a bad situation strikes your mind about the baby.
This is a response made by a guy in the forum
"What happened to this baby for whom shoes were bought but which are not now required? Why would a baby no longer require shoes? The responses all seem tragic, death, illness, kidnapping, every one a parent's nightmare. The parents then, or those who placed the advertisement, are the protagonists. The group of characters are unknown, the question of what took the baby. By the time we get to the story it is over and we are left to use our own imaginations to fill in the pieces. We must create, in our own heads, the beginning, middle and probably tragic end. "
From this situation, I feel that a story does not have to be long and exciting, but it can be a sentence consisting of a few meaningful words. When writing compositions, we should try to use powerful words to add the feeling.
Trying out
1) Up for rent. Abandoned house. Since 1950. (It gives the feeling of the spooks)
2) Empty field. Damaged land. One tree. (It gives the feeling of curiosity)
1) Up for rent. Abandoned house. Since 1950. (It gives the feeling of the spooks)
2) Empty field. Damaged land. One tree. (It gives the feeling of curiosity)
Isn't it amazing that a person can tell an entire story with just six words? I have also heard of that person before, and I was amazed that he actually did it. I read about him in a book given to my parents by the school during a talk or something and inside there are also other examples of six word stories written by some Hwa Chong students. They are really amazing. Let me try too!
ReplyDeleteA war. A bomb. Thousands killed.
Yeah it sounds too simple, I know. :(