I am interested in people's thoughts about the six word story contest. On the page some seem to like it while others don't thin

[BuckTheSystem]

I am interested in people's thoughts about the six word story contest. On the page some seem to like it while others don't think it can do the job. I am reminded of a quote by the philosopher Blaise Pascal after writing a long letter to someone; "I am sorry this was so long, I didn't have the time to make it short." What say you, does a story have to be wordy to be well written?

[Christian Emter]

No. But I agree with bee keeper. a good story must include action and be desrciptive. 6 words is hard to cut it.

[Beekeeper]

No, but six words seems a bit short. "I killed a twelve point buck." Tells a story, but for me the details make it interesting.

[Big O]

A famous arthor said "all a well writen story needs is a begining, a climax, and an ending". Hope this helps.

[BuckTheSystem]

Of course. I see this as an exercise in finding common ground. People tend to get overly wordy and I think that detracts from the story. The best stories are detailed yet concise.

[bonnier-admin_2]

Check out the picture of the grizzly I found yesterday. They sure hate the Alaskan pipe line!

Now thats a picture of a billion words

[bonnier-admin_2]

WOW! DID YOU SEE THAT!

[shane]

The shortest story that doesn't leave one wanting for details is generally best, but I like them right in the middle, plenty of detail, but not too long-winded.

[buckhunter]

A 6 word story is more of a puzzle than a story.

[hunterkid94]

i think 6 words is way to short. honestly it can include a good description to create a picture in your head. Im still in school(8th grade) and in one of my story assinments I used so many descriptive words my dad said he could picture the hunt all over again. so to sum it up you really need to use alot of descriptive words of choice.

[BuckTheSystem]

Yes, but too many descriptive words make a lesser writer look as if they are trying too hard.

[Ed J]

Is the Gettysburg address wordy?

[jasonb]

I think it's an interesting exercise. Some great books and movies have ambiguous endings. It's up to the reader or viewer to use their imagination to fill in the blanks as they see fit. I think the one attributed to Hemingway is a great example of this. It conveys great tragedy, but what tragedy? The obvious one is that a child died either before birth or so soon after birth that they never put the shoes on it. A different version could be that the mother died while carrying the child. A far-fetched version; but one that could fit the story, is a man buys the baby shoes for his pregnant girlfriend; but she runs off with another man before he can give them to her. Silly? maybe, but it fits the story. I consider a six-word story that fires up your imagination "well written".

[chuckles]

The beauty and joy of the English langauge is that it allows accomplished users to convey meaning with very few well chosen words. Good editors and good authors use it well but sparingly. Read a little T.Coraghessan Boyle and then a little James Fenimore Cooper and you will get a sense of what I mean.
6 is tough.

[chuckles]

It also helps if you can spell words like language. D'OH!