Six-word Fiction

[Jun]

I was looking for some info on Ursula LeGuin and found this article on Wired magazine:

Very Short Stories
33 writers. 5 designers. 6-word science fiction.



Feature:
Very Short Stories Gallery
Contributors

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.

Dozens of our favorite auteurs put their words to paper, and five master graphic designers took them to the drawing board. Sure, Arthur C. Clarke refused to trim his ("God said, 'Cancel Program GENESIS.' The universe ceased to exist."), but the rest are concise masterpieces.

Failed SAT. Lost scholarship. Invented rocket.
- William Shatner

Computer, did we bring batteries? Computer?
- Eileen Gunn

Vacuum collision. Orbits diverge. Farewell, love.
- David Brin

Gown removed carelessly. Head, less so.
- Joss Whedon

Automobile warranty expires. So does engine.
- Stan Lee

Machine. Unexpectedly, I’d invented a time
- Alan Moore

Longed for him. Got him. Shit.
- Margaret Atwood

His penis snapped off; he’s pregnant!
- Rudy Rucker

From torched skyscrapers, men grew wings.
- Gregory Maguire

Internet “wakes up?” Ridicu -
no carrier.
- Charles Stross

With bloody hands, I say good-bye.
- Frank Miller

Wasted day. Wasted life. Dessert, please.
- Steven Meretzky

“Cellar?” “Gate to, uh … hell, actually.”
- Ronald D. Moore

Epitaph: Foolish humans, never escaped Earth.
- Vernor Vinge

It cost too much, staying human.
- Bruce Sterling

We kissed. She melted. Mop please!
- James Patrick Kelly

It’s behind you! Hurry before it
- Rockne S. O’Bannon

I’m your future, child. Don’t cry.
- Stephen Baxter

1940: Young Hitler! Such a cantor!
- Michael Moorcock

Lie detector eyeglasses perfected: Civilization collapses.
- Richard Powers

I’m dead. I’ve missed you. Kiss … ?
- Neil Gaiman

The baby’s blood type? Human, mostly.
- Orson Scott Card

Kirby had never eaten toes before.
- Kevin Smith

Rained, rained, rained, and never stopped.
- Howard Waldrop

To save humankind he died again.
- Ben Bova

We went solar; sun went nova.
- Ken MacLeod

Husband, transgenic mistress; wife: “You cow!”
- Paul Di Filippo

“I couldn’t believe she’d shoot me.”
- Howard Chaykin

Don’t marry her. Buy a house.
- Stephen R. Donaldson

Broken heart, 45, WLTM disabled man.
- Mark Millar

TIME MACHINE REACHES FUTURE!!! … nobody there …
- Harry Harrison

Tick tock tick tock tick tick.
- Neal Stephenson

Easy. Just touch the match to
- Ursula K. Le Guin

Special Web-only edition: We were unable to include these 59 stories in the print magazine.

New genes demand expression -- third eye.
- Greg Bear

K.I.A. Baghdad, Aged 18 - Closed Casket
- Richard K. Morgan

WORLD'S END. Sic transit gloria Monday.
- Gregory Benford

Epitaph: He shouldn't have fed it.
- Brian Herbert

Batman Sues Batsignal: Demands Trademark Royalties.
- Cory Doctorow

Heaven falls. Details at eleven.
- Robert Jordan

Bush told the truth. Hell froze.
- William Gibson

whorl. Help! I'm caught in a time
- Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel

Nevertheless, he tried a third time.
- James P. Blaylock

God to Earth: “Cry more, noobs!”
- Marc Laidlaw

Help! Trapped in a text adventure!
- Marc Laidlaw

Thought I was right. I wasn't.
- Graeme Gibson

Lost, then found. Too bad.
- Graeme Gibson

Three to Iraq. One came back.
- Graeme Gibson

Rapture postponed. Ark demanded! Which one?
- David Brin

Dinosaurs return. Want their oil back.
- David Brin

Bang postponed. Not Big enough. Reboot.
- David Brin

Temporal recursion. I'm dad and mom?
- David Brin

Time Avenger's mistaken! It wasn't me...
- David Brin

Democracy postponed. Whence franchise? Ask Diebold...
- David Brin

Cyborg seeks egg donor, object ___.
- David Brin

Deadline postponed. Five words enough...?
- David Brin

Metrosexuals notwithstanding, quiche still lacks something.
- David Brin

Brevity’s virtue? Wired saves adspace. Subscribe!
- David Brin

Death postponed. Metastasized cells got organized.
- David Brin

Microsoft gave us Word. Fiat lux?
- David Brin

Mind of its own. Damn lawnmower.
- David Brin

Singularity postponed. Datum missing. Query Godoogle?
- David Brin

Please, this is everything, I swear.
- Orson Scott Card

I saw, darling, but do lie.
- Orson Scott Card

Osama’s time machine: President Gore concerned.
- Charles Stross

Sum of all fears: AND patented.
- Charles Stross

Ships fire; princess weeps, between stars.
- Charles Stross

Mozilla devastates Redmond, Google’s nuke implicated.
- Charles Stross

Will this do (lazy writer asked)?
- Ken MacLeod

Cryonics: Disney thawed. Mickey gnawed. Omigawd.
- Eileen Gunn

WIRED stimulates the planet: Utopia blossoms!
- Paul Di Filippo

Clones demand rights: second Emancipation Proclamation.
- Paul Di Filippo

MUD avatars rebel: virtual Independence Day.
- Paul Di Filippo

We crossed the border; they killed us.
- Howard Waldrop

H-bombs dropped; we all died.
- Howard Waldrop

Your house is mine: soft revolution.
- Howard Waldrop

Warskiing; log; prop in face.
- Howard Waldrop

The Axis in WWII: haiku! Gesundheit.
- Howard Waldrop

Salinger story: three koans in fountain.
- Howard Waldrop

Finally, he had no more words.
- Gregory Maguire

There were only six words left.
- Gregory Maguire

In the beginning was the word.
- Gregory Maguire

Commas, see, add, like, nada, okay?
- Gregory Maguire

Weeping, Bush misheard Cheney’s deathbed advice.
- Gregory Maguire

Corpse parts missing. Doctor buys yacht.
- Margaret Atwood

Starlet sex scandal. Giant squid involved.
- Margaret Atwood

He read his obituary with confusion.
- Steven Meretzky

Time traveler's thought: "What's the password?"
- Steven Meretzky

I win lottery. Sun goes nova.
- Steven Meretzky

Steve ignores editor's word limit and
- Steven Meretzky

Leia: "Baby's yours." Luke: "Bad news…"
- Steven Meretzky

Parallel universe. Bush, destitute, joins army.
- Steven Meretzky

Dorothy: "Fuck it, I'll stay here."
- Steven Meretzky


© Copyright© 1993-2006 The Condé Nast Publications Inc. All rights reserved.

So cool. Here's my stab at a 6-word story:

He licked my thoughts, brought thrills.

The sky cracked open, stars fell.

Humans surrendered in war with X-Virus.

Come join the game. Please post any story you can think of. Sci Fi would be nice but not necessary!

[密斯张三]

唔，我见过有55 fiction，当然这个更走火入魔。

my casino royale summary:
Defibrillate yourself.

[Jun]

Nobody else wants to play this game? I'm so disappointed...

Another 2:

Baby skeletons found dumped on highway.

Oops, President hit "Launch" botton accidentally.

[CAVA]

又要开头结尾还要中间，6个字太难了。

我这里有个新闻版，不过只是个开头：

Five prostitutes murdered in ten days

英国最近的大新闻：小城连环杀人案。好象侦探小说的情节，目前似乎还没什么线索。

[Jun]

Where in UK? Wow, "Jack the Ripper returns to Britain!"

[CAVA]

A small Suffolk town called Ipswich. Yep, they are comparing 'him' (assuming it is a him) to the infamous Jack.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 50,00.html

[karen]

Wasn't it Hemingway who wrote the famous six-word story: For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.

[Jun]

See the first line of the article I quoted at the top.

[karen]

Oops. Just woke up. Can't see.

[Jun]

Join the game Karen? The brain is most active upon waking...

[tiffany]

play? play:

He/She was born, lived and died.

exactly 6 words, pretty much sums up everybody's life

[Jun]

Cheating! No drama. Too routine. Too predictable. I order Dr. Tiff to produce 10 more unique ones!

[helenClaire]

Something blah but hey, it gives me word surplus: Will you marry me?
Something vague: He quietly presented her the will.
Something to gross you out : She sells breast milk for living.
If you want drama: He sells breast milk for living.

This is hard. Most in Jun's quoted article are like headline news.

The sky cracked open, stars fell.

Could be the beginning or ending of a beautiful poem.

He licked my thoughts, brought thrills.

I like it! Even though I don't know what it means.

It inspired me to write "Let him scream and worship my", ah oh, six words, have to stop

[CAVA]

Who cares. So what. Why bother.

恶人谷六字真经。适用于多数讲述中年人生活的小说。

[Jun]

Helen is my inspiration.

Something blah but hey, it gives me word surplus: Will you marry me?

Will you marry me, dear Martian?

She sells breast milk for living.

Fresh breast milk, $1 per oz.

"Let him scream and worship my", ah oh, six words, have to stop

I love this one, like Ursula LeGuin's entry "Easy, just touch the match to..."

[Knowing]

Mine:
Too succinct to mass-produce six-word fictions.

[Jun]

I'm alive! Where is my head?

[Knowing]

Here is another one straight from New York local news headline:

4am undercoverd-NYPD shot groom-to-be outside stripclub.

[tiffany]

ah... 50 something rounds were shot, 30 something came from one detective. if it is another time, this guy might have gained himself a nickname of fastgun, or something like that.

[豪情]

[Jun]

Take a stab at the romance genre:

-Will you marry me? -Fuck off.

-Handcuffs or blindfold? -No. Ballpoint pen.

-Fourty years later he kissed her.

-I'm pregnant. Divorce her or else.

[icefire]

Rent my body: all utilities included

or
















Rent my body: prefer quiet bacterias...

[Knowing]

That's no romance! This is romance:

--Handcuffs or blindfold? --Maybe scented candles.

[笑嘻嘻]

He back home, rich, heart-broken, one-legged.

[Jun]

He back home, rich, heart-broken, one-legged.

[tiffany]

this is cheating, it is not a sentence, no verb!

[DeBeers]

he went back, rich, hear-broken, one-legged.

[Jun]

I think xiaoxixi's key point is "home." It's eerie and dramatic. I might just steal it one day.

[Knowing]

He came home, rich, heart-broken, one-legged.

[DeBeers]

how about "he returned home, rich, heart-brocken, one-legged" then?
God, it's like revising papers

[helenClaire]

对不起翻出这个旧贴,返校日在写作课上,老师和我们分享了一些学生写的six word memoir:

Age goes up, optimism goes down (老师找这个学生谈心了)
Every moment is an awkward moment
Stressed, depressed, and band-obsessed
Mom, Mom! Can I leave now? (这个真像我儿子的声音 )
Borrowed a womb, now I'm here