6-Word Memoir Meme « Books Worth Reading

6-Word Memoir Meme

February 28, 2008 at 4:14 pm | In Memes, Writing | 5 Comments
Tags: Joyce Carol Oates, Memoir

I’ll admit that I don’t generally like to read memoirs. I don’t mind memoirs if they are well written; I’ll read anything that’s well written. But it seems like anyone who is remotely famous feels obligated to write a memoir, even if they are way too young to have done anything memorable enough to write about. So I avoid the genre generally.

A 6-word memoir is a different story. Can you sum up your life in 6 words? It’s a challenge. Apparently, there is a collection of these brief little memoirs by both well-known and obscure people. I’d imagine that these memoirs are much more compelling than the latest celebrity blathering.

Here are a few examples from the book:

Well, I thought it was funny. — Stephen Colbert

Revenge is living well, without you. — Joyce Carol Oates

Char over at Bloody Hell, It’s a Book Barrage! — a fun blog with a fun title — has tagged me to write my own 6-word memoir. I do my best writing in the car and the shower, which is why so little of it actually makes it to paper, so here’s what I came up with on the way home from work:

Read everything I could; learned something.

That’s it. I don’t usually tag other bloggers for memes, but I invite anyone reading this to play. Please leave a comment here if you do so I can link to you.

5 Comments »

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How about this…

-Didn’t have kids, then I did.

Comment by dylan555 — February 28, 2008 #
Enjoyed your blog and glad you played, your memoir is perfect for a book blogger:)

Comment by bookbabie — March 2, 2008 #
Update: You can also submit your 6-word memoir to Smith magazine. Thanks, bookbabie, for the link.

http://smithmag.net/sixwords/

Comment by Shannon — March 2, 2008 #
well, i was going to suggest either:

“lost in a scary, dark storm”

OR

“wating patiently for a new life”

Comment by Cynthia — April 30, 2008 #
Cynthia: The second one is my favorite.

Comment by Shannon — May 1, 2008 #