Once I attempted a six word story challenge. It was dismal. So this week when Adam Ickes posted his Six on the Sixth Prompt I was simultaneously inspired and chicken shit.
Seriously! After reading Hemingway’s example “For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.” how can one possibly create a six word story? Those are huge shoes to fill. At least that was the paralyzing chatter in my head. The ability to convey a world in a literary grain of sand feels like discovering the holy grail of communication. I knew the only way through my fear was over it.
Adam provided word prompts to choose from: Love, Evil, Dinner, Animals, Circus and Grunge. Pick one word as the theme and write he said. Right………Right?……WRITE!
So in the end I decided to scribble personal ads for circus performers- a combo love/circus theme. Here goes nothing:
Under the Big Top
Trapezist looking for a soft landing.
Clown hopes you’ll honk his horn.
Tightrope walker craves partner for balance.
Bearded Lady seeks razor sharp wit.
Human Canonball yearns for straight shooter.
Fire-eater wants mate to ignite spark.
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Hey, what were you so worried about? These are great and friggin’ hilarious! I just read them out to my sister and we got a kick out of it. If your first shot at it was “dismal” then you either freakishly improved or you’re underestimating yourself.
Hala- I have freakishly improved and no doubt underestimate myself. I also wrote a bunch more of them and then had a good and funny friend read them. With her feedback ie did she laugh I selected my 6.
A great read.
Thanks. I had fund with this one.
I loved these. Made me smile. My favourite has to be the Bearded Lady one.
She’s my fav too. Glad them made you smile. I had fun with these.
I loved this. It all tied into circus so well and carried the love theme with it.
Thanks Maryann. I had fun getting over my fear of six little words. Glad you enjoyed it too.
These are great! A fun, clever, creative idea to go with personal ads for circus performers. Thanks for the smiles and laughs!
Thank you. I have fun with this one. There were others involving a Mahout and trunks and jugglers and balls but I tried to keep my six less shocking.
These are awesome! I love your theme of circus personal ads. Very clever. My favorite is the Clown, but Bearded Lady is a close second.
Thanks Lisa. Like I said your bilateral trapezist deserves her own personal ad. You created such incredibly deep circus characterizations they would have the most interesting love inquiries. I had a friends help on the clown. I was focused on the red foam nose. She pointed out the horn. Got to love creative collaborators.
It’s funny how you can get fixated on one thing when writing. I never thought of a clown horn or big red nose; I was stuck on the face makeup. I looked up photos of the circus to get more ideas.
I did process face paint. I kept think something about getting in the mood. Or body paint reference but abandoned it for the more obvious double entendre.
Not bad I’d say!!
Thanks Sandra. I found this challenging in the best possible way.
Quirky and fun, especially the clown one. Had me laughing.
You did great. Nothing to be ashamed of there. Thanks for joining in.
Also, I fixed your link. You had the name and url reversed. No biggie.
Thank you. Call it a dyslexic morning.