This story's just six words long - The online computery journal thingy of a turtle
Oct. 25th, 2006
06:59 pm - This story's just six words long
Wired Magazine has an article titled Very Short Stories: stories of only six words, written by 33 famous authors.
This article is a fun and quick read, and it got me thinking. First, I was reminded of Isaac Asimov's short story "Silly Asses", which I realized could easily be crunched down to six words:
"A-bomb tests on OWN PLANET? Dumbasses."
And then I came up with a six-word version of the entire Harry Potter series, including the not-yet-written seventh book:
Survived evil wizard. Kill him someday!
Ooo, I can also trim Arthur C. Clarke's 10-word story, thus:
God: "Cancel GENESIS.EXE." No more universe.
What other stories can be shortened to six words (or fewer)?
Current Mood:
terse

Current Music: Weird Al - (This Song's Just) Six Words Long
Complicated outer space desert planet wars.
Hell's Angels(Hunter Thompson):
Nosy writer got stomped by bikers.
The Master Key(l. Frank baum):
Humanity isn't ready for imaginary gadgets.
"Holden Caulfield sulks around New York."
Gatsby had a fairly good day.
Sauron rose and fell. Bad ring!
"She's a bit young, isn't she?"
George's Marvellous Medicine:
"Poisoned grandmothers grow large then disappear"
Fight Club:
"Bish bash wallop punch smack wibble"
Jesus was human after all too! (DaVinci Code)
Virus clears battleground; good versus evil. (The Stand)
Searching for what's inside takes time. (Wizard of Oz)
Some of my old ones:
"The Loin King" (Tarzan)
"Swine Trek: First Contact" (Muppets From Space)
"Shaved By the Belle" (Beauty & the Beast)
"Icy dead people." (Titanic)
Burn books! Wait, no, memorize them.
Too easy. How about "Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid:"
Herptile confounds Achilles, brandishing syntactic jigsaws.
Shoot, now that I'm on Hofstadter I have to:
Translate: "Girl, / sick; / recover; / nosh, / girl!"
Prince avenges dad; many more die.
Forbidden lovers get confused, kill themselves. (Actually, this could apply to more than one play I know.)
Men going by Ernest get girls.
Two bums wait endlessly for savior.
French diplomat falls for Chinese... actress?
Mephistopholis betrays warlock with conflicted conscience.
Animals eject humans, run farm.
Lies are truth, government wins.
(And yes, I deliberately was shooting for UNDER six words.)
Animals eject humans, run farm identically.
Melt ring most convoluted way possible.
Liquify ringlet; utilize hardest earthly methods.
(There, six words. :p)
Porcine trio, straw, wood, bricks. 2/3 dead.
Space virus arrives, kills, mutates, harmless.
Two Italians, love. Familes hate. Death.
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway: Old guy goes after big fish.
Moby Dick by Herman Melville: Buncha guys go after big fish.
Jaws by Peter Benchley: Big fish goes after buncha guys.
Maniac Magee: Transient kid unites city, homers amphibian.
Circuit of Heaven: Love in the Matrix; furry servants.