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 UNIT 3   Recording 2

I = Interviewer     L = Larry Smith

I:         In the 1920s, Ernest Hemingway bet ten dollars that he could write a complete story in just six words. He wrote, ‘For sale: baby shoes, never worn.’ He won the bet. An American online magazine has now used that to inspire its readers to write their life story in six words and they’ve been overwhelmed by the thousands who took up the challenge. They’ve published the best in a book which they’ve given the title of one of the submissions: Not Quite What I Was Planning. I asked the editor, Larry Smith, what made him think of the idea.

L:       So, we thought, ‘Let’s ask our readers their six-word life story, a memoir’ and see what happened. We really didn’t know what would happen.

I:         And what did happen?

L:       It was incredible. In a couple of months, we got fifteen thousand entries and I was just blown away. Funny, poignant – I really believe that everyone has a story and I was just so inspired by how serious and intense folks took the six-word memoir challenge.

I:         OK, but before we look at the examples. It’s one thing … because the Hemingway is a story, but it’s not a story of a life. That seems to be a bit of a challenge to fit that in six words.

L:       Well, it’s interesting because some folks clearly tried to tell a whole story of a life in six words, and you can tell, and other times they’re telling a moment in their life, right at this moment, something that they’re feeling right now. Or perhaps something that’s been a thread throughout their lives.

I:         Give us some examples.

L:       ‘Wasn’t born a redhead. Fixed that.’ This woman took life under control. Whether she just always felt that her soul was a redheaded soul or simply at some point in life she was going to make a switch. She could have quit her job. She changed her hair colour.

I:         But a lot of them are quite sad or there’s sort of sense of regret or disappointment in a lot of them.

L:       I didn’t expect that. I thought people would come back with a lot of funny things, some playful things, plays on words … but those are really interesting reality. People really told us, ‘It’s tough out there.’ ‘Found true love. Married someone else.’ ‘Never should have bought that ring.’