Things Don't Have To Be Complicated: Illustrated Six-Word Memoirs by Students Making Sense of the World

Six-Word Memoirs

by Larry Smith

What would you say if you had just six words to define your life? That’s the challenge Larry Smith presented to his online community, SMITH Magazine, in 2006. His quest was inspired by the legend that Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to write a novel in just six words. His heartbreaking result: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Giving the form a personal twist, Smith reimagined the six-word novel idea as the Six-Word Memoir, challenging contributors to create a half-dozen words of self-reflection. The constraint, it turned out, fueled rather than inhibited creativity: “Sometimes lonely in a crowded bed.” “My life made my therapist laugh.” “Wasn’t born a redhead — fixed that.” “I still make coffee for two.” Inspired by Six Words’ popularity in English classes and art classes alike, Smith recently called for submissions for illustrated Six-Word Memoirs, in which he asked students, whether in grade school or grad school, to create a piece of artwork that enhanced their memoirs. The voices in 'Things Don’t Have to Be Complicated' are younger than those of previous memoirists, but no less profound: “Said he loved me, he lied.” “Two girls, both of them me.” “Big dreams, big heart, big mouth.” “I’m a Muslim, not a terrorist.” “Life is better with headphones on.” This book contains dozens more. At its core, the Six-Word Memoir offers a simple way for anyone of any age to try to answer the question that defines us all: Who am I?

Genres: Nonfiction

136 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2012

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Larry Smith is the founder of The Six-Word Memoir® Project, a bestselling series of nine books, board game, live event program, and a global phenomenon found in classrooms, conferences, and corporate settings alike.

Larry speaks on the power of personal storytelling across the world. He has been invited to work with teams at Twitter, Levi’s, JPMorgan Chase, Snapchat, Dell, Yelp, Shutterfly, ESPN and Google; nonprofits including the Zen Hospice Project and Dress For Success, as well as foundations, philanthropies, and schools. He’s a frequent speaker at conferences such as TEDx, PopTech, Summit Series (called “Davos for the Millennials”), the AARP 50+ Convention. He teaches the class, “What’s Your Story? How to Deliver an Authentic Elevator Pitch” in private sessions and on-site at companies.

Prior to founding the Six-Word Memoir project, Larry had a robust career in journalism. He was articles editor of Men’s Journal, executive editor of Yahoo! Internet Life, senior editor at ESPN The Magazine, a founding editor of P.O.V. and editor-in-chief of its sister publication, EGG. While living in San Francisco, he was managing editor of the wire/syndication service AlterNet and an editor at Dave Eggers' Might Magazine. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, ESPN Magazine, Popular Science, Men’s Health, Salon, Slate, Buzzfeed, and has contributed essays to many anthologies, including Modern Love: 50 True and Extraordinary Tales of Desire, Deceit, and Devotion and The End of the Golden Gate: Writers on Loving and (Sometimes) Leaving San Francisco.

He lives in Berkeley, CA, with his wife, the writer Piper Kerman, and their son.

Reviews

[George · Rating 3 out of 5]

ENJOYABLE ENOUGH.

Things Don't Have To Be Complicated: Illustrated Six-Word Memoirs by Students Making Sense of the World (TED Books), by Larry Smith is a light, quick and enjoyable read. I especially like the layout and presentation--great for reading on a tablet.

Recommendation: A fun read, perhaps of special interest to art teachers.

TEDbook

[Jane Gomez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Useful and Inspiring!

This short compilation of Six Word Stories/Memoirs is such an interesting read. I enjoyed reading the stories myself and I will be using these stories with my middle school ELA students. Wonderful!

[Kayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, but lovely.

[Chess · Rating 4 out of 5]

In style of this book, my review will be six words, "Six words are more than enough"

(And if they aren't, here is a bonus six words, "Small children have the greatest memoirs")