Have you heard of the Six-Word Memoir? Exactly what it sounds like, it’s six words that sum up your life, a phrase that was officially coined by Larry Smith in 2006 and has become a global phenomenon.
Sounds challenging, doesn’t it?
Smith, editor of SMITH magazine, asked his readers to describe their life in six words, and the idea stuck. Since then, thousands of folks have submitted their own Six-Word Memoirs.
Need an example? Perhaps the most famous Six-Word Memoir is “For sale: baby shoes, never worn,” often attributed to Ernest Hemingway.
We think you should try writing a Six-Word Memoir too.
TL;DR
A six-word memoir is a self-contained life story told in exactly six words, popularized by SMITH magazine editor Larry Smith in 2006. Writers use it to surface their core theme, sharpen their voice, and build a foundation for a full-length memoir. The most famous example: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn” is often (incorrectly) attributed to Hemingway.
What is a six-word memoir?
A six-word memoir is a complete life story compressed into exactly six words. The format was popularized by SMITH magazine editor Larry Smith in 2006 and has since generated thousands of submissions, books, and a global creative writing tradition.
Six-word memoirs aren’t literal summaries, they’re poetic distillations. The goal isn’t to fit a timeline into six words; it’s to capture the emotional truth of an experience, identity, or transformation so completely that the reader fills in the rest.
The format works because constraint forces clarity. With only six words, every filler is exposed. Writers who can’t find their theme in 60,000 words often find it the moment they’re forced to find it in six.
Why should you write a Six-Word Memoir?
Writing a six-word memoir helps you identify your story’s core theme, sharpen your voice, and build a foundation for a full-length memoir. It’s also a useful “elevator pitch” tool when describing your book to readers, agents, or media.
Five reasons memoir writers use the exercise:
- Surfaces your core theme. With only six words to summarize a life, you’re forced to identify the single thread that connects everything.
- Trains concise writing. Memoir prose lives or dies on word economy. Six-word memoirs are concentrated practice.
- Breaks first-draft paralysis. It’s a low-stakes way to start putting your life on the page when a blank manuscript feels impossible.
- Doubles as a marketing hook. A great six-word version of your book becomes a tagline, social caption, or back-cover quote.
- Reveals what you actually want to write about. What you instinctively put in those six words is usually what your full memoir is really about.
If you’re at the very beginning of the process, our guide on how to start a memoir walks through the next 12 steps after this one.
How to write a Six-Word Memoir in 3 steps
Unlike some writing prompts that encourage long paragraphs, this writing exercise is meant to encourage depth yet simplicity. Don’t overthink it! You’ll inevitably start with more than six words – but you’ll get there in the end.
To write a six-word memoir, reflect on the defining themes of your life, condense those reflections into six weighted words, then edit until every word earns its place. Most writers go through 5–10 drafts before landing on the right one.
Step 1: Reflect on your story so far
Before you write a single word, surface the raw material. Look at your life for the moments, emotions, and lessons that show up repeatedly. Those patterns are your theme.
Ask yourself:
- What’s the single most pivotal moment of my life so far?
- What emotion or lesson keeps recurring across different chapters?
- If I could only pass on one truth from my experience, what would it be?
- What do friends or family always say about me?
- What story do I keep telling, even when no one asks?
Write freely. You’re looking for the one or two threads that pull through everything. For deeper reflection prompts, our memoir writing prompts library has 75+ to draw from.
Step 2: Choose your six words
Now compress. Take the rawest, most honest version of what surfaced in step one and strip it down to exactly six words.
Three rules for word selection:
- Every word must carry weight. No “the,” “a,” or “very” unless they’re earning emotional load.
- Choose evocative over literal. “Lost everything, found myself” beats “Got divorced and went to therapy” every time.
- Aim for tension or transformation. The strongest six-word memoirs imply a before-and-after.
Expect to write 10+ drafts. Your first attempts will be too literal, too vague, or too long. That’s normal. Keep cutting.
Step 3: Edit and refine your memoir
After writing your Six-Word Memoir, take some time away from it to give your brain a break. Here at Self Publishing, we always tell our authors to “never edit while writing.”
But when you come back to it, do so with a critical eye.
Are there words you can remove or replace with more evocative words? Are you aptly conveying your message? Is your short memoir clear and impactful?
25+ Six-Word Memoir examples
Here are six-word memoirs grouped by theme to help spark your own. These are the kinds of compressed stories the format produces at its best: emotional, specific, and quietly devastating.
On growth and reinvention
- “Dreamed big, stumbled often, never stopped.”
- “Lost keys, found purpose, changed locks.”
- “Failed often, succeeded where it mattered.”
- “Chased dreams, caught flights, built reality.”
- “Wanderlust-filled, finally found home within myself.”
- “Dreamed big, stumbled, rose stronger.”
On love and loss
- “Loved, lost, found strength in healing.”
- “Found true love, married someone else.”
- “Built bridges, burned some, found peace.”
- “Whispers of yesterday, echoes shaping today.”
- “Rainbows followed storms, light after darkness.”
- “Embraced flaws, painted life with authenticity.”
On identity and quiet rebellion
- “Quiet rebel, loud thoughts, silent victories.”
- “Raised by wolves, now leading pack.”
- “Broke rules, mended hearts, embraced chaos.”
- “Danced through life’s storms, found sunshine.”
The most famous six-word story
The most famous six-word story, “For sale: baby shoes, never worn”, is often credited to Ernest Hemingway, though there’s no documented evidence he wrote it. The earliest known versions appear in newspaper classified columns from 1906, decades before the Hemingway attribution. Whoever wrote it, the story remains the gold standard for the format: implied tragedy, complete arc, six words.
For more examples of compressed life stories, our roundup of memoir examples covers full-length books that achieve the same emotional density across hundreds of pages.
Six-word memoirs from famous people
Larry Smith has collected six-word memoirs from hundreds of celebrities and public figures. A sample:
- Stephen Colbert: “Well, I thought it was funny.”
- Jane Goodall: “Motherhood, activism, discovering the unknown together.”
- Joan Baez: “Still searching for that perfect note.”
- Dave Eggers: “Fifteen years since last professional haircut.”
- Joyce Carol Oates: “Revenge is living well, without you.”
- Whoopi Goldberg: “Everything in life is beautiful. Y’all.”
- Sherman Alexie: “Despite illness, wife, dog survived me.”
- Al Roker: “Loved meteorology, but storms pass by.”
- Nora Ephron: “Secret of life: marry an Italian.”
Notice how few of these are heavy. A six-word memoir doesn’t have to be devastating to work, it just has to be specific and true.
4 creative writing exercises using the six-word memoir
The format isn’t a one-shot. Most memoir writers use it repeatedly as a thinking tool. Here are four variations that double as memoir prep work.
1. A memoir for each chapter of your life
Break your life into seasons, childhood, college, first job, parenthood, illness, a major loss, and write a six-word memoir for each. The collection becomes a structural skeleton for your full memoir.
2. A memoir for each of your identities
You’re not just one thing. Mother, founder, daughter, immigrant, recovering addict, athlete. Each identity has its own story. Write six words for each. Look for the contradictions; that’s where the most interesting memoir material lives.
3. A memoir using metaphor
Constrain yourself to a single metaphor field (nature, sports, weather, food, music) and write your life inside it. “Slow simmer, sudden boil, served warm.” The metaphor frame often reveals truths a literal version can’t.
4. A memoir about transformation
Pick the single biggest before-and-after of your life. Compress it to six words that imply both states without naming them. “Walked in stranger, left as mother.”
If these exercises light something up, the natural next step is structure. Our guide on how to write a memoir outline shows how to turn surfaced themes into a chapter-by-chapter plan.
From six words to a full memoir
A six-word memoir is the start, not the finish. The point of the exercise is to find the thread that pulls a 50,000-word book together. Once you’ve found it, the work shifts.
Here’s how the same theme might scale across formats:
| Format | Length | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Six-word memoir | 6 words | Surface the core theme |
| Memoir tagline | 1 sentence | Marketing hook for cover/ads |
| Book description | 150–250 words | Amazon listing, back cover |
| Memoir outline | 1–3 pages | Chapter-by-chapter structure |
| Full memoir | 50,000–60,000 words | The book itself |
The writers who finish their memoirs are usually the ones who do this compression work before they start drafting, not the ones who write 80,000 words and then try to find the theme. For more on the genre as a whole, see what is a memoir and our list of creative memoir ideas if you’re still searching for your subject.
Six-word memoir FAQ
How many words should a six-word memoir be?
A six-word memoir must be exactly six words, no more, no less. The constraint is the entire point. Hyphenated words generally count as one word, but rules vary by publication or contest.
Can a six-word memoir become a real book?
Yes. SMITH magazine has published multiple bestselling collections of six-word memoirs, and individual writers have used the format as the kernel of full-length memoirs. The six-word version often becomes the book’s tagline or central tension.
What’s the difference between a six-word memoir and a six-word story?
A six-word memoir is autobiographical. It captures something true about the writer’s life. A six-word story is fiction. The famous “baby shoes” line is technically a six-word story, not a memoir.
How long should I spend writing one?
Plan on 30–60 minutes for a serious attempt: 10 minutes reflecting, 15–20 minutes drafting variations, then a 24-hour break before refining. Most writers go through 5–10 drafts before landing on a final version.
Do I need to publish my six-word memoir?
No. Most writers use the exercise privately as a thinking tool. If you do want to share, SMITH magazine still accepts submissions, and the format performs well as social content (Instagram captions, X posts, LinkedIn personal posts).
What’s your Six-Word Memoir?
The hardest part of writing a memoir isn’t the writing, it’s deciding what your story is actually about. Six words won’t write the book for you, but they’ll tell you what the book is.
If you’ve got the theme but the full manuscript still feels impossible, that’s the gap most memoir writers never cross alone. At selfpublishing.com, we coach memoir writers through every stage (from theme to outline to launch) with 1:1 support. Explore our memoir program to see how we help authors turn a single thread of truth into a finished book.
Six words to start. Sixty thousand to finish. Both are possible.
