Slowing Down Time in Writing

     One powerful strategy to use to slow down students' writing is the Six Word Memoir. As the name suggests in the Six Word Memoir, there are only six words in this narrative and "every word is on trial," meaning that every single word is critical to the story (Saunders & Smith, 2014, p. 600). The strategy is partially inspired by Ernest Hemingway's piece ("For sale: baby shoes, never worn.") and encourages writers of all ages to define themselves as both authors and individuals through a brief but cohesive memoir (Saunders & Smith, 2014, p. 600). 

 

     In a Six Word Memoir, writers are challenged to tell their life's story (or a large part of it) in six impactful words, sometimes accompanied by an image. This exercise "[promotes] writing for the sake of expression," which is a change of pace for many students who are interested in finding their voices but often accustomed to uninterested prompts leading them nowhere. When writing my own Six Word Memoir, I knew I wanted to focus on positivity and optimism since these are two traits that are important to me. Since this is my first draft, I chose to use my own picture but will eventually find a royalty-free image that resonates with my memoir. 

 

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