What Would You Tell Your 18-Year-Old Self?
Timeless advice for grads (and the rest of us); Six-Word Reviews; Six-Word tributes to teachers; and more
Featured Classroom: Illustrated Memoirs at NationalHigh Jakarta School, Jakarta, Indonesia
At NationalHigh Jakarta School of Piaget Academy in Jakarta, Indonesia, First Language English teacher Hannia Dergongan Marohombsar and her students create beautifully illustrated memoirs. “I normally use the Six-Word Memoirs as one of my several strategies to jump start my topic on narrative writing,” says Marohombsar, “and it works every time!” This year, in a new twist that other teachers have popularized, Marohombsar had her students create and showcase illustrated Six-Word Memoirs for the school’s annual English week. See more of their illustrations on our Six Words in School section where we feature the work of students across the world and offer our free teacher’s guides.
Draw It in Six!
Behold “Stepping from one story to another,” by Shannon McLeroy, a student at the Kansas City Art Institute where professor John Ferry leads a semester-long illustrated Six-Word Memoir module. Want to have your illustrated work or the work of your students featured? Head over to our submissions guide.
Short Cuts: Six Word Reviews
From Substack: Mastering the art of the Q&A is harder than it looks, which is why I am loving Nish Nadaraja’s In Search of Lost Answers. Modeled on The Proust Questionnaire, Nadaraja thinks “there are certain questions that get at the heart of why we exist, what it means to be human.” He asks questions such as “What is your idea of perfect happiness?”, “What is the trait you most deplore in yourself and others?”, and “What is your greatest extravagance?”, among others, in his interviews with compelling characters from the worlds of art, business, technology, design, and education.
My Six-Word Review: “Nish’s niche: unquestionably insightful, addictive interviews.”
From the World: The long awaited second season of Netflix's Love, Death, and Robots launched this past week. As an anthology of distinct animation styles, each short episode revels in harrowing conflicts, evolving technology, and the unexpected perseverance of humanity.
Six-Word Memoirs’ intern Danielle Shum’s Six-Word Review: "Imaginative animation masterfully conveys futuristic fables."
Six-Word Search: "Teachers"
The end of a challenging school year is yet another good reason to acknowledge and celebrate the efforts of our amazing teachers. Here are some of our favorites “teacher” stories on www.sixwordmemoirs.com.
"I called my English teacher 'Mom'..." —alovescoffee
"Teaching teenagers keeps me angsty, y'all." —Ellis Reyes
"I'm a teacher, not a Siri." —Kathryn Campbell
"Students blossom, teacher digs next garden." —MrC
"I have become my teacher's teacher." —BecomingLuke
"Threw myself a Teacher Appreciation party." —Michelle Wolff
What should we search next?
Six Contest: 6 Words For Your 18-Year-Old Self
Who doesn’t wish they knew then what they know now (to paraphrase that perfect line from the song “Ooh La La” by The Faces)? With graduation season in full effect, for SixContest #139, we’re asking you to write a six-word letter to your eighteen-year-old self.
Some Sixers offer insight on questionable decisions ("Don't do the knife game drunk." —Ms. Denaro) and dealing with life’s tough times (“Sometimes it helps just to breathe.” —eprichett). Others counsel to stay true to themselves ("Embrace your inner nerd. She's extraordinary." —Neesha101). And many of you remind your past selves that no matter how carefully you may want to, no one can know where the road will lead you (“Leap off script: plot twists await!” —ceebee). What six-word advice would you offer your eighteen-year-old self?
The contest ends on June 30th. Make sure to submit your memoir over on the contest page on Six-Word Memoirs for a chance to win a Six-Word Memoir book of your choice!
Craft of Writing Tip #8: Cut the Fluff
Get to the point! When writing, it can feel appropriate to go in depth with your story and share all the juicy details—the color of the curtains, the weather that day, what you ate for breakfast. But sometimes, keeping it short and cutting the fluff leads to a more powerful paragraph. That doesn’t mean to cut all the details, but make sure everything in your writing has a purpose. And if doesn’t? Out, out damn word! Try taking a story or memoir you’ve already written and distill it down to six words (don’t fret over the long version—you can use it as a backstory). Here are a few Six-Word Memoirs that exemplify Writing Tip #8: Cut the fluff.
“Fell off chairlift, dragged up mountain” —jl333
“Directional arrows. Gone, but not forgotten.” —enginethatcould
“Dad’s cancer left me breathing alone.” —lindygiggles
“Your eyebrows will grow back...soon.” —AnneWasHere
“Fled the psych ward; ran ultra-marathons.” -JMThompson
Do what you have to do
Don't take anything too personally. *Anything.*