The Saturday Six Word Story Prompt (6WSP)

Legend has it that six word stories became “a thing” after Hemingway famously won bet with his six word story:

“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

This writing prompt originated due to my at-times-unhealthy obsession with six word stories. That, and the fact that all the bloggers who used to run Saturday Six Word Story Prompts have either made their sites private or stopped the prompts! 😢

So I decided to take matters into my own hands, and thus, the Saturday Six Word Story Prompt aka #6WSP series was born!

Guidelines for the Saturday Six Word Story Prompt Series

  1. A word prompt will be provided every Saturday at 8 PM IST.
  2. The story word limit is 6 words (words, NOT characters!). No more and no less.
  3. There is no limit to the number of stories that you can submit. However, only one will be included in the roundup post.
  4. You need not necessarily use the prompt word in your story. However, your story should be relevant to the prompt.
  5. The content must be original. Plagiarism is unacceptable.
  6. Use the 6WSP image in your post! Click here for the image.
  7. Compound words (words like over-the-counter, ten-year-old, etc) will be treated as a single word. Any other combination of words will be treated as separate words.
  8. Contractions (words like I’ve, can’t, don’t, etc) are allowed and will be counted as a word. However, please don’t use too many contractions in a single story!
  9. Please refrain from using any offensive words. Let’s keep this U-rated, people. (If you’re wondering what U-rated is, that’s just the Indian equivalent of G-rated)
  10. You can submit your six word stories until Friday of the following week.
  11. Please be sure to include a pingback to this post. Never heard of pingbacks? Don’t worry. I’ve got you covered. Click here to know how to include a pingback. Only the responses with a pingback or comment linked to the corresponding prompt post will be included in the roundup post.
  12. Don’t forget to mention the Saturday Six Word Story Prompt (or you can go with 6WSP) in your post.
  13. Share the post on all your social media accounts and help rope in more participants!
  14. Add the tag #6WSP when you share the content on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or any other social media. (This makes it easier for me to find your stories too.)
  15. Let me know that you have participated via comments. Due to moderation issues, pingbacks may take a while to get approved.
  16. Alternatively, you can also submit your six word stories in the comments section of this post.
  17. Once you have done all of the above, please do read and comment on each other’s stories. Remember, reading is half the fun and sharing is caring. 🙂

I will do a round-up post every Friday. So please be sure to participate before time runs out!

P.S: If you have any doubts/suggestions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. The comments section is all yours!

Click here to read all the 6WSP prompts and all the roundup posts.

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© 2019 Shweta Suresh. All rights reserved.

36 thoughts on “The Saturday Six Word Story Prompt (6WSP)”

    1. That’s the beauty of it, chechi. There are so many possible explanations. It could be a fraudster trying to make some money or maybe the parents changed their minds or worst-case scenario, the baby may not have made it.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. I did a similar exercise in my English class a few months back where my teacher explained the meaning of this 6-word story.

        Unfortunately, she stated what you referred to as the worst-case scenario—the baby didn’t make it 😢

        Liked by 2 people

      1. Hey, thanks Shweta. I am very inconsistent, unreliable and disorganised. I tend to react with anything that pops up in front of me – normally with something silly. But I will try to keep an eye out.
        But may I ask you a (most probably very stupid) question? I never know how to politely address someone from the sub continent. I’m a bit of a cricket tragic and I note that there is some inconsistencies in that regard. Imran Khan was always referred to as Imran (which sounds, to a western mind, very familiar) yet Bishen Bedi was always referred to as Bedi. It seems to vary from player to player and doesn’t obviously seem to be a India/Pakistan/Sri Lanka/Bangladesh thing. On the other hand it seemed obvious that calling Sachin Tendulkar‘Sachin’ was being familiar whilst ‘Tendulkar’, which implies Mr Tendulkar would be the formal approach.
        As I say … it is a dumb question, for which I apologise.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. I can be pretty inconsistent at times too. I know it can sound very confusing. I’m perfectly happy to be addressed by my first name. In South India, most people are not addressed a lot by their surnames. So yes, Shweta is perfectly acceptable. I would find it a bit odd to be addressed Miss Suresh because nobody ever calls me that. Thank you for being so polite to reach out to me. 🙂
        That being said, would you prefer Mr. Road or Richmond?

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Ha ha! I’m actually Brutus Richmond, so people call me Brutus. They call me other things too, but I do not repeat those names in polite company.
        So … Shweta it is. Though, should the opportunity arise, Mr Tendulkar is probably the safest bet.

        Liked by 2 people

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