This was such a fun read. A full story in 6 words.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Undertaker paused when he heard tapping.

She’s right, but has no rights.

[Sentenced removed by the Truth Department]

Such a creative author! And he has several versions of these books.

A very lightweight compilation that provoked interest and amusement. I love the way the author provides instructions for how to write similar stories; could easily be used in a creative writing course.

Some authors take hundreds of pages to tell a single story. Doug Weller has written a book full of stories made up of just six words. Some tales are funny, some are profound, and some can be interpreted in more than one way.

This is such an interesting format. There is so much power and emotion packed into so few words. I look forward to reading more books like this one!

This is a really cool idea, having a whole book made up of random 6-word stories. Some are cute, some are funny, and some are twisted. I really enjoyed reading these fun little stories.

A fun, quick read, good for gifting, especially if you're not sure of the recipient's tastes in books. Will likely inspire the reader to come up with their own six word stories!

#SixWordStory #NetGalley

I had never heard of Six Word Stories. Now I want to read every one! Although this is Part 2, they can be read in any order. I experienced almost every emotion. Much creativity are in these minds! Someday maybe I’ll learn to write one. Great gift!

I so appreciate Mr. Doug Weller. Six Word Story is a delight. Some stories are silly and some serious and heartfelt. I was surprised how easily I was able to laugh or be moved to stop and reflect on what I had read. Sometimes, six simple words are not that simple. Would recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley and Hebe Publications for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Six Word Story by Doug Weller is a collection of micro-fiction. The short stories have different genres, like thrillers, memoirs, humour and drama. It was a joy to read this creative collection,

I truly loved this a bunch. 6 word stories in all shapes and sizes. Found myself being pulled emotionally with each story. The format was a bit hectic but other than that i would love more

4★

“Under floorboards. Staying quiet. Footsteps above.”

Okay, that’s not a whole story, but it’s certainly the first chapter of one. This is the second in a book of six-word stories, and it includes some the author selected from those sent in by readers for the 2020 competition. He does credit them in the book. I've selected a few. (I don't know who wrote what).

Some are scary, like that one, while some could be a proposed rom-com script.

“Attempted sobriety. Tiny drink. Woke married!”

Some are sad, like the famous six-word story the author refers to that so many of us know. It is often attributed to Ernest Hemingway, but I don’t know if anyone knows for sure.

“For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.”

This is one along those lines:

“Proud mother. Heroic son. Folded flag.”

How about this one - the colonial history of so many countries?

“Boat docked. Explorers thrilled. Locals killed.”

It’s tempting to think up an answering one, isn’t it? But instead, I’ll give something along completely different lines. It tickled me because it reminded me of a famous incident in Australian politics a few years ago.

Tony Abbot became the Prime Minister of Australia, but while he was Health Minister, (2005 or so) the story broke that, in his youth, he had fathered a child who was adopted out. He stayed in touch with the child’s mother, and when the identity was revealed of the child, we learned he was now a young man working as a sound recordist in Parliament and had often worked in or around Tony Abbott.

Poignant, yes? Yes, until another of the mother’s boyfriends saw the young man’s photo in the news and recognised the resemblance to his own four kids! Guess what? DNA testing showed he was right. The mother really wanted Abbott to be the father, but, such is life.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/abbotts-love-child-turns-into-shaggy-dog-story-20050322-gdkz77.html

The six-word story that prompted my memory:

“School reunion. Her son resembled me.”

This is fun, and there’s a 2021 competition.

“This is the place for you to enter your six word stories, memoirs, poems, and jokes, with the chance of winning $100, and being named the Six Word Wonder 2021!”
https://www.dougweller.net/six-word-wonder-contest/

[The address in my preview copy was wrong, so I hope it’s been fixed in the real book!]

Thanks to NetGalley and Hebe Publications for the entertaining preview copy.

I loved this book.
Very different.
My first try at something like this. Some were like quotes, while others were actually like plotline or just beginning of some good novel
Enjoyed every story.

Six Word Story by Doug Weller is a fun read for those who don’t have much reading time but like to think about what they read. Every six word story gives a glimpse into a story that could go in many different directions. There’s funny stories like, “landed in free country, shockingly expensive” and then there are heartbreaking stories like, “woke up, got dressed, remembered, collapsed.” These six word stories are perfect for a writer as they could inspire many different stories so they’d make excellent writing prompts to see where your imagination would take you. As a collection, I’d say the stories were okay, but there were some excellent ones mixed in. I would definitely recommend to writers and those who want to try their hand at six word stories as well.
Thank you @netgalley for this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love the "micro-fiction" format and have bought several print books that were topically curated (six words on romance, on death, on one's own epitaph, etc.) --so I eagerly requested this advance readers copy from NetGalley.

Was a bit disappointed. It seemed so scant -- in both quantity and quality. The content reminded me of a parlor game, where people spew out the first phrases that fit the format. It seldom felt as if there was any polishing or deep thought involved.

The publisher's blurb says there are more than 500 entries here, but it seemed like such a quick, insubstantial read to me that I actually counted the stories (I know, too much), and I got a count of 271, for what it's worth. The books I already own are quite thick and have 700 or more stories, just for comparison

I had mixed feelings about the commentary that was interspersed among sections of stories. One of the author's comments referenced the iconic six-word story often attributed to Hemingway: "For Sale. Baby shoes. Never Worn." The author, Doug Weller, draws a parallel between the "baby shoes" structure and the title of Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea."

"Note that, similar to Baby Shoes, every word in the title is one syllable long," Heller wrote. Of course, both baby and never are two-syllable words.

In fact quite a few of the entries in this book were take-offs on the Hemingway theme: For Sale: Baby sheep. Never Shorn. For Sale: used parachute. Never opened. For sale: healthy kidney. Slightly used. And so on. I think there were 8 or 10 variants.

If you fault me for giving such a close reading to a manuscript that was meant to me merely fun, I cop to that. Thanks to NetGalley and Hebe Publications for an ARC.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Writing a compelling story is a challenging task but succeeding in writing six-word stories is another story.
Doug Weller gives great examples of six-word stories in "Six Word Story". Some of these re famous stories and some of them are rewritten versions. Weller also provides readers with tips to write exceptional micro-fictions. Six-word stories need to carefully produced since it might be hard to explain a story in six words. But it also allows the author to create a mysterious work full of references. The short stories in this collection have a wide range of subjects from humourous, sentimental, dark, to provocative.

To be able to write such short stories, the writer needs to be both articulate and persuasive to capture the attention of the readers. I enjoyed reading Doug Weller's compilation as a writer and a poet. It is an inspirational book, which also gave me ideas to write new six-word stories. The book also includes one of the most famous six-word stories: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn", which is mostly attributed to Ernest Hemingway.

I received a eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a short, pleasant read. It made me think a little about the power of words and form. Some were funny, some were sad, some, honestly didn't really connect, but overall it was a fun short read, a good book especially for reading with something heavier, as you do not need to follow a specific plot. Overall 3/5 stars.

Title: Six Word Story
Author: Doug Weller
Pages: 109
Publication Date: 2/18/2021

Six-Word Stories is a collection of microfiction that includes horror tales, drama, comedic stories and memoirs. While I had heard of the concept of microfiction before, I had never really read much. This book was an excellent exposure to the range of stories possible. If you swipe, I have included a variety of the author’s six-word stories so you can get the idea of what it is.

I loved the variety of stories that are included in this book. I particularly loved the horror and dramatic stories the best. It is impressive how six words can deliver such a punch!

What I did not like was that the book intermixed the humorous stories with the more dramatic stories. I felt like I was hoping from dad jokes to Shakespearean tragedy. I would have preferred the author to group them and given the reader a bit more breathing room.

I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to check out microfiction. I will definitely be diving into this genre a bit more in the future.

#sixwordstory #netgalley

I was expecting something at least a little bit more insightful, but this felt like a collection of tweets (and some even had @ tags to give others credit). Many of the 6-word stories weren’t unique and were common recycled plays on words. I can see this book being entertaining to some, but I personally didn’t even find it enjoyable enough to flip through in a waiting room.

Six Word Story by Doug Weller is a super fun read!! I loved the idea that all the stories were told in just six words. All the stories were super creative and most of them left me wanting.more. It was a very quick read and I found myself trying to figure out if I could write a whole story in just six words, it is not as easy as it sounds. Highly recommend!!

Six Word Story by Doug Weller, 88 pages. Hebe Publications, 2021. $7.
Language: PG (2 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG
BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Weller tells several stories with only six words each, inviting every genre -- suspense, comedy, tragedy, and more. Not meant to be rushed through, Weller invites readers to think on the stories to peel back the layers to find the double meanings often hidden. Weller also includes submissions from the 2020 competition and invites readers to submit six word stories of their own for the next one!
The six word stories are intriguing as an idea, but I was disappointed by reading a whole book of them. I think I was disappointed because they didn’t feel as profound when they were side by side for comparison. Some of the stories were clever, but the majority of them were average. The mature content rating is for innuendo and mention of sex.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

To be honest, this book got old for me really fast. I love Hemingway's original 6 word story and I love succinct writing like haikus where you have to pack a lot of meaning into a few words so I thought this would be right up my alley. I kept feeling like it would be better as a Twitter feed where you saw one a day or something. Many of "stories" (sentences) were instantly forgettable, and the format made it a lot like sitting down to read a book of quotes. As another reviewer mentioned, many felt like filler. That said, it is a fun project and others are likely to enjoy the books.

My 6 word review: Too much monotony for six words.

I read a temporary ARC of this book for review.