The Six-Word Story
A popular urban legend surrounds Hemingway in which he made a $10 bet at lunch with the author’s friends that he could write a novel in six words. He then scribbled the phrase “For sale, Baby shoes, never worn” on a napkin and passed it around the table. The line has long been a favorite example of writing teachers, but it wasn’t originally Hemingway’s idea.
A similar line appeared in a newspaper as early as 1906, and there’s no proof that the bet ever happened or that he wrote or even talked about this. It suits his minimalistic style, but a literary agent attributed it to Hemingway in 1974. Even if he didn’t write it, it’s still a good lesson in Minimalism for all writers.
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