We’re going to do a 6-word essay project for Earth Day. That is, people will write essays exactly six words long. For example:
- I recycle. Do you? Why not?
- Earth: we only get one planet.
- My planet. My home. My environment.
We need a short, catchy name, so we’ve set up a quick 1-click poll. Please let us know which of several options you prefer. Note that the title needn’t be 6 words (you wouldn’t make a 500-word essay contest have a 500-word name, right?).
Update on March 7, 2012: We got 128 votes, so we decided to close the poll. But we’ve opened another one to see whether we need six words in the title.
Here are the results of the first one:
The poll was here: http://twtpoll.com/962bfv
Thanks!
Done.
How about-
I like my home, I like my world. I recycle!
Tom: that’s 10 words!
Joseph: thanks!
Voted!
Voted.
How about – “Don’t Let Earth Go To Waste.”
Voted. Ideas:
“Earth Ain’t Getting Any Younger”
“Do You Love Your Mother (Earth)?”
“It’s Like Mother’s Day…for Earth”
“Don’t Worry. It’s Only Our Planet.” 😉
Voted. How about adding “My” to the title, e.g. “My Six Words for the Planet”?
“Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Repeat as needed.”
Voted, but I agree that you probably don’t want a 5-word title for a 6-word essay contest… :-S
~Stefany
Agreed with Stefany – It would be odd to have a content to use only six words, but not have six words in the title.
Just want to say how cool this is. Have you reached out to Larry Smith, of Smith, and the “home” of the Six-Word Memoir project? I’m sure he’d be thrilled. http://www.smithmag.net/
From Where I Stand, I Speak.
Thanks, everyone. I’ll post again here when we go live so you can share your excellent essays. 🙂
We’re still pondering whether we really need 6 words in the title. We don’t want to stuff an extra word in there if it comes out awkwardly, so I appreciate the suggestions for how to word it!
Martha: we’re aware of Smith Magazine’s doing six-word memoirs, but we didn’t want to get into endorsement issues or be beholden to a private company. For what it’s worth, the concept of 6-word stories has been around a very long time. The original (probably an urban legend) is supposedly Hemingway’s “For sale: baby shoes. Never worn.” Although Smith seems to have copyrighted the phrase “six-word memoirs,” the concept is broader than that. I’ve even participated in a photography contest where the title needed to be six words.
Hey, we heard everyone about having six words in the title. So here’s another poll to see whether either of a couple of options are better than the original: http://twtpoll.com/8x01ar
Thanks!