Andrew Ferguson
Children's/YA Author
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6 ‘Six Word Stories’ for the 6th (Vol. IV)
Posted on May 17, 2021 Leave a Comment
Sunday the 6th only ever means one thing here at Penstricken: another exciting instalment [2] [3] of 6 ‘Six Word Stories’ for the 6th.
6 ‘Six Word Stories’ for the 6th (vol. III)
Posted on April 2, 2021 Leave a Comment
Today is Sunday the 6th of May and that means it’s time for another exciting instalment of 6 ‘Six Word Stories’ for the 6th!
Writing Six Word Stories
Posted on February 25, 2021 Leave a Comment
If you’ve been following Penstricken for any length of time, you’ll know that I appreciate the delicate art of the six word story (don’t worry though, today’s post isn’t going to be another instalment of 6 Six Word Stories). When I first encountered this phenomenon several years ago, I wasn’t sure it was possible to cram any meaningful kind of narrative into so restrictive a word limit. Even if it could be done, I wasn’t convinced of its artistic or literary value.
I was wrong. And really, I should’ve known better. Ernest Hemingway’s(?) six word story about the death of a baby and the subsequent sale of his/her clothing proves that you can pack a mighty punch with very few words indeed. It’s no small task, however. Some of the traditional rules of writing need to be bent or artfully re-imagined to make it work.
6 ‘Six Word Stories’ for the 6th (vol. II)
Posted on February 20, 2021 Leave a Comment
Those of you who have been following this site for a while (God bless you, patient and forbearing people) will know that I have taken to posting 6 ‘six word stories’ whenever the 6th of a month happens to fall on a Sunday. Well it just so happens that today is Sunday 6th August, and so it’s time for another exciting instalment of 6 ‘Six Word Stories’ for the 6th.
You probably know the rules by now. I roll six Story Dice and I write a six word story loosely based upon whatever image is displayed on each die, starting from the top left (you can check out my previous efforts here, here and here). As ever, the following stories are entirely my own work.
6 ‘Six Word Stories’ for the 6th (vol. I)
Posted on January 16, 2021 Leave a Comment
If you’ve been following this site for a while, you will perhaps remember that I have occasionally written posts featuring 6 six word stories… Since I happen to think it’s a great way to put the imagination through its paces (not to mention test my skills in brevity), I thought it would be a good idea if I made such a post whenever the 6th of a month happens to fall on a Sunday, since I only ever post on Sundays.
And… I’ll just check the calendar here and… yep, that’s OK. If we do it this way, you should still only have to put up with one or two of these kinds of posts a year at most. So it’s all good!
6 More Six-Word Stories
Posted on January 7, 2021 Leave a Comment
If you’ve been following Penstricken since it started in 2015, you may recall that on one occasion I set myself the challenge of writing 6 six-word stories using Thinkamingo’s Story Dice as stimuli. Since I am in an unoriginal sort of mood today, I’ve decided to do it again. The only difference is that this time, in addition to taking my cue from the story dice, I also intend to make each story a different genre, i.e. sci-fi, historical fiction, etc.
As before, I am using one die per story.
6 Six-Word Stories
Posted on December 5, 2020 Leave a Comment
So this week I’ve challenged myself to write six six-word stories using Thinkamingo’s Story Dice as stimuli. The Story Dice is an app for Android OS which allows you to roll anything between one to ten dice with various pictures on each face. The idea is that you use these pictures to develop a story. Since I’m only writing six-word stories today, I decided to only use one dice per story.
So this week I’ve challenged myself to write six six-word stories using Thinkamingo’s Story Dice to give myself a stimulus. The Story Dice is an app for Android OS which allows you to roll anything between one to ten dice with various pictures on each face. The idea is that you use these pictures to develop a story. Since I’m only writing six-word stories today, I decided to only use one dice per story. Alea iacta est.
6 ‘Six Word Stories’ for the 6th (Vol. VI)
Posted on September 6, 2020 Leave a Comment
You all probably know how this works by now. I roll six story dice on Zuidsoft’s ‘Story Dice’ app and I write six tiny little stories, exactly six words in length, based on whatever stimuli the dice gives me.
Throwback Thursday: 6 ‘Six Word Stories’ for the 6th (vol. I)
Posted on November 21, 2019 Leave a Comment
First published 06/11/2019. I roll Thinkamingo’s Story Dice six times and I write a six word story for whatever image is displayed on each die starting from the top left.
6 ‘Six Word Stories’ for the 6th (Vol. V)
Posted on October 6, 2019 Leave a Comment
I roll six story dice and I use these to inspire six stories, all exactly six words long, then you guys come along and post your far superior efforts in the comments section.
Andrew Ferguson 