It’s week two of our micro-memoir session and challenge.
I hope you enjoyed writing on a particular topic to a specified word count. That’s always a great exercise.
This week’s topic is love/relationships. That doesn’t necessarily mean romantic love. It’s any type of love or relationship.
And this is your challenge—you must write your piece in seventy-five (75) words or less.
Yowza! That’s not many words.
It will require you to isolate a moment that tells a larger story. It will be an interesting week.
For a little inspiration, read micro-memoirs on love/relationships in Heating & Cooling on pages 15, 36, 66, 68, 75, 80, 97, and 104-106 and “Swerve” by Brenda Miller and “Artifacts” by Lina Lau in Brevity.
If a story does not automatically come to mind, I suggest you brainstorm the topic for five or ten minutes and list everything that comes to you that’s related, closely or loosely, to the topic.
After you’ve written your story, post it in the comments section below before Sunday, July 14, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. ET.
For extra credit, tell us what structure you used to write your piece.
The structure we’re focusing on this week is super-short, which covers a variety of word-count limits.
- drabble – 100 words or fewer
- nano – 55 words or fewer
- postcard – 30 words or fewer
- six-word memoirs
The website Six-Word Memoirs hosts a monthly contest. The topic for July’s contest is Swimming in Sixes! Your “Swim” Story.
Read examples of super-short micro-memoirs in Beth Ann Fennelly’s Heating & Cooling: 52 Micro-Memoirs, pages 17, 22, 26, 30, 82, 90, 94, and 107.
Here is my Research micor-memoir on Love.
Lorna, another gem. Truer words were never spoken, beautiful.
Loved the philosophical approach. An old adage says the more you give the more you receive.
Thanks for your comments, Norma.
That is beautiful. I agree love is about giving and receiving.
Thanks for your comments, Etya.
A wonderful observation.
Appreciate your comments, Linda.
Research form in seventy-five words, a difficult challenge and you’ve done it well.
Appreciate your comments, Dave.
How interesting Lorna, I understand you are an explorer of all seven categories, good for you. I have to remember these as love is not to be taken litely. Or maybe yes on the contrary. Material for reflexion. Have a good weekend.
Thanks for your comments, Thierry. I am, and I agree. Have a good weekend yourself.`
Here are my three takes on love/relationships.
Less is more comes to mind. Cute and very apt.
My favourite of the three well written pieces is the Different Doors. You have certainly got the micro memoir form of writing in your wheel-house. I will try to follow in your footsteps.
All great pieces, Patricia. My favorite is The Bar of Soap. I feel loved every time I wake in the morning and see the tank of the Nespresso machine filled with water. The divorce story felt poignant. Visual descriptions. You put me into the scene. The story about feet made me laugh. I enjoyed them all.
Thanks so much, Etya. Our white feet make me laugh every time I see them. I felt good about the divorce story. I’m going to keep working on it. Isn’t it great to let go of what we think love should be and experience it for what it is?
Of course. You are lucky that you found love again the second time around.
Divorce, feet out the door, in the shower, the pool or in golf shoes. And now I’m in trouble for not changing,often enough, soap bars I don’t use. I prefer liquid soaps! Thank you anyways (:, Patricia, for three great portrayals, incursions in your life.
Thanks, Thierry. That would really be an act of love to change the soap even when you don’t use it. I appreciate you reading my musings.
The visual of one going right and the other left was powerful.
A bar of soap as love language.
I enjoyed the story about feet and can relate. I told Lisa we look like pandas.
I never thought about using photos.
Thanks, Dave. I hadn’t thought about the different doors in so long. An image showed up in my head at the beginning of the week. Those things happen when I’m writing; they don’t otherwise.
Pandas, I never thought of that analogy, but it’s true. I’m glad to know there are other white-footed couples out there.
Yes, everybody, include photos where appropriate, either in the story or attached to the post.
Week Two – Love/Relationship – One Sentence Structure. Trying to describe one of the feelings of love.
Thanks for sharing this intimate scene. I like “the longing for wholeness is over”. Beautifully done.
Beautifully done, Dar. I loved it.
Dar,,,”the one I had searched three lifetimes for,” says it all.
A great job with a one-sentence structure. Your poet side comes out to play. My favorite phrase “re-union created galaxies in the Universe that are still pulsating into outer space creating love”
A Dear Friend
Great description of your friend. I love your expression “don’t cha know”. It shows his personality.
Warm tones to portray someone close, dear and respected. And now I know Karlyle. Good work, Linda
Vivid descriptions, Linda. Enjoyed your story.
I agree with Thierry. Great description. I feel like I know this guy or want to know this guy.
Thanks. Refer to my reply to Thierry.
If I had ten more words, and I know I don’t, I’d add, in his younger years, he liked to tip a few…
”…a smile as wide as those broad shoulders.”, Linda you have so many surprises in reserve to write about. Great description, I’ m glad I met Karlyle.
I’m glad you enjoyed this. You would have to know the guy in person to get the whole picture.
Six-word memoir
Family reunions build new relationships forever.
Great!
I like this. The permanence of family, and how relationships are built at reunions.
Mini memoir – 75 words. Love/Relationships
This kind of says it all about your feelings and emotions, Nancy.
I felt sorry about alone and rejected, which became too this or that, but felt hope that it became happy and fulfilled.
I can so relate to this atmosphere you describe, associating ”alone” ”rejected” and ”fulfilled” in the same breath. Learned a new word; ”urchin”, and all you were is in that word, the full picture. Well done Nancy.
Previous message to Thierry deleted…hopefully.
Sorry, here is the 75 words, story. SHIRT NO SHIRT
Loved the juxtaposition of this piece, Thierry. Skillfully done!
Each sentence paints a picture, and suggests a bigger story. Well done.
A seemingly ordinary incident becomes extraordinary. Now I am curious about the rest of your trip.
Meeting someone in emotional turmoil. This story is about life as we are living it.
Well, Patricia did say we could enter more than one MM. Be careful what ya ask for!
The attached combines three stories into one document, each one under 75 words; titled Daily Cleaning, Kisses, and Riding Bike.
David, All three stories are very touching. They portray a symbiotic relationship, built around deep and abiding love, trust, patience, understanding, with a dash of playfulness. And to think you have many more such stories to tell. Congratulations. I see a book of poetry in your future.
All three pieces told a story of your life. The illness, the recovery, the joy and the love for your wife who did not allow you to succumb to cancer.
David, I read your stories a few times since you posted them. I’ d like for my words to be chosen so carefuly as you did to recreate these three moments of ”grace” if I can use that word. Beautiful.
Great expressions of life in our everyday lives.
Memories of tenderness and life-giving experiences. Well done. Inspirational.
Your ability to write well has given me a look into your life and tells me how much you and Lisa love each other. I’m sure this is no accident.
Warm, touching, funny, I loved every one of those 75 word gems.
Here’s my 6 word micro-memoir:
Mountain road
Twisty turns
Scary ride
Love and Relationships-3rd Person-75 Words
Tear-jerking capture of a poignant, deeply felt moment. The pain is vivid. Great work, Norma.
A sad memory; one that many of us have experienced. Well done.
Between dreams and reality worlds collide and unite. Such condensed atmosphere. Bravo Norma.
Very powerful, Norma. I felt your pain. So poignant. I have not seen this Norma in your writings before.
A powerful piece about grieving. The barking dogs didn’t even affect her as she walked home in her state of aloneness. Waiting to be safe in her apartment before she broke down and cried. Well done.
Beautiful and heartfelt, Norma. I weep with you.
So much said in so few words.
I learned about brevity in art school. Less is more.
So sad and heartfelt. Beautifully said.
Thanks Judy. I really had to focus on what was important to say. Word choice was important too.
I felt all of this and fought back tears.
Thanks. It was tough going for awhile. Time heals all wounds for the most part.
My love/relationship list story:
What a lovely story, Barbara. The kitties are beautiful. I find American cats moody. In the Soviet Union, the cats were friendly despite being ferral. They were free to come and go.
Izzy and Pepper are “as thick as thieves” as my dad would have said. You found a great companion for your companion.
In doubt, what greater gesture than to offer an extra presence to share mutual love. Soft story for softer moments. Thank you Barbara.
Your cats seem happy now, having a companion.
Yes, they are, and so am I. 🙂
Thanks for reading it.
Six words memoir: Relationships come and go. Love remains.
A prose-poem. Complete at 75 words.
The bond between humans and dogs is special and unique.
My favorite part, that articulates how I felt about my dog when I was sick.
“I found strength
Feeling your presence”
Thanks.
This unparalleled love! (:
I appreciate your words, Thierry.
This poem gives us a feeling of how special Ace was to you. Animals return the love they receive.
He was.
Sweet memory, Etya. We never forget those loving pets.
Absolutely!
Written as only an animal lover could.
A truly life giving friend, one of the best kind.
He was the best dog ever. He left his paw prints on my heart.
You’re right, losing a pet leaves a hole in the heart, all pet owners would agree.
Six word memoir- “People passing through my life stories”
My “relationship”
Good job Judy, condensing the years in so few words. Your words are chosen carefully,
show great discernment, and this led to a beautiful love story.
my favorite line and the highlight for me. “One day, chance meeting: him, definitely something special there.”
What a lovely seemingly normal love life you have shared with us. Congratulations and wishes for many more happy normal years ahead.
I love; ”bonus, two great kids.” Hearfelt, pragmatic Judy. Congratulations for the cumulated years.
Judy, I love your story. Marriage is all about give and take. It is not always a bed of roses, as all of us who have pushed through difficult times know. I am celebrating
Lovely. Congratulations on those wonderful years.
Your whole life in a nutshell. I would to hear a story about your tear-stained pillows and the chance meeting.
A better version:
There used to be two.
Dozens of moves since.
I remember
Plastic grapes in a hallway bowl
Plastic wrap on the divan
Grandma Josie’ s soft wrinkly hands
implore “Choose a gift from my jewelry box.”
Small-self gazes,
Reaches for the light
Rhinestone’s glitter surround
blue enamel with painted pink roses
Little brass screws for earlobes
Only one now.
But the love remains.
a poignant recollection. Well done, Kit!
Love endures, but memory is precious, too. It shows your grandmother’s love for you.
My Six Word Memoir 20240708
Birth, life, death
Live in between.
Short and true.
That about sums it up. Very good, Lisa Marie.
That’s a lot like genealogy. We need to research and write about the life between the birth date and the death date.
Micro Memoir – Love/Relationship (List style) Love is “Come stay a day at our time-share,” “yes, I’ll escort you for surgery,” “Come hang out for the holiday.” Maybe love is Chips from a friend celebrating my half-birthday, a text of a puffer fish, surprise mown grass, mangos and Moringa pods given. Could love be A “thinking of you” package sent to an elderly person, a visit at the Assisted living home, or a meal dropped off after a newborn? Sometimes, love Celebrates, considers, chooses, and supports, but also endures, forgives, apologizes, or gives. Love learns. Love speaks. Love does. Love… Read more »
Love learns.
Love speaks.
Love does.
Love has been given.
Love has been received. Words of wisdom, Lisa.
Thank you, Etya.
Generous love all around, portrays your true nature Lisa-Marie. Poetically!
Thank you, Thierry.
Beautiful thoughts of love. The things others do for us and what we do for others all in the name of love.
Thank you, Nancy.
Food for thought. Love comes in different ways and real love stays. Thanks Lisa Marie.
Thank you, Dar.
Very moving and true, you captured this beautifully. Well done Lisa Marie
Thank you, Judy.
Love in all its forms, what it is and can be, leading to the concluding two statements. Very well done.
Thank you, Dave.
I love this tender consideration of love, Lisa Marie. Beautifully written, I can feel your compassion in all the possibilities you suggest.
Thank you, Kit.
My little-self’s memory. Feels poetic.
I can visualize you as a little girl being offered such jewels by your grandmother.
trying attachment again
Jewelry, heirlooms tenderness. Bravo!
there’s nothing so sweet as a Grandmother’s love.
It’s a beautiful remembrance of your Grandma. Memories held dear.
Great job Kit. A memory of your beloved grandma wrapped in a set of earrings.
Thank you, Dave. Better version above it. Looking forward to seeing yours!