I command you all to write! Sit down and just write. Write what doesn't make sense. Write what sounds elementary. Write what only you can understand. Write what no one wants to hear. Write what everyone wants to hear. Write what makes you sad. Write what makes you inspired and happy. Just write!
Here is the challenge posed to 10th graders today in honor of National Writing Day. Let's see how us intellectuals handle it.
Your mission today is to write your own memoir in exactly 11 words.
11 words!
Here are some examples given to the students
*It doesn't matter how long the flower grows but how beautifully
*90's baby. Dancing machine. Honor roll student. Cheerleader. Future Harvard student.
At first this seems daunting. Shrinking one huge life experience that deeply illustrates who you are as a human being into 11 words!
As you begin to unfold the words, you will find it is not that difficult. The importance and magnitude of your word choice is paramount. You can learn so much about a person in simple, 11 word memoirs.
Here are mine:
Feminist: I am woman hear me roar. Don't tell me I can't!
Philosophical: Fortune sides with she who dares. She who dares wins all.
Comical: Ulmer family cottage. Stewball. Rawhide. Competition. Who wins? Bryan's team cheats.
Literary: Happy nights to happy days only when less traveled road taken.
Erotic: Short breaths. Deep breaths. Sweaty skin. Bodies entwined. Shared Love. Ecstasy.
And I could go on for hours. I am an advocate for being the leading lady in one's own life, and taking your self and your soul very seriously. However, it is incredibly humbling to be able to simplify life's greatest experiences into short and powerful quips.
Can you?
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