Can You Tell Your Story in One Sentence?
By Tom Chandler on Jul 9, 2007 in Underground Entertainment, Writing
Copywriters boil away all that isn’t essential, leaving behind the essence of a product. Which is why felt strangely at home when I stumbled across a creative writing site dedicated to telling a story in a single sentence. (Consider One Sentence the forerunner of twitter, but with meaning.)
One Sentence is about telling your story, briefly. Insignificant stories, everyday stories, or turning-point-in-your-life stories, boiled down to their bare essentials.
Some sentences are humorous, and some are not. But all are pithy. Consider it today’s Underground Entertainment. Can you tell a story in one sentence?
[tags]writing, one sentence[/tags]
Hemingway wrote this short and solemn story:
“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
I’m working on one, but don’t think I could top that.
Katie Cummings | Jul 9, 2007 | Reply
I couldn’t either, but then again, I don’t plan on drinking myself half to death or taking my own life.
Things kinda even out sometimes.
Tom Chandler | Jul 9, 2007 | Reply
Hey Tom;
Maybe I am a contrarian, but what value is there in a one sentence story?
This seems to go with the 2-second ads you mentioned a day or so ago.
Mike
Michael A. Stelzner | Jul 10, 2007 | Reply
Value? I don’t think any commercial definition of value applies in this case.
It’s either art, pointless, or just dumb fun. And there are days when — over here at least — a little dumb fun seems like a good thing… 8-)
Tom Chandler | Jul 10, 2007 | Reply
Michael,
I think there is value in a one sentence story.
Art and fun are both valuable… I don’t know about pointless. I guess that depends on your point a view.
Couldn’t the right one sentence story be very powerful advertising copy? Especially combined with images?
Steve Olson | Jul 10, 2007 | Reply
Steve: You’re correct, of course. The one-sentence story is a staple in marketing; witness the power of the ads produced by the “Minnesota School” of advertising in the 90s.
Some of those headlines and images still reverberate in my head, and it’s been more than a decade.
Still, the site I referenced isn’t a commercial entity, and the stories are personal in nature (my college friends would call it fine art writing).
These aren’t marketing messages, they’re personal revelations.
Tom Chandler | Jul 10, 2007 | Reply
I agree with Steve. The right one sentence story is exactly what you want for an ad. Your ad should model the structure of a story. You have your protagonist (the reader), your antagonist (the problem), your plot, your climax, and lastly your resolution (the solution). Problem solved. End of story, right?
Katie Cummings | Jul 10, 2007 | Reply
Folks - Don’t get me wrong, I am all for headlines. But usually headlines are not stories, they are teasers.
I believe in the power of stories and the power of a single sentence, just not so sure they always go hand and hand.
Mike
Michael Stelzner | Jul 10, 2007 | Reply
It’s hard to beat the dry wit of the Guardian’s digested read, which sums up a novel in a sentence. http://books.guardian.co.uk/digestedread/
Matt | Jul 10, 2007 | Reply
Aha! Sounds like I should do a Minnesota School of advertising retrospective.
And the Guardian reviews site is hilarious.
I never really expected this post to generate much commentary, but it’s damned interesting.
Tom Chandler | Jul 10, 2007 | Reply
When the second tower fell, I saw a different world as I glanced at my daughter.
Brian Clark | Jul 11, 2007 | Reply