Writing exercise: Your six-word commute

Photo: Early rush hour Subway crowd, homeward bound [015/365] by Lab2112

The price for a gallon of gas continues to rise in countries worldwide.

In this New York Times article, the writer describes how additional riders are flooding mass-transit systems in the U.S. Increasing amounts of commuters have stopped driving to work as they feel the financial strain from high fuel prices.

Commuting via mass transit? Grab a notebook, pen and a seat (perhaps).

Your assignment: Write ten six-word stories about your commute.

Focus on precision. Fit as much as you can into those six words. Search your surroundings for strong images, dialog, sounds, sensations and smells. Tune in to what is around you as you craft your micro stories ... and please keep an eye on your personal belongings.

If you post any of your stories on your blog, leave a comment here with the permalink. I'll link to all stories in an additional post about what you all eventually create.

Have fun! These are just drafts. You can always edit them when you arrive home.

Comments

[Lily]

Is this a sentence?
One mile to Starbucks,then home.

[Cathryn Hrudicka, Chief Imagination Officer, Creative Sage™]

Foot floor clothing coffee hallway laptop

(That's my commute in 6 words, down the hall, save gas and the environment!) ;-)

[Steve Woodruff]

Was an hour. Now ten feet.

[KG]

Lily — What a nice commute you have! And you raise a good point: these six-word stories don't have to be complete sentences. In fact, most I've read aren't.

Cathryn — You've got an amazing commute, too. Good point about saving gas and lowering pollution.

Steve — Alright, you win for shortest commute so far. :)

** Interesting ... no mass transit commuters have chimed in. Do so many people now work from home, or are the mass transit riders still working on their stories?

[Ann Handley]

Sometimes LA. Sometimes Boston. That's it.

[KG]

Ann — Now that's a commute! And I bet you have some interesting commuting stories that could never fit in only six words. Maybe you'll share some on your blog one day... :)

[JohnH60]

Public transportation isn't available from my home to my job; I'd gladly take it if it was. I can still afford to drive to "the salt mine"...so far. My non-straphanger contributions?

"Twenty years? Twenty minutes? I forget."

"Could canoe to work. Or not." And its companion piece, "Going home all upstream. Bad idea."

"Jerk on bumper. Flash brakes? Ahhh." And its companion piece, "Must drive faster! Brake lights? AHHH!"

Thanks!

[KG]

JohnH60 — LOL! Wow, you're on a roll here. Thanks so much for submitting these! I'll update my post and add them.

I'm sure many will enjoy reading your takes on commuting. (P.S. If you have a blog to link to, email me and I'll add it.)