As the legend goes, Ernest Hemingway was challenged in a bar bet to write a novel that would tell the whole story in just six words. As the story goes, this American writer known for his economic, muscular style wrote, "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." True? Apocryphal? We'll surely never know, but it was this story that inspired Larry Smith to give the six-word novel a personal twist and start Six-Word Memoirs, which has since been dubbed "American Haiku". In honor of Hemingway's 122nd birthday, we're going all the way back to our original story and issuing the same challenge inspired by Hemingway's original six!

Can you fit a novel into only six words? The tales can be similarly heartbreaking, or you can make things a little more light-hearted. You can "sell" something that tells a bigger story, or write about your own bar challenge. What other six-words could Hemingway have come up with? You can distill one of his famous novels into six words. Whatever inspiration you take from the renowned writer, keep it to six words!

If you'd like to share a backstory (we love reading them!), be sure to submit your entry as a Six and include the link to the Backstory here in the comments below. Share as many stories as you like, but do post only one entry per comment. The winner will be sent a Six-Word Memoir book of their choice.

Remember to tag us and include #SixWordNovel when posting your Six Words to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!