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Six Word Stories: How to Write the Shortest Story You’ll Never Forget

by Joe Bunting | 62 comments

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According to legend, Ernest Hemingway was challenged to write a short story using only six words. Ernest Hemingway's story? It was: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”

While you're not going to be able to tell an entire life story in six words, you just might be able to catch a movement of conflict or a significant moment in a character's life. Plus it's fun. Let's look at how to write a really short story.

Six word stories are a great way to practice your writing without actually having to write much. They can also be used to warm up before working on a novel or short story.

When I first heard about six word stories, I thought, “A whole story in six words? That's impossible!”

Then I wrote my first one. It was really easy, not to mention fun! Once you write your first, you can write a whole slew of them. Let's look at how to write one.

1. Read examples

Start by looking at some examples. A great website you can use is sixwordstories.net . If you just want to look at a few examples, here are some I liked:

“Rapunzel! I am slipping! A wig?!” Misleadingly deep puddle. Curious child missing. “I love you, too,” she lied.

2. Choose a Moment of Conflict

Part of what makes a story, well, a story is a goal coupled with conflict . Think about the examples we listed above. Where is the moment of conflict?

Rapunzel's suitor has a goal (reaching Rapunzel) and the conflict is that the hair he is climbing is a wig that is slipping. Oops.

The second one implies one of two stories: the child lost in a puddle OR what happens next when someone realizes the child's fallen in. The goal will determine the conflict.

In the third one, the goal is to mislead someone. The conflict? The lie (or maybe why she lies).

3. How to Write a Six Word Story

Now that you've looked at some examples, you're ready to write!

Begin with a sentence or two that might be intriguing. A situation that tells a story without telling an entire story.

Who will the characters involved be? What do they want? What will get in the way? Choose words for each. Like this:

Now, combine them, distilling the ideas into just a handful of words.

Story in six words: “Hello? There's bones. In my flowerbed?”

Or: He planted lilies. But harvested bones.

If you have an idea, but can't figure out how to shorten it into six words, here's some advice: use contractions. Use “I'm” instead of “I am.” Use “They're” instead of “They are.”

And don't worry if your six word stories aren't works of art. They're supposed to be fun and creative.

If you're still stuck, try this tip: use magnetic poetry . You know the kind that you put on your refrigerator and mess around with? That often gives me ideas.

4. Use Your Six Word Stories as a Writing Prompt

When you write or read a six word story, you probably want to know more about the story, right? Six word stories severely limit you, and of course, that's the point!

Once you've written a few six word stories, why not turn it into a writing prompt? Choose one, and write that same story using as many words as you would like. Now you can create interesting characters , surprising plot twists, and as much description as you want. Give it a try and show us what you come up with!

Have you ever written a six word story? How did you like the process? Share in the comments . 

Write a six word story about anything you like. It can be humorous, dark, mysterious, or anything else you can think of. Then use that six word story as a writing prompt.

Write for fifteen minutes . Once you have a six word story, then work to expand your story into something longer. Then post both stories in the Pro Practice Workshop.

Be sure to comment on a few other writers' practices. Have fun!

Not a member yet? Join us here !

Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

Want best-seller coaching? Book Joe here.

62 Comments

Found, wedding ring. Call strip club.

Ha! Good one Marla.

They never mentioned Champion was blind.

Ooh. Mysterious. This makes me want to read more.

Rainy day. Sudden Stop. Crash!

Mom of 11 missing. Check bathroom!

We do these for our writing club at school called Pen & Ink, but we call them six word memoirs. Here are a few of mine:

Madhouse? Just check out my family.

Yes. You heard me. Four brothers.

That’s my dog. He eats sofas.

Childhood reading Tintin. Childhood well spent.

Ha ha! 😀 I loved these! Especially the one about the dog. My dog is definitely insane, but she doesn’t eat sofas. 😉

Jungle man. Tree. Watch out! Oups.

Oh and this translation of an epic quote would be perfect: I came, I saw, I conquered.

Wow–that was intense! This could make a good adventure novel. You have the right idea. Nice job!

Pawn shop owner likes wedding ring.

White haired lady. To dye for.

LOL! XD Good use of wordplay.

He runs. She jumps. They meet.

Love this prompt!

Thank you! 😀 I loved your story.

My father left two days ago.

Without you, there is no us.

Dreamed of tomorrow. Forgot about today.

Heart skipped a beat, then stopped.

Loved her. Lost her. Miss her.

Rainy days. Wet asphalt. Many casualties.

I feel like I could never stop.

Wow, this was really cool! I never thought about creating a story only using six word stories. 😉

Actually I hadn’t intended for it to be one story, but now that I look at them, it absolutely is, haha. Thanks MV!

Ha ha! XD That’s even more awesome that you did it unintentionally.

I’m assuming that last line is your thoughts on writing six-word stories. I have to agree with you. Once I got started, it was difficult to stop. Even when the timer went off!

I especially like “Dreamed of tomorrow. Forgot about today.” Excellent!

Bride meets wedding morning in bar.

Security guard ushers thieves in. Quietly.

Love the second one. 😉 It makes me want to know why the security guard is letting the thieves in.

Red hand, red blade, red floor.

Ooh, creepy. This would make a great lengthened story! 😀

Hug. Kiss. More. Less. Crying. Silence.

Sad and mysterious. I like it!

Thanks! Isn’t every story a sad story at some point? I wonder if this is the framework for most stories.

That’s an interesting concept. I guess most stories have sad parts, but I don’t think all stories are “sad.” Very interesting.

Her daughter’s future was at stake.

Felicity knew her daughter was the most deserving of the scholarship to the prestigious St Barbara’s School – she was gifted, talented everything that the Judging Panel would be looking for. There was only one other girl being considered –she came from a poor home, her mother had recently died. The judges might be soft they might make the wrong decision. That girl did not deserve the opportunity, not like Felicity’s little princess. Felicity knew she had to take steps – to even out the playing field, make sure the right decision was made. She watched the other girl, Georgia, watched her for a whole day. Watched the girl walk to school, watched her working in the local diner, watched her chatting, laughing with a boy. That was it. She knew what she must do. Next morning Felicity called the Head of the Scholarship Board. “Hello, I’m calling from the Abortion Clinic this is just a reminder for Georgia about her appointment. It would not do for her to miss another one.” “Pardon!’ said the voice on the other end of the phone. ‘I don’t know what you are talking about.” Felicity recognised Mrs Bentwood- Green’s voice. “Georgia Jones has given this number as a contact. She is scheduled for a termination tomorrow.” “Well I’m sorry I have no idea how you got this number. But I don’t think it is appropriate that you say any more.” The voice had grown cold. “Oh I am so sorry I will see if we have any other numbers for Georgia. So sorry to bother you.” Felicity hung up and felt a frisson of excitement – that should plant a seed of doubt, of distrust, misrule. She almost laughed out loud. She rang the other judge from the call box in the Mall. “Georgia Jones is a slut. She has a sexually transmitted disease.” Felicity had lowered her voice to hoarse whisper. “What! Who is this?” “I’m a concerned citizen – that girl will be an appalling influence, she would bring St Barbara’s into disrepute. Georgia Jones is a dirty slut!” Felicity hung up quickly and nearly danced home.

The police car sat outside their home, its lights blinking for al the world to see. The police woman opened the back seat for Felicity. “But I have done nothing wrong!” she protested. Her husband had his arm around their daughter. She always went to him when she was upset. “Sweetheart!” she implored. But her daughter just buried her face in her father’s shoulder.

“You have gone too far this time, Felicity.” Her husband said and he led his daughter back into the house.

Wow, that was a CRAZY story. I don’t think I could’ve come up with something like that. Good job! 😀

Thanks! It comes from my newspaper cuttings file of crazy stuff! Someone did that!!!!!

Wow! Good use of inspiration.

a passionate roar. a bloody flag.

he disappeared. Oh what a show!

I just found this prompt surfing around. Intriguing! i thought of newspaper headlines that make you want to read more Here’s my 6 words off the top of my head. Later I will expand one.

Discarded wheelchairs behind the facility.

Free:sexy nightie in unopened package.

Red dog collar donated to Goodwil

Motorcycle and Truck have Memorable meeting.

I realize, looking at these that I avoided verbs. hmm

Smoker’s house fire: only chimney left.

New year. New job. New trouble.

Son starting school, watching bus leave

Left child at rest stop – aaah!

TV broke. Have only books. Perfect.

“Smoker’s house fire : only chimney left.” Loved it! And the last one about TV too! 😀

I like all of these. I laughed out loud at “Left child at rest stop – aaah!” but the last one is great, too.

Uh, just found this post and even tho I’m a bit late, here’s my try: Sending the Dragon. Watching the flames.

Ooh, I’ll play, I’ll play! It’s kind of hard to write something coherent in 15 minutes, and I guess this is a bit more of a rant, but here’s what I’ve got:

“Yes, I know how to talk.”

Such is the reply that I’ve given to many people (mostly within my own family) when they remark to me that “you know that (insert social function, special event, or anything that involves interacting with people here) involves talking, right?” This reply is usually preceded by a frustrated sigh, a rolling of my eyes, or the urge to grab the person I’m talking to by the shoulders and to scream at them. Or sometimes all three of those things are present. I’m usually able to keep my composure and appear unfazed by the other person’s remark, even though it does bother and sometimes hurt me. Such is the world that I live in, though, one that paints quieter folk like me as socially inept weirdoes who don’t know how to carry out a friendly conversation. We’re treated like we can’t stand people or that we’re afraid of people or like we need to be coaxed out of our shell all the dang time.

The truth is, though, I like people. I really do. Just in small doses. And I like to talk. But only if I’m talking about something that I’m really passionate about, and that usually only occurs when I’m around people that “get” me or people that I’m comfortable with. I guess not wanting to have a five-minute conversation about the weather or about your cat makes me unapproachable and cold, or that not wanting to be friends with everybody makes me asocial. I suspect many other introverts feel the same: shamed for preferring to keep to themselves unless they have something worthwhile to say, pressured into being social all the time because the world around them seems to demand it. It’s exhausting, really.

Here are my tries:

Dead body found. Naked. Roped. Nun.

Late night voices. Laughters. Empty apartments.

One-eyed driving. Empty beer cans. Emergency.

Birthday candles burned out. With her.

Nail arts found clutching on windowsill.

Explosives in place. Confirmed by binoculars.

Defective faucet on bathroom coughs blood.

I’ll try to make a happy one. 🙂

Plot twists.

Through a hole. Magic included. Sisters.

That was slightly hard. My stories:

Door creaks open. Just the wind! Tired face. Sore eyes. Smiles beautifully. Eyes closed. I dream about you! Moth taps bulb. Dead in seconds.

Now, we toilet paper that bear. She faced the barrel and fired. Final challenge: Taco Bell and laxatives. I’ve found the meaning of life!

I made a commitment over the weekend to improve my writing by doing at least three of these writing practice lessons each week. Today (August 17) is the first day and what did I get? Writing prompts. Not my favorite thing.

But commitment is commitment, so I found a prompt I liked (six sentence stories) and wrote for fifteen minutes. I ended up with 33 (themes and variations).

In the spirit of the exercise, here are my favorites.

That’s not possible. I’m seeing things.

The ideal home…. complete with body.

End of world! Film at eleven.

Missing: One large man-eating lion. (I hope hyphenated words don’t count as one word!)

Dazed. Confused. Hopeless. Life or death?

I see I misunderstood the instructions. Sigh. It is Monday.

I’ll see what I can do about expanding one of these into a story and post that, too.

Here are my top five:

Falling for long, rising up forever.

Strangled I cry but none hears.

Poisonous fruit, lost friend, Impossible decision.

Warning! The hair bites at men!

I will color the world tomorrow.

I’m fat but, have a heart Memories Memories all over the place I love you. I don’t believe. I love her. She loves me. Opened books. No interest. Keep Sketching.

Love to eat, fuck and sleep.

This is my first time trying to write a six word story and then use it as a prompt. I think they may be some gaps in the story, but I couldn’t change it within 15 mins. I thought I’d post it anyway 🙂

Sealed letters that still remain unopened.(six word story)

She is holding one more letter in her hands. Tears running down her cheeks. Such ambivalent emotions. A feeling of relief is comforting her heart, “he is alive” she sighs with a smile, but a sadness conquers her heart as she is adding the letter on the pile of the other unopened ones.

The agony she experiences is not to be expressed with words, only with tears. She is holding the letters close to her heart, then she smells them and she kisses them. She knows that his hands touched these envelopes and she wants to touch the exact spots that have been touched by him.

No one will ever know the sacrifice she is making. Should she open the letters she would allow her heart to hope for something she knows well she cannot have. Should the letters stop coming, her heart wouldn’t bear it. She is called to suffer by expecting letters that she will not open.

How can you tell a soldier who is fighting on the front line, that while he thinks you are waiting for him, your father is arranging your wedding with a man he thinks he best suits to be your husband? She wouldn’t dare take away from him the only thing that is keeping him alive.

have brain, less usage – Human Being

Here are some of mine: – I’m alone but not really lonely. -Everything but the future is planned. -Best friends can also be enemies.

Here’s my six-word story:

….and after night, there was darkness….

And here’s another one:

She said, ” Good night. ” Night obliged.

I tweet stories in six words.

Great post, Joe. What a great idea. I have a book titled “Not Quite What I Was Planning,” but I hadn’t thought to use the entries as prompts. My own six-word story is: “I wish I had left sooner.” I’m going to do this more often. Thanks again. Happy Writing.

Here’s my first try to a six story, pls do share your thoughts: We fell together, she rose alone I loved her, she loved her Was famous once, but died young Free time, wasted time, no time Bright talkative outside, dull lonely inside

Six words won’t do him justice

Hi there! This post could not be written any better! Reading this post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept talking about this. I will forward this page to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read. Thanks for sharing!

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How to Write Great Six-Word Stories or Memoirs

Updated 10/12/2022

Published 07/2/2020

Sam Tetrault, BA in English

Contributing writer

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Six-word stories are more than just a buzzword or internet craze. With one of the most popular examples penned by Ernest Hemingway himself, six-word stories are a unique take on memoirs. How do you want to write your life story ?

Jump ahead to these sections: 

What’s a six-word story or memoir, steps for writing a six-word story, example six-word stories.

A six-word story is exactly what it sounds like: six words that say something powerful, express a feeling, or share something intimate about your life. They’re a form of legacy, emphasizing the way that words have power and meaning. You don’t need a long-winded narrative to find meaning in your words (or story). 

Whether you’re looking to write a memoir, learn from the master writers, or just practice with a fun writing exercise, six-word stories are a great place to start. In this guide, we’ll share how to write great six-word stories or memoirs as well as some examples for inspiration. 

Six-word stories rest on one key concept: brevity is a virtue. Sure, you could wax poetic about your memories and how you want to be remembered , but there’s power in getting to the point.

A six-word story or memoir is just that—a story written in six words or less. Occasionally, you’ll find some “six-word stories” that are longer than six words. This isn’t a hard-and-fast rule by any means. The foundation of this writing exercise is to simply say more with less. 

William Faulkner, one of the greatest southern writers, put this feeling into words with his infamous quote. He says, “In writing, you must kill all your darlings.” 

This doesn’t mean to strip away everything that has meaning to you. On the contrary, this is a way to get to the heart of the matter. When you “kill your darlings,” you’re getting rid of everything unnecessary, all the flowery language that simply obstructs the view of the true core of your message. 

In creative writing, you can’t afford to get too attached to the characters, language, or plot lines. Everything is dispensable when it comes to the overall story. Sometimes that means making hard choices, stripping away everything extra, and going back to the basics. 

This is true of some of the greatest writing of all time. The best memoirs all rely on this idea of stripping away the unnecessary. It’s impossible to put someone’s entire story into words.

This would take years and wouldn’t even be interesting to read. Instead, writers craft the full narrative into something easier, something meaningful. This is the heart of the six-word story or memoir. 

Anyone can write a six-word story, regardless of experience or skill. Because they’re so short, they’re perfect for artist statements, writing exercises, and even complex jumping-off points for larger retellings.

Here are the steps to follow if you want to write your own six-word story or memoir. 

Step 1: Create a clear story

To begin, you’ll need a storyline. Though six-word stories are short, they still follow the same general rules as traditional narratives. This means they have a beginning, middle, and end. More particularly, they have a movement of conflict, action, and resolution.

These are the elements that make a story more than just a statement. There is a real feeling, and it’s easy to get a clear picture of the six-words in your mind. 

This is easier said than done, but consider some different conflicts. To make this relevant to your own life like a memoir, what are some obstacles you’ve overcome? Where do they begin and where do they end? Journaling or talking with a friend can help with this process.

Step 2: Start writing

Next, start jotting down ideas. You don’t need to limit yourself to six-words (yet). We’ll get to that later. To start, write your story as you would if you had no restrictions. Use symbols, imagery, and add characters as needed. 

Get a feel for the setting and place of your story. Step inside it and see it for what it is. Six-word stories commonly rely on imagery or symbolism to make an impact. Try to identify which symbols or images relate the most to what you’ve written so far. 

Remember, symbols come in all shapes and sizes. Small symbols often convey large concepts. The fewer words you need to express these symbols, the better. 

Step 3: Find your punchline

Your punchline is the “a-ha” moment. It’s that “oh, now I get it” realization that all six-word stories have in common. This is when there’s a real turning point in the narrative. You can think of this as a plot twist, moment of emotional realization, or anything that makes sense to you. 

How does the punchline appear in your story? What’s your big reveal? It’s common to start with context or place, followed by the punchline. The story might end here, or there might be some form of resolution. It’s not uncommon for these six-word stories or memoirs to be left unresolved. Consider what it is your readers should feel and work to craft that feeling. 

Step 4: Kill your darlings

Last but not least, kill your darlings. As Faulkner said, this is an essential part of the writing process. Take what you’ve written thus far and strip it to the bare bones. What do you have left?

What’s the most powerful part of your story? What makes the ready go “a-ha!” with a moment of epiphany, for better or worse. If you can’t bring it down to six words, don’t stress yourself. Let it sit for a while and return later, seeing if there’s anything else that doesn’t need to be there. 

Writing is an evolution. There’s no such thing as “perfect,” though there is such a thing as “done.” Sometimes the latter is better than the former, so know when it’s time to walk away and call your work a finished masterpiece. 

Tip: Aside from writing about someone's memory, a great way to capture what they mean to you is with a memorial diamond from Eterneva or a custom urn from Foreverence . Everyone wants to be remembered when they're gone. 

Six-word stories grapple with a lot of different themes and concepts. They’re often highly personal, and they rely on small and large symbols to make a powerful impact. Some are memoirs included in obituaries , and others are purely fictional. 

These stories supposedly began as Ernest Hemingway’s response to a bet that it wasn’t possible to write a story in six words. Though this has since been debunked, it is true that Hemingway proved his point. 

Let’s look at some examples so you can understand how six-word stories work in action. As you’ll quickly discover, it is possible to sum up an entire novel of feelings in just a few words.

For more six-word story inspiration, visit Six Word Stories to submit your own and browse categories. 

Funny six-word story examples

“I’m beside myself; cloning machine works.”  "I leave. Dog panics. Furniture shopping.”  “Coffee before art? Goodbye straight lines.”  “‘Reading for Dummies,’ somehow, never sold.” 

Sad six-word story examples

“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”  “‘I’ll be back tomorrow.’ Years ago.”  “Selling parachute: never opened, slightly stained.”  “The smallest coffins are the heaviest.”  “Imagined adulthood. Gained adulthood. Lost imagination.” 

Love-related six-word story examples

“Left handed woman seeks Mr. Right.”  “Rainy evening, two strangers, one umbrella.”  “They lived happily ever after. Separately.” “He loves her, they’re ‘just friends.’” “Best weekend ever. He never called.” 

Say More With Less: Six-Word Stories

Storytelling takes many forms, but six-word stories are one of the shortest and most unique. You’ve likely encountered six-word stories or memoirs in your own life, but have you ever written one yourself? Though this is quite the creative writing challenge, it’s also an opportunity to put into words the feelings that are hard to capture. 

Whether these six-word stories help you understand feelings of grief, loss, or even joy, they're a unique way to see the world.  Words are their own form of art. They’re a legacy we leave of the stories we’ve told. Though six-word stories might be short, they’re worth so much more than the number of characters on the page. 

“Six Word Stories.” Six Word Stories. SixWordStories.net . 

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Six-Word Memoirs in the Classroom

Every semester, on the last day of the literacy methods course I teach, I ask my pre-service teachers to write a six-word memoir as a form of reflection. I show them the funny, moving, irreverent YouTube video created by SMITH Magazine and Harper Perennial called “Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure,” and, after watching, I give them some time to write. Their six-word memoirs run the gamut from funny to moving to irreverent, as you can see from the memoirs my created this semester .

Then we get to the point where we need to move beyond reflection and ask “So what? What does this have to do with teaching kids? How might we use this in a classroom?” This is an important question in a methods class, where the line between theory and practice shifts, and students start to own what it means to be teachers. Together, we came up with a list of how they might use six-word memoirs with the students they came to know and care about over the course of the semester, and how they imagine using six-word memoirs with students they have not yet encountered.

Here are our top five ways to use six-word memoirs in a classroom:

As a Form of Introduction. Students come to a class with different life experiences. Some have summers filled with camp, vacations, books, and wonder. Others have summers filled with taking care of younger siblings, staying indoors and watching television, angry adults, and unhealthy food. As teachers, regardless of where we teach, we never know who is joining our community or what they bring with them. Six-word memoirs offer students a safe way to share a small piece of who they are and what matters to them. Older students might want to watch the version of the six-word memoir project compiled by HarperTeen.com in order to find inspiration and mentor texts.

Writer’s workshop is a model emphasizing both structure and choice. The beauty of six-word memoirs is that structure is built into the fabric of this writing, but so is choice. When using six-word memoirs as a method of introduction, students can pick content and decide how much of themselves to share. They can share their favorite book, the number of siblings they have, or the fact they miss someone who is no longer here. The choice within the structure is theirs and theirs alone.

Write from a Character’s Point of View. While six-word memoirs and all of the applications are exciting, this is a particular favorite of mine. There are so many ways six-word memoirs might be used within the context of reader’s workshop! Thinking for a moment of a whole-class read-aloud, each student might be asked to write a six-word memoir from the perspective of a different character at the end of a book. Certainly, very few books would have enough characters to assign every student a different perspective (we’re not reading Game of Thrones in elementary school!), but it’s always interesting to see how students write the same character differently. As an example, let’s take a look at a current favorite of mine, Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin , by Liesl Shurtliff. In this book, students can write six-word memoirs from the perspectives of Rump, Red, Opal, King Barf, the aunts, the trolls, pixies, Frederick and Bruno, and the miller. They might even write six-word memoirs from these characters at different points in the story, showing their perspective as it changes (or doesn’t) over time.

This same idea can be repeated as an independent reading activity, a literature circle discussion prompt, or a way in to a partner reading conversation. Asking students to put themselves in the shoes of a book character is hard work, and writing a six-word memoir as if they were that character raises the bar just a little bit more.

Writing Across the Science or Social Studies Curriculum. While the 140-character limit of Twitter feels like an imposition of brevity on many older students, imagine what the limit of six words feels like! The six-word structure can be used as either a memoir or a structure for summary in the content areas. First, let’s explore the six-words as a memoir in content areas.

We often ask students to write biographies of those who are famous in the disciplines they study. Earlier this year, my son, a first grader, was asked to write a report on an “American hero” (he picked Paul Revere.) As I was getting ready to write this post, I asked him what he remembered about his “hero,” and he replied as I feared, “ummm… nothing?”

Over the course of a school career, students study any number of historical figures from around the world and across disciplines. They write long reports about these people, sometimes drawing pictures or presenting what they have learned (or memorized) to their class. What if we asked each of our students to write their figure’s memoir as well? These figures have an abundance of information associated with them, but six words would be something to take away, something these students might remember for the long haul.

The six-word structure can also be used as a method for summary of content areas. It is a useful tool when thinking about formative assessment, exit tickets, and helping students think about the big ideas of a concept or a unit of study. When looking across a class full of six-word summaries, it’s easier to see if they “get” the big idea than when looking at 27 full-page summaries.

To be fair, learning to summarize in six words takes some practice. Students will want to summarize in five words, or eight. Writing in six words takes skill, and as a method of formative assessment it might not seem like the point. There is a certain habit of mind, however, that comes with thinking of just the right words to say what you want to say. 

As a Connection to the Arts. It’s always interesting to hear from my pre-service teachers once they leave my class and carry on with their studies. I’m never sure what they will take with them, what will “stick.” One student of mine loved the idea of six-word memoirs, and decided to try it with kids she was working with in a summer camp setting. She was an art counselor working with all ages, and asked the kids to caption one painting project, a favorite setting, with six words.

Using the six-word structure as a connection to the arts is a natural fit, because this is an arts-based project in the first place. My student used it as a link to painting, but it could be used to caption a self-portrait ( memoir plus self-portrait, oh my! ), to describe an abstract work, as a placard for a sculpture, or the dedication on an artist’s nameplate. Moving out of the realm of visual art, the six-word structure could be used to describe what a song or piece of music makes you feel, or a dance, or any other performance. The brevity of the six-word structure makes it an ideal form for this type of review.

As a Form of Reflection. I began this post discussing how I use six-word memoirs with my own students as a form of reflection. I ask my pre-service teachers to reflect on our time together, on what they have learned, and how they have grown as teachers and students. I am a firm believer in the power of reflection, and I have seen the six-word structure help my students grow in their ability to reflect.

I think the power of this lies in the limits. It becomes easy to reflect over the course of pages, to talk about strengths and weaknesses, what you liked and didn’t like, where you excelled and where you will continue to grow. It is harder, of course, to be reflective in six words. It is harder to find voice in six words. You have to make a choice: do you want to be funny, or serious? How much do you want to share? You can be awfully honest in just six words, you can choose to put it all out there. Or you can find a cliché, string your words together, hide behind the limit.

This goes for young students, too. We can ask students in elementary school to reflect upon the type of readers they become over the course of a school year, or the type of mathematicians, or how they changed as writers or scientists or questioners. From our initial prompt, students can reflect in any number of ways. They can be silly or serious, thoughtful or rushed. They can use every word of their allotted six and think wisely about punctuation, or try to argue that “ and ” shouldn’t really count as a word.

And so, in the spirit of the six-word memoir, here are my six words (in addition, of course, to the title): “Six-word memoirs: powerful teaching tools.”

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The (Urban) Legend of Ernest Hemingway’s Six-Word Story: “For sale, Baby shoes, Never worn.”

in Literature | March 24th, 2015 25 Comments

A pierc­ing­ly dark piece of writ­ing, tak­ing the heart of a Dick­ens or Dos­to­evsky nov­el and carv­ing away all the rest, Ernest Hemingway’s six-word story—fabled fore­run­ner of flash- and twitter-fiction—is short­er than many a story’s title:

For sale, Baby shoes, Nev­er worn.

The extreme terse­ness in this ellip­ti­cal tragedy has made it a favorite exam­ple of writ­ing teach­ers over the past sev­er­al decades, a dis­play of the pow­er of lit­er­ary com­pres­sion in which, writes a quer­ent to the site Quote Inves­ti­ga­tor , “the read­er must coop­er­ate in the con­struc­tion of the larg­er nar­ra­tive that is oblique­ly limned by these words.” Sup­pos­ed­ly com­posed some­time in the ’20s at The Algo­nquin (or per­haps Luchow’s , depend­ing on whom you ask), the six-word sto­ry, it’s said, came from a ten-dol­lar bet Hem­ing­way made at a lunch with some oth­er writ­ers that he could write a nov­el in six words. After pen­ning the famous line on a nap­kin, he passed it around the table, and col­lect­ed his win­nings. That’s the pop­u­lar lore, any­way. But the truth is much less col­or­ful.

In fact, it seems that ver­sions of the six-word sto­ry appeared long before Hem­ing­way even began to write, at least as ear­ly as 1906, when he was only 7, in a news­pa­per clas­si­fied sec­tion called “Terse Tales of the Town,” which pub­lished an item that read, “For sale, baby car­riage, nev­er been used. Apply at this office.” Anoth­er, very sim­i­lar, ver­sion appeared in 1910, then anoth­er, sug­gest­ed as the title for a sto­ry about “a wife who has lost her baby,” in a 1917 essay by William R. Kane, who thought up “Lit­tle Shoes, Nev­er Worn.” Then again in 1920, writes David Haglund in Slate , the sup­posed Hem­ing­way line appears in a “1921 news­pa­per col­umn by Roy K. Moul­ton, who ‘print­ed a brief note that he attrib­uted to some­one named Jer­ry,’ ”:

There was an ad in the Brook­lyn “Home Talk” which read, “Baby car­riage for sale, nev­er used.” Would that make a won­der­ful plot for the movies?

Many more exam­ples of the nar­ra­tive device abound, includ­ing a 1927 com­ic strip describ­ing a sev­en-word version—“For Sale, A Baby Car­riage; Nev­er Used!”—as “the great­est short sto­ry in the world.” The more that Haglund and Quote Investigator’s Gar­son O’Toole looked into the mat­ter, the hard­er they found it to “believe that Hem­ing­way had any­thing to do with the tale.”

It is pos­si­ble Hem­ing­way, wit­ting­ly or not, stole the sto­ry from the clas­si­fieds or else­where. He was a news­pa­per­man after all, per­haps guar­an­teed to have come into con­tact with some ver­sion of it. But there’s no evi­dence that he wrote or talked about the six-word sto­ry, or that the lunch bet at The Algo­nquin ever took place. Instead, it appears that a lit­er­ary agent, Peter Miller, made up the sto­ry whole cloth in 1974 and lat­er pub­lished it in his 1991 book, Get Pub­lished! Get Pro­duced!: A Lit­er­ary Agent’s Tips on How to Sell Your Writ­ing .

The leg­end of the bet and the six-word sto­ry grew: Arthur C. Clarke repeat­ed it in a 1998  Read­er’s Digest  essay, and Miller men­tioned it again in a 2006 book. Mean­while, sus­pi­cions arose, and the final debunk­ing occurred in a 2012 schol­ar­ly arti­cle in  The Jour­nal of Pop­u­lar Cul­ture  by Fred­er­ick A. Wrigh t, who con­clud­ed that no evi­dence links the six-word sto­ry to Hem­ing­way.

So should we blame Miller for osten­si­bly cre­at­ing an urban leg­end, or thank him for giv­ing com­pet­i­tive min­i­mal­ists some­thing to beat, and inspir­ing the entire genre of the “ six-word mem­oir ”? That depends, I sup­pose, on what you think of com­pet­i­tive min­i­mal­ists and six-word mem­oirs. Per­haps the moral of the sto­ry, fit­ting in the Twit­ter age, is that the great man the­o­ry of author­ship so often gets it wrong; the most mem­o­rable sto­ries and ideas can arise spon­ta­neous­ly, anony­mous­ly, from any­where.

Relat­ed Con­tent:

Ernest Hem­ing­way Cre­ates a Read­ing List for a Young Writer, 1934

Ernest Hemingway’s Very First Pub­lished Sto­ries, Free as an eBook

18 (Free) Books Ernest Hem­ing­way Wished He Could Read Again for the First Time

Down­load 55 Free Online Lit­er­a­ture Cours­es: From Dante and Mil­ton to Ker­ouac and Tolkien

Josh Jones  is a writer and musi­cian based in Durham, NC. Fol­low him at  @jdmagness

by Josh Jones | Permalink | Comments (25) |

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Comments (25), 25 comments so far.

Car­riage: lame. Shoes: works.

That’s Hem­ing­way.

I think your use of the word “picaresque” is wrong.

Sounds like a Strind­berg short sto­ry, which isn’t exact­ly six words long, but bret­ty short too: about a page. Some­one seems to have sum­ma­rized it.

“…inspir­ing the entire genre of the ‘six-word mem­oir’…” Not to men­tion this active lit­tle expres­sion of it….

http://www.quora.com/What-are-some-of-the-best-6-word-stories

Every­one (more or less) writes their own, ad hoc. Lots of SMH con­tri­bu­tions but some real­ly out­stand­ing ones too.

I can’t attest as to the author, but here’s a very short sto­ry that I used to see in the Clas­si­fieds every once in awhile:

Lost Dog: Miss­ing one eye, Miss­ing one leg, Neutered, Answers to the name of “Lucky.”

Here’s a five-word short sto­ry: “Small mat­ters occu­py small minds.”

The man was terse. He wrote short sen­tences. It is a sto­ry about the man who wrote the short­est sto­ry. The man would not be Hen­ry James. Hen­ry James would not write the short sen­tence, the short sto­ry. Hen­ry James sto­ries are like sto­ries by a Ger­man. Ernest Hem­ing­way went to Italy. He went to Paris and he went to Spain. He went to Cuba. He bought a phrase book and the sen­tences in the phrase book were short and he saw that the short sen­tences in the phrase book were good, because you said what you need­ed to say and noth­ing more. And it was good that the sen­tences were short because you would have to say them sev­er­al times before the peo­ple under­stood what you want­ed.

I thought the sto­ry was about the cot for the baby but it could be any of the things that you have with a baby. It is not the same, because you don’t put a baby in shoes straight away. I could tell you that sto­ry, but it’s no fun, so I won’t.

It’s not even a sto­ry.

I would­n’t say it was debunked… whether or not Ernest H. actu­al­ly made up this line can nev­er be proven or debunked, and that mat­ters lit­tle. Whether or not he’d heard it some­where also mat­ters lit­tle. What mat­ters is we know of this sto­ry because of Ernest H. That is all. (oh, and the bit about the baby car­riage was a par­o­dy: hit was being sold not because the baby died, but because they had twins instead)

Who knew you could go so deep into 6 words

i did­nt fin­ish

That is a very bad exam­ple of Twit­ter­ture. End of.

This guy is astound­ing. Amaz­ing.

All nice expo­si­tion and sup­po­si­tion going nowhere. Try liv­ing it. That suc­cinct enough for you?

Exact­ly. The sto­ry may have been going around, but Hem­ing­way told it right.

wht does it mean … for sale ‚baby shoes,never worn

ts actu­al­ly kin­da sim­ple but i can see how you did­n’t get it. For sale:being sold baby shoes:baby shoes nev­er worn: a baby has nev­er worn these shoes. Par­ents were expect­ing a baby so they bought baby shoes but they had a mis­car­riage so they had to sell them.

It’s not even a sto­ry. The basis of a sto­ry HAS to HAVE a begin­ning, mid­dle, and end. State­ments are NOT sto­ries by def­i­n­i­tion and the fac­tu­al prop­er­ties that make up a sto­ry.

And as for Mor­gan Brog­don’s expla­na­tion: “For sale: being sold baby shoes: baby shoes nev­er worn: a baby has nev­er worn these shoes. Par­ents were expect­ing a baby so they bought baby shoes but they had a mis­car­riage so they had to sell them.”

No your OPINION of YOUR trans­la­tion is incor­rect. The STATEMENT can just as eas­i­ly be assumed to mean: “Par­ents nev­er used the shoes because they thought they were ugly” or “Par­ents nev­er used the shoes because they thought they were ugly.”

It is FACTUALLY a state­ment and not a sto­ry. A sto­ry TELLS a sto­ry and isn’t open to INTERPRETATION.

Mar­ried at noon, then swerved, avoid­ing bad­ger. Wid­ow­er at two.

It’s the open­ness of the inter­pre­ta­tion: fill­ing in with one’s sub­jec­tive spec­u­la­tion and imag­i­na­tion that IS the Sto­ry. The back sto­ry that fills in the miss­ing details which led to the state­ment: For sale, Baby shoes, Nev­er worn…

The words that are not on the page that make this a sto­ry.

Sun col­laps­es.

“I am not here any longer… But…where I am now, I am no short­er, though clos­er to the end, of it.

Great article.Thanks for your great infor­ma­tion. The con­tent are quite impressive.I agree that Hem­ing­way is not that hard to use, but only once you get used to the col­or-cod­ing. I thought I would get used to it pret­ty quick­ly but after sev­er­al weeks, I still find it dis­tract­ing. I like the fea­tures that the free ver­sion of Hem­ing­way offers, I’ve been research­ing sim­i­lar alter­na­tives and ran­dom­ly found Gram­marly and INK for all. I’ve only used INK for all a cou­ple of times but the UI seems less dis­tract­ing and has some search opti­miza­tion fea­tures

I am bored, I read it.

So I’ve been research­ing this for hours now, and Peter Miller did­n’t actu­al­ly say that. Miller wrote that he first heard the tale from an unnamed news­pa­per syn­di­ca­tor in 1974.

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• 40 Useful Words and Phrases for Top-Notch Essays

To be truly brilliant, an essay needs to utilise the right language. You could make a great point, but if it’s not intelligently articulated, you almost needn’t have bothered.

Developing the language skills to build an argument and to write persuasively is crucial if you’re to write outstanding essays every time. In this article, we’re going to equip you with the words and phrases you need to write a top-notch essay, along with examples of how to utilise them.

It’s by no means an exhaustive list, and there will often be other ways of using the words and phrases we describe that we won’t have room to include, but there should be more than enough below to help you make an instant improvement to your essay-writing skills.

If you’re interested in developing your language and persuasive skills, Oxford Royale offers summer courses at its Oxford Summer School , Cambridge Summer School , London Summer School , San Francisco Summer School and Yale Summer School . You can study courses to learn english , prepare for careers in law , medicine , business , engineering and leadership.

General explaining

Let’s start by looking at language for general explanations of complex points.

1. In order to

Usage: “In order to” can be used to introduce an explanation for the purpose of an argument. Example: “In order to understand X, we need first to understand Y.”

2. In other words

Usage: Use “in other words” when you want to express something in a different way (more simply), to make it easier to understand, or to emphasise or expand on a point. Example: “Frogs are amphibians. In other words, they live on the land and in the water.”

3. To put it another way

Usage: This phrase is another way of saying “in other words”, and can be used in particularly complex points, when you feel that an alternative way of wording a problem may help the reader achieve a better understanding of its significance. Example: “Plants rely on photosynthesis. To put it another way, they will die without the sun.”

4. That is to say

Usage: “That is” and “that is to say” can be used to add further detail to your explanation, or to be more precise. Example: “Whales are mammals. That is to say, they must breathe air.”

5. To that end

Usage: Use “to that end” or “to this end” in a similar way to “in order to” or “so”. Example: “Zoologists have long sought to understand how animals communicate with each other. To that end, a new study has been launched that looks at elephant sounds and their possible meanings.”

Adding additional information to support a point

Students often make the mistake of using synonyms of “and” each time they want to add further information in support of a point they’re making, or to build an argument . Here are some cleverer ways of doing this.

6. Moreover

Usage: Employ “moreover” at the start of a sentence to add extra information in support of a point you’re making. Example: “Moreover, the results of a recent piece of research provide compelling evidence in support of…”

7. Furthermore

Usage:This is also generally used at the start of a sentence, to add extra information. Example: “Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that…”

8. What’s more

Usage: This is used in the same way as “moreover” and “furthermore”. Example: “What’s more, this isn’t the only evidence that supports this hypothesis.”

9. Likewise

Usage: Use “likewise” when you want to talk about something that agrees with what you’ve just mentioned. Example: “Scholar A believes X. Likewise, Scholar B argues compellingly in favour of this point of view.”

10. Similarly

Usage: Use “similarly” in the same way as “likewise”. Example: “Audiences at the time reacted with shock to Beethoven’s new work, because it was very different to what they were used to. Similarly, we have a tendency to react with surprise to the unfamiliar.”

11. Another key thing to remember

Usage: Use the phrase “another key point to remember” or “another key fact to remember” to introduce additional facts without using the word “also”. Example: “As a Romantic, Blake was a proponent of a closer relationship between humans and nature. Another key point to remember is that Blake was writing during the Industrial Revolution, which had a major impact on the world around him.”

12. As well as

Usage: Use “as well as” instead of “also” or “and”. Example: “Scholar A argued that this was due to X, as well as Y.”

13. Not only… but also

Usage: This wording is used to add an extra piece of information, often something that’s in some way more surprising or unexpected than the first piece of information. Example: “Not only did Edmund Hillary have the honour of being the first to reach the summit of Everest, but he was also appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.”

14. Coupled with

Usage: Used when considering two or more arguments at a time. Example: “Coupled with the literary evidence, the statistics paint a compelling view of…”

15. Firstly, secondly, thirdly…

Usage: This can be used to structure an argument, presenting facts clearly one after the other. Example: “There are many points in support of this view. Firstly, X. Secondly, Y. And thirdly, Z.

16. Not to mention/to say nothing of

Usage: “Not to mention” and “to say nothing of” can be used to add extra information with a bit of emphasis. Example: “The war caused unprecedented suffering to millions of people, not to mention its impact on the country’s economy.”

Words and phrases for demonstrating contrast

When you’re developing an argument, you will often need to present contrasting or opposing opinions or evidence – “it could show this, but it could also show this”, or “X says this, but Y disagrees”. This section covers words you can use instead of the “but” in these examples, to make your writing sound more intelligent and interesting.

17. However

Usage: Use “however” to introduce a point that disagrees with what you’ve just said. Example: “Scholar A thinks this. However, Scholar B reached a different conclusion.”

18. On the other hand

Usage: Usage of this phrase includes introducing a contrasting interpretation of the same piece of evidence, a different piece of evidence that suggests something else, or an opposing opinion. Example: “The historical evidence appears to suggest a clear-cut situation. On the other hand, the archaeological evidence presents a somewhat less straightforward picture of what happened that day.”

19. Having said that

Usage: Used in a similar manner to “on the other hand” or “but”. Example: “The historians are unanimous in telling us X, an agreement that suggests that this version of events must be an accurate account. Having said that, the archaeology tells a different story.”

20. By contrast/in comparison

Usage: Use “by contrast” or “in comparison” when you’re comparing and contrasting pieces of evidence. Example: “Scholar A’s opinion, then, is based on insufficient evidence. By contrast, Scholar B’s opinion seems more plausible.”

21. Then again

Usage: Use this to cast doubt on an assertion. Example: “Writer A asserts that this was the reason for what happened. Then again, it’s possible that he was being paid to say this.”

22. That said

Usage: This is used in the same way as “then again”. Example: “The evidence ostensibly appears to point to this conclusion. That said, much of the evidence is unreliable at best.”

Usage: Use this when you want to introduce a contrasting idea. Example: “Much of scholarship has focused on this evidence. Yet not everyone agrees that this is the most important aspect of the situation.”

Adding a proviso or acknowledging reservations

Sometimes, you may need to acknowledge a shortfalling in a piece of evidence, or add a proviso. Here are some ways of doing so.

24. Despite this

Usage: Use “despite this” or “in spite of this” when you want to outline a point that stands regardless of a shortfalling in the evidence. Example: “The sample size was small, but the results were important despite this.”

25. With this in mind

Usage: Use this when you want your reader to consider a point in the knowledge of something else. Example: “We’ve seen that the methods used in the 19th century study did not always live up to the rigorous standards expected in scientific research today, which makes it difficult to draw definite conclusions. With this in mind, let’s look at a more recent study to see how the results compare.”

26. Provided that

Usage: This means “on condition that”. You can also say “providing that” or just “providing” to mean the same thing. Example: “We may use this as evidence to support our argument, provided that we bear in mind the limitations of the methods used to obtain it.”

27. In view of/in light of

Usage: These phrases are used when something has shed light on something else. Example: “In light of the evidence from the 2013 study, we have a better understanding of…”

28. Nonetheless

Usage: This is similar to “despite this”. Example: “The study had its limitations, but it was nonetheless groundbreaking for its day.”

29. Nevertheless

Usage: This is the same as “nonetheless”. Example: “The study was flawed, but it was important nevertheless.”

30. Notwithstanding

Usage: This is another way of saying “nonetheless”. Example: “Notwithstanding the limitations of the methodology used, it was an important study in the development of how we view the workings of the human mind.”

Giving examples

Good essays always back up points with examples, but it’s going to get boring if you use the expression “for example” every time. Here are a couple of other ways of saying the same thing.

31. For instance

Example: “Some birds migrate to avoid harsher winter climates. Swallows, for instance, leave the UK in early winter and fly south…”

32. To give an illustration

Example: “To give an illustration of what I mean, let’s look at the case of…”

Signifying importance

When you want to demonstrate that a point is particularly important, there are several ways of highlighting it as such.

33. Significantly

Usage: Used to introduce a point that is loaded with meaning that might not be immediately apparent. Example: “Significantly, Tacitus omits to tell us the kind of gossip prevalent in Suetonius’ accounts of the same period.”

34. Notably

Usage: This can be used to mean “significantly” (as above), and it can also be used interchangeably with “in particular” (the example below demonstrates the first of these ways of using it). Example: “Actual figures are notably absent from Scholar A’s analysis.”

35. Importantly

Usage: Use “importantly” interchangeably with “significantly”. Example: “Importantly, Scholar A was being employed by X when he wrote this work, and was presumably therefore under pressure to portray the situation more favourably than he perhaps might otherwise have done.”

Summarising

You’ve almost made it to the end of the essay, but your work isn’t over yet. You need to end by wrapping up everything you’ve talked about, showing that you’ve considered the arguments on both sides and reached the most likely conclusion. Here are some words and phrases to help you.

36. In conclusion

Usage: Typically used to introduce the concluding paragraph or sentence of an essay, summarising what you’ve discussed in a broad overview. Example: “In conclusion, the evidence points almost exclusively to Argument A.”

37. Above all

Usage: Used to signify what you believe to be the most significant point, and the main takeaway from the essay. Example: “Above all, it seems pertinent to remember that…”

38. Persuasive

Usage: This is a useful word to use when summarising which argument you find most convincing. Example: “Scholar A’s point – that Constanze Mozart was motivated by financial gain – seems to me to be the most persuasive argument for her actions following Mozart’s death.”

39. Compelling

Usage: Use in the same way as “persuasive” above. Example: “The most compelling argument is presented by Scholar A.”

40. All things considered

Usage: This means “taking everything into account”. Example: “All things considered, it seems reasonable to assume that…”

How many of these words and phrases will you get into your next essay? And are any of your favourite essay terms missing from our list? Let us know in the comments below, or get in touch here to find out more about courses that can help you with your essays.

At Oxford Royale Academy, we offer a number of  summer school courses for young people who are keen to improve their essay writing skills. Click here to apply for one of our courses today, including law , business , medicine  and engineering .

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What are the six different essay lengths?

This is the second of three chapters about Essays . To complete this reader, read each chapter carefully and then unlock and complete our materials to check your understanding.   

– Discuss why essays might vary in length

– Outline the six major lengths of academic essay

– Provide defining features for each essay length

Chapter 1: What is an academic essay?

Chapter 2: What are the six different essay lengths?

Chapter 3: What are the seven different types of academic essay?

Before you begin reading...

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The length of essay you’re assigned will likely depend on where you are exactly in your academic course. Generally, assignments at the start of a bachelor’s degree will be shorter than those required in a student’s final years, just like master’s  and doctoral-level essays will continue to increase in both length and difficulty.

1. The One-Paragraph Essay

Generally about 150 to 250 words in length, the one-paragraph essay may be assigned by academic tutors simply in order to practise the basic concepts of paragraph writing, or it may also be used for specific purposes such as to practise summarising an article that’s been read in class or to write an extended definition of a concept. Additionally, one-paragraph essays may also be used as a diagnostic to quickly determine the level of a student’s writing. Unlike other essay lengths, for the one-paragraph essay, you’ll need to include at least some introductory, body and conclusive elements within the same paragraph.    

2. The Three-Paragraph Essay

Usually around 500 words in length, the three-paragraph essay is generally used to introduce students to the concept that all essays should maintain an introduction , body section and conclusion if the writer wishes to produce cohesive and a logical writing. The introduction and conclusion will be the first and last paragraphs and tend to be a little shorter in length, while the central body paragraph will contain the essay’s content or argument. A simple table explaining the balance of content in a three-paragraph essay has been provided below:

3. The Five-Paragraph Essay

Around 1,000 words in length, the five-paragraph essay is generally set by tutors who are content that their students understand the introduction-body-conclusion essay  structure and wish to allow more freedom to expand the ideas and arguments presented by the writer in the body section of the essay. This length of essay still only dedicates one paragraph to the introduction and conclusion , but allows three paragraphs to be dedicated to the exploration of the theme in the essay’s body. At this length, certain essay types such as cause and effect essays or compare and contrast essays may now be utilised. The following is a simple diagram of the balance of paragraph lengths in a five-paragraph essay.

4. The Extended Essay

The extended essay is the most common type of essay that’s assigned during a bachelor’s or master’s degree , and it may be of any length – although it’s unusual for such essays to be above 5,000 words. The most common lengths for an extended essay are 1,500, 3,000 and 5,000 words, with a word count allowance of plus or minus 10%. Such essay types will most certainly require research and referencing skills , and may also begin to follow more complex structures such as are found in dissertations and theses rather than simply following the introduction-body-conclusion structure of shorter essays.

5. The Dissertation

Generally assigned as the final project for both bachelor’s   and master’s degree , the typical length of an academic dissertation is 10,000 or 15,000 words. Unlike shorter essay types , dissertations have more complex structures and are almost always based around primary research (original research that the writer has conducted themselves). The following table demonstrates some of the key parts of a dissertation as well as the rough word count  percentages for each section:

6. The Thesis

Finally, the thesis is the longest academic essay type and the one that’s reserved for doctorate students studying PhDs. Generally between 40,000 and 60,000 words in length, the doctorate thesis may contain all the elements of a dissertation but in much more detail and with more careful investigation. Such essays  are almost certainly original and are based on primary research , with a larger focus on the accuracy of the literature review , data collection and data analysis . Many students will never encounter this essay type. 

Once you can recognise which essay length you’ve been assigned, the next question covered in Chapter 3 is about determining the type of essay you have to write. This is because each essay type will require particular styles, structures, foci and language.

To reference this reader:

Academic Marker (2022) Essays . Available at: https://academicmarker.com/academic-guidance/assignments/essays/ (Accessed: Date Month Year).

• Harvard Writing Center
• Leeds University Library
• Purdue Online Writing Lab

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, writing a 650-word essay.

Hey guys! So I'm working on my college essays and some schools have a 650-word limit. Any tips or advice on how I can make my essay engaging and fit within that limit?

Hey! Definitely understand that working within a word limit can be challenging, but it's possible to write an engaging essay within the 650-word limit. Here are some tips to help you out:

1. Start with a clear structure: Before you start writing, create an outline to organize your main points and ideas. This helps you stay focused and makes sure you're addressing the prompt effectively.

2. Get to the point: Avoid unnecessary information or lengthy introductions. Start strong by grabbing the reader's attention and getting right to the heart of your story or message.

3. Use specific examples: Instead of making broad generalizations, use concrete examples and anecdotes from your experiences to illustrate your points. This not only makes your essay more engaging, but also helps you use your word count more efficiently.

4. Be concise and efficient: Trim any redundant or repetitive information to save word count. Revise your essay multiple times, looking for ways to tighten your writing and express your ideas more clearly and concisely.

5. Balance reflection and narrative: A good college essay should provide insight into your personality, values, and passions. Make sure to allocate enough word count to both telling your story (narrative) and reflecting on it (introspection). A well-balanced essay engages the reader while also demonstrating your growth and self-awareness.

6. Edit, edit, edit: Don't be afraid to cut or rework sentences, paragraphs, or even entire sections if they don't serve the ultimate goal of your essay. A tight, focused essay is far more effective than a longer essay filled with fluff.

7. Seek feedback: Have someone else read your essay and provide feedback on areas to improve or cut. This can help you see your essay from a fresh perspective and identify areas to refine.

Crafting an engaging 650-word essay takes some effort, but with careful planning, revision, and attention to detail, you can do it! Good luck!

About CollegeVine’s Expert FAQ

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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse and recovery in Baltimore

WTOP Staff | [email protected]

May 2, 2024, 3:45 PM

In the early morning hours of March 26, a huge container ship lost power and careened into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing most of the bridge to collapse into the Patapsco River.

Six construction workers were killed in the collapse. And the destruction and extensive recovery efforts raised concerns about the implications to international shipping and commerce — the Port of Baltimore is the ninth-busiest port in the nation.

See the latest coverage.

• Latest photos from the Patapsco: From Key Bridge collapse to recovery efforts
• WATCH: Live view of Key Bridge collapse cleanup

Maryland officials release timeline, cost estimate, for rebuilding bridge

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland plans to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in just over four years at an estimated cost between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion, a state transportation official said Thursday.

The state plans to build a new span by fall of 2028, said David Broughton, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Transportation. He said the cost estimate is preliminary, and detailed engineering specifics have not been confirmed.

Meanwhile, the broker for the bridge’s insurance policy confirmed Thursday that a $350 million payout will be made to the state of Maryland in what is expected to be the first of many payouts related to the collapse.

Read the full story from The Associated Press here .

5th Key Bridge collapse victim recovered, identified after vehicle located

Officials with the Unified Command team working on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, have recovered and identified a fifth roadwork crew member who died in the collapse in March.

On Wednesday night, Unified Command announced 49-year-old Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, of Glen Burnie, was recovered when one of the missing worker trucks was found by salvage teams at the bridge.

Luna Gonzalez, a native of El Salvador, is one of the six roadwork crew members who died in the collapse of the bridge during the early hours of March 26.

Ship that brought down bridge to be removed from collapse site in the coming weeks

At the site of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, crews plan to refloat and remove the grounded Dali container ship within roughly the next 10 days, allowing more maritime traffic to resume through Baltimore’s port.

The ship, which lost power and crashed into one of the bridge’s supporting columns, has been stationary amid the wreckage since the  March 26 collapse . Officials expect to have it removed by May 10, according to a news release Tuesday from the Port of Baltimore.

Read more . 

First container ship arrives at Port of Baltimore since bridge collapse

The first container ship arrived at the Port of Baltimore since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed more than a month ago.

The MSC Cargo Passion III made it through the 35-foot temporary channel on Sunday carrying nearly 1,000 containers.

Read more here.

Baltimore port workers receive state aid, slowly get back to work

Things are slowly getting back to normal at the Port of Baltimore where thousands of workers are waiting for the shipping channel to fully reopen following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge a month ago.

Right now, the  channel is only partially open .

“We’re doing a little bit better,” said Scott Cowan, president of the longshoremen’s union in Baltimore.

Cowan represents thousands who work at the port.

“It’s not what we’re looking for yet, but it’s a step in the right direction,” Cowan said, noting that it will be another month or so before the shipping channel is fully back to normal.

Even when that does happen, Cowan said it won’t be like flipping on a light switch.

“I’m sure it’s going to be a slow roll with cargo coming in because that stuff is booked weeks in advance,” said Cowan.

Longshoremen, truckers and small business owners have seen their jobs impacted by the collapse, prompting local and state officials to prioritize reopening the port and restoring its traffic to normal capacity in hopes of easing the economic ripple effects of the collapse.

Read more from WTOP’s Nick Iannelli here.

First cargo ship passes through newly opened channel in Baltimore since bridge was struck, collapsed

The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the  Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed  four weeks ago.

The ship is one of five stranded vessels expected to pass through the new, temporary channel.

Baltimore’s port administrator discusses response to Key Bridge collapse, impact — and what’s next

On Feb. 5, Jonathan Daniels assumed the role of executive director at the Maryland Port Administration.

Only seven weeks later, on March 26, Daniels found himself dealing with the tragic  Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse , which claimed the lives of six construction workers and was “so catastrophic” that he said no one, including himself, could truly have been prepared.

Daniels sat down with WTOP to discuss what happened that day, what the response has been, and what kind of timeline and actions the Baltimore area — and entire nation — can expect to see in terms of rebounding from the devastating collapse.

Third temporary channel opens for vessels to Baltimore port after bridge collapse

 A third temporary channel for boats to enter and depart the Port of Baltimore has opened, expanding further shipping access as collapsed sections of  the Francis Scott Key Bridge are salvaged  before the span can ultimately be rebuilt.

The alternate channel, located to the northeast of the fallen bridge, is open to “commercially essential vessels,” port officials announced late Friday.

Read more about the new channel.

How have drivers adjusted to the collapse of the Key Bridge? A look at the data

Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge used to carry more than 30,000 vehicles across the Patapsco River every day. Maryland’s Department of Transportation provided WTOP with an early look at how the drivers have adjusted.

The tunnels on Interstates 95 and 895 in Baltimore were already busier than the Key Bridge, and as you can expect, there’s even more traffic and longer delays to get through them now.

Since the bridge’s collapse, traffic along I-95’s Fort McHenry tunnel is up by about 11% since before the crash, according to a Maryland State Highway spokesman. Before the crash, the Fort McHenry tunnel saw more than 100,000 vehicles pass through it every day.

Read more from WTOP’s John Domen here.

4th body recovered from Baltimore bridge collapse wreckage

The body of a fourth construction worker killed during the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge was recovered Monday, the Key Bridge Unified Command announced in a news release .

The victim has been positively identified, but their identity is not being disclosed at this time at the request of the family.

Six construction workers were killed after the Dali container ship slammed into the bridge in the early morning hours of March 26. The crew was repairing potholes on the bridge and was on break at the time of the collapse.

Salvage teams located what they believed to be one of the missing construction vehicles and notified Maryland State Police. State troopers, the FBI and the Maryland Transportation Authority Police responded and found the victim trapped inside the vehicle, according to Unified Command.

“As we mourn the lives lost and continue the recovery operation, we recognize each missing individual is someone’s beloved friend or family member,” Col. Roland Butler Jr., superintendent of the Maryland Department of State Police, said in a news release. “Along with all of our allied law enforcement partners, we pledge to exhaust the physical and technical aspects of their training while deploying every available resource possible.”

FBI opens criminal investigation into Baltimore bridge collapse

The FBI is conducting a criminal investigation into the deadly collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge that is focused on the circumstances leading up to it and whether all federal laws were followed, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The person was not authorized to discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity to The Associated Press.

The FBI was present aboard the cargo ship Dali conducting court authorized law enforcement activity, the agency said in a statement Monday.

Police divers at Baltimore bridge collapse struggle with ‘zero visibility’ underwater

The mission is daunting at the site of the deadly collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, as crews have to remove 50,000 tons of debris.

Nonetheless, police divers are there, continuing an investigation into the collapse.

Visibility under the water is extremely poor, however.

“Best case scenario is you might be able to see eight inches in front of your face,” said Maryland State Police Cpl. Lyle German, who’s with the department’s underwater recovery team. “Worst case scenario, it’s like wearing one of those sleep masks, and you have zero visibility.”

‘It’s not a hope — it’s a plan’: Exclusive interview with Army Corps of Engineers official on front line of Baltimore Key Bridge recovery

Baltimore District Commander of the Army Corps of Engineers Col. Estee Pinchasin is on the front line of the operation to clear the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and reopen more shipping channels so larger ships can make their way to the Port of Baltimore. She joined WTOP’s Shawn Anderson and Anne Kramer from Dundalk, Maryland.

Listen to the full interview and read the transcript .

New sonar images show striking detail of Key Bridge wreckage site

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers revealed sonar images of the wreckage site, including the deepest part of the Port of Baltimore shipping channel.

See more photos of the collapse .

Baltimore community honors workers killed in the Key Bridge collapse

Local residents in Curtis Bay, Maryland, held a vigil on Saturday to honor the six people killed at the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse.

A mural was built near Fort Armistead Road, the closest residents could get to the collapse site, local TV outlet WJZ reported. It features the names of the six construction workers, hard hats, work boots and the flags of their native countries. Members of the community honored the victims through prayer and song.

See more from the vigil below.

Salvage crews begin removing containers from ship that collapsed Key Bridge

Salvage crews on Sunday began removing containers from the deck of the cargo ship that crashed into and collapsed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, an important step toward the full reopening of one of the nation’s main shipping lanes.

The removal of the containers from the deck of the Dali would continue this week as weather permits, according to a statement from the Key Bridge Response Unified Command. Crews were progressing toward removing sections of the bridge that lie across the ship’s bow to eventually allow it to move, the statement said.

Read more .

3rd construction worker’s body found, ID’d

The body of another construction worker was pulled from the water Friday following the Baltimore Key Bridge collapse.

In a release from the recovery effort , officials said they found the remains of 38-year-old Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval. His body was found around 10:30 a.m.

“Unified Command salvage dive teams located what they believed to be the missing construction worker and notified the Maryland Department of State Police. Maryland State Police Underwater Recovery Team deployed in coordination with dive teams from allied law enforcement partners and recovered Suazo-Sandoval,” authorities said.

“The collapse of the Key Bridge is undoubtedly one of the most challenging tragedies we have faced as a law enforcement agency. Along with our local, state and federal public safety partners, we will not give up,” Col. Roland L. Butler, Jr., Superintendent of the Maryland Department of State Police, said.

“There are families still waiting to hear if we have found their loved one. I can promise you, we are fully committed to finding closure for each of these families.”

Three more bodies have yet to be recovered.

Baltimore Orioles, Ravens donate $10M to bridge collapse recovery effort

The Baltimore Orioles and Baltimore Ravens have together donated $10 million to the Baltimore Community Foundation’s Key Bridge Emergency Fund.

The fund was established to provide ongoing support to the recovery and resilience efforts for families, port workers, first responders, small businesses and communities affected by the collapse of the Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, the Baltimore Community Foundation said in a news release.

“The resiliency of our city has once again been sorely tested,” Orioles owner David Rubenstein said in the release. “Under the leadership of Governor Wes Moore, and in collaboration with the Ravens, the Orioles offer this contribution to support those who keep our city, our state, and our country in business.”

For information on how to donate to the fund, visit the Baltimore Community Foundation’s website .

Biden tours collapsed Baltimore bridge as clearing proceeds and declares ‘your nation has your back’

President Joe Biden got a firsthand look Friday at efforts to clear away the “mangled mess” of remains of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, as cranes, ships and diving crews work to reopen one of the nation’s main shipping lanes.

Aboard Marine One, circling the warped metal remains and the mass of construction and salvage equipment trying to clear the wreckage of last week’s collapse, Biden got his first up close view of the devastation. On the ground, he received a briefing from local officials, the U.S. Coast Guard and Army Corps of Engineers on the situation in the water and its impacts on the region.

Biden also greeted police officers who helped block traffic to the bridge in the moments before it was hit by the ship, which helped avert an even larger loss of life.

“I’m here to say your nation has your back and I mean it,” Biden said from the shoreline overlooking the collapsed bridge. “Your nation has your back.”

Tentative plan to restore navigation through Port of Baltimore

Engineers working to clear the wreckage of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore announced they expect to be able to restore navigation in and out of the Port of Baltimore by the end of this month.

The bridge collapsed within seconds on March 26 after being struck by the cargo ship Dali, which lost power shortly after leaving Baltimore, bound for Sri Lanka. The ship issued a mayday alert with just enough time for police to stop traffic, but not enough to save a roadwork crew filling potholes on the bridge. Authorities believe six workers plunged to their deaths in the Patapsco River; two bodies have been recovered so far. Two others survived.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced a “tentative timeline” Thursday, saying in a news release that it expects to open a limited access channel to the port within the next four weeks measuring some 280 feet wide by 35 feet deep (85 meters by 11 meters). The channel would support one-way traffic in and out of the port for barge container service and some vessels that move automobiles and farm equipment to and from the port.

See more details .

Baltimore bridge cleanup continues

Crews continued clearing the mangled wreckage of the collapsed  Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Crews opened a second temporary channel through the collapse site Tuesday, but it’s too shallow for most commercial vessels. The two alternate channels are meant primarily to aid in the cleanup effort. Work continues to open a third channel that will allow larger vessels to pass through the bottleneck and restore more commercial activity, officials said.

Meanwhile, bad weather has hindered salvage operations in recent days. The Patapsco River is also very murky, severely limiting the visibility of divers.

The sheer volume of debris dwarfed even the cranes and barges involved in the cleanup. And that’s only the view from above; officials said underwater conditions are significantly more challenging.

Divers are still trying to get a sense of the tangled, muddy web. Sonar is being used to map the wreckage on the river bottom in 50 feet (15 meters) of water. A  large floating crane  nicknamed “Chessy” is helping with the salvage.

Crews will soon begin lifting undamaged containers off the ship before removing the chunks of steel and concrete embedded in its bow, U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said at a news conference.

Second channel opened allowing some vessels to bypass wreckage at the Baltimore bridge collapse site

Crews opened a second temporary channel on Tuesday allowing a limited amount of marine traffic to bypass the mangled wreckage of Baltimore’s collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, which had blocked the vital port’s main shipping channel since its destruction one week ago.

Work is ongoing to open a third channel that will allow larger vessels to pass through the bottleneck and restore more commercial activity, officials announced at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. The channels are open primarily to vessels involved in the cleanup effort, along with some barges and tugs that have been stuck in the Port of Baltimore.

A tugboat pushing a fuel barge was the first vessel to use an alternate channel late Monday. It was supplying jet fuel to Delaware’s Dover Air Force Base.

Gov. Wes Moore said rough weather over the past two days has made the challenging salvage effort even more daunting. Conditions have been unsafe for divers trying to recover the bodies of the four construction workers believed trapped underwater in the wreckage.

Gov. Wes Moore discusses the recovery effort on WTOP

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore joined WTOP live from Dundalk, Maryland, to discuss the recovery efforts, saying the state was still in mourning a week after the collapse and revealing the key moments the night of the container ship crash that saved “countless lives.”

Listen to the interview and read the full transcript. 

Channel opens for vessels clearing wreckage at Baltimore bridge collapse site

The U.S. Coast Guard has opened a temporary, alternate channel for vessels involved in clearing debris from the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, part of a phased approach to opening the main shipping channel leading to the vital port, officials said Monday.

Crews are undertaking the complicated work of removing  steel and concrete  at the site of the bridge’s deadly collapse after a container ship lost power and crashed into a supporting column. On Sunday, dive teams surveyed parts of the bridge and checked the ship, and workers in lifts used torches to cut above-water parts of the twisted steel superstructure.

Officials said the temporary channel is open primarily to vessels that are helping with the cleanup effort. Some barges and tugs that have been stuck in the Port of Baltimore since the collapse are also scheduled to pass through the channel.

Small business recovery center opens

Federal loans became available through the Small Business Administration for small businesses in the mid-Atlantic affected by the closure of the port of Baltimore, due to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge .

The SBA opened a Business Recovery Center in Dundalk on Monday.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore had requested a disaster declaration by the SBA, which has been granted.

One of the last drivers to cross Baltimore’s Key Bridge, this man is ‘thankful’ to be alive

As the  loss of six construction workers emphasized the tragedy of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, one man who traveled the bridge just minutes before a cargo ship crash brought it down says he is “thankful that he’s still here.”

“If I had been another … minute, I may not be here talking to you,” Larry Desantis told WTOP.

Desantis was headed to one of his bakery jobs to the next on the night of the collapse, and says he was one of the last cars to cross the bridge before it fell.

Read more. 

Construction workers honor Key Bridge collapse victims

While holding flowers and wearing construction hats and yellow or orange vests, Maryland construction workers on Friday honored their peers who died when  Baltimore’s Key Bridge collapsed this week .

After praying for healing and safety, the community workers, some of whom are members of the immigrant rights group CASA, recalled some of the dangers they have experienced in their jobs.

They described the risks they face every day simply by going to work, and considered that it could have been them repairing potholes on the bridge when the Dali cargo ship struck it.

Building a new Key Bridge could take years and cost at least $400 million, experts say

Rebuilding Baltimore’s collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge could take anywhere from 18 months to several years, experts say, while the cost could be at least $400 million — or more than twice that.

It all depends on factors that are still mostly unknown. They range from the design of the new bridge to how swiftly government officials can navigate the bureaucracy of approving permits and awarding contracts.

Realistically, the project could take five to seven years, according to Ben Schafer

, an engineering professor at Johns Hopkins University.

“The lead time on air conditioning equipment right now for a home renovation is like 16 months, right?” Schafer said. He continued: “So it’s like you’re telling me they’re going to build a whole bridge in two years? I want it to be true, but I think empirically it doesn’t feel right to me.”

Others are more optimistic about the potential timeline: Sameh Badie, an engineering professor at George Washington University, said the project could take as little as 18 months to two years.

Read more from the Associated Press.

Biden OKs $60M in aid after Baltimore bridge collapse as governor warns of ‘very long road ahead’

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore warned of a “very long road ahead” to recover from the loss of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge as the Biden administration approved $60 million in immediate federal aid after the deadly collapse.

President Joe Biden has pledged the federal government would pay the full cost of rebuilding the bridge.

The state is “deeply grateful” for the federal funds and support, Moore said. “This work is not going to take hours. This work is not going to take days. This work is not going to take weeks,” Moore said. “We have a very long road ahead of us.”

Read the story from The Associated Press.

Central American and Mexican families mourn the workers lost in the Baltimore bridge collapse

The construction workers who went missing in the Baltimore bridge collapse came to the Maryland area from Mexico or Central America, including an enterprising Honduran father and husband who started a delivery business before the pandemic forced him to find other work, according to his family.

Police managed to close bridge traffic seconds before a cargo ship slammed into one of the Francis Scott Key Bridge’s supports early Tuesday, causing the span to fall into the frigid Patapsco River. There wasn’t time for a maintenance crew filling potholes on the span to get to safety.

At least eight people fell into the water and two were rescued. Two bodies were recovered Wednesday and four remained missing and were presumed dead.

The governments of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras confirmed that their citizens were among the missing.

Read the full story from The Associated Press .

Remains of 2 people recovered after Baltimore Key Bridge collapse

By Jessica Kronzer, Thomas Robertson and Abigail Constantino

Searchers recovered the remains of two people from the Patapsco River after a massive container ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on Tuesday morning.

The discovery came amid a daylong search for at least six people — all part of a construction crew that was repairing potholes on the Maryland bridge — who plunged into the murky waters after the ship collided with one of the structure’s pillars, sending the bridge tumbling down in a matter of seconds.

Col. Roland Butler, with Maryland State Police, said that a team of divers made the “tragic finding” before 10 a.m.: They found a red pickup truck submerged in about 25 feet of water with two bodies trapped inside.

The victims have been identified as Alejandro Fernandez Fuentes, 35, of Baltimore, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, of Dundalk. Fuentes was originally from Mexico, while Cabrera was from Guatemala.

Read the full story .

Drivers assess wreckage while search for bodies of 6 workers continues

One day after a powerless cargo ship rammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, causing to crumble, underwater crews are assessing the debris left behind in the Patapsco River while other divers continue to search for the bodies of six construction workers who were on the bridge when it collapsed.

The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search and recovery operation for the workers at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, saying that due to the amount of time that had elapsed since the initial collapse and the cold water temperatures, they did not expect to find any of the workers alive. Unchanged: The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search and recovery operation for the workers at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, saying that due to the amount of time that had elapsed since the initial collapse and the cold water temperatures, they did not expect to find any of the workers alive.

Even though the operation has shifted away from search and rescue, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said Wednesday morning there’s still a sense of urgency in the recovery mission.

“The top priority for me right now is still the recovery, we’ve got to bring these families closure,” Moore said Wednesday.

6 construction workers presumed dead after Baltimore Key Bridge collapse, Coast Guard says

By Ciara Wells and Jessica Kronzer

Six construction workers who were on Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge at the time it was rammed by a cargo ship, causing the bridge to collapse, are presumed dead after a search and rescue operation that lasted nearly 18 hours, the U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday night.

Reports came in around 1:40 a.m. Tuesday that a large vessel crashed into a column in the central part of the bridge that carries north and southbound lanes of Interstate 695.

The ship caught on fire, with dark smoke billowing out of the vessel, before it crashed into the support structure.

Baltimore bridge collapse and port closure send companies scrambling to reroute cargo

The stunning collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge is diverting shipping and trucking around one of the busiest ports on America’s East Coast, creating delays and raising costs in the latest disruption to global supply chains.

After the container ship Dali hit the bridge and brought it down, ship traffic entering and leaving the Port of Baltimore was suspended indefinitely. That will require rerouting vessels or their cargo to other ports, potentially causing congestion and delays for importers.

Read the story from The Associated Press .

‘I just heard this great big noise’: Md. neighbors recall moment Baltimore’s Key Bridge fell

Dozens of people kept ignoring the “no parking” signs that line Dundalk Avenue to get out of their cars and look beyond the Port of Baltimore toward the Francis Scott Key Bridge — or at least where the Key Bridge is supposed to be.

From there you can see some of it, but the great arching bridge that’s part of the skyline in Baltimore is missing, and even those who heard the crash as it happened overnight had to show up to stare, seeing what they never believed they had heard.

“I was up and I just heard this great big noise and rumbling sound, and I thought it was something going on down my road, so I got up out of my chair and walked outside and there was nothing,” said Frank Wolfe, who lives in Dundalk.

Only when he woke up later on in the morning did he put two and two together.

Listen to what people say they heard in the wee hours of the morning, when a massive container ship hit the bridge and what they saw unfold afterward.

Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapses after ship struck it, sending vehicles into water Content

The Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, has collapsed after a large container boat collided with it early Tuesday morning.

Reports came in around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday that a large vessel crashed into a column in the central part of the bridge carrying north and southbound lanes of Interstate 695, catching on fire before causing multiple vehicles to fall into the Patapsco River below.

Rescuers were searching for at least seven people in the water.

“This is a dire emergency,” said Kevin Cartwright, with the Baltimore City Fire Department. “Our focus right now is trying to rescue and recover these people.”

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