A couple of weeks ago, I posted about a challenge to write six-word stories about law school or the law.  That post inspired many creative six-word stories, which you can read in the comments to that post.  The post and its idea were picked up by other blogs, including the Wall Street Journal law blog, the Wall Street Journal print edition on Monday, September 23, 2013, Above the Law, TaxProf blog, and the ABA Law News Now.

Below are some of the six-word stories submitted by my first-year legal analysis, writing & research students. I hope you’ll add your own in the comments.

New analysis, old logic, law school.

Adam Vanderwerff

Wish I knew contracts like Kingsfield.

Alexa Callahan

This isn’t quite like Legally Blonde.

Alexa Callahan

Helen Palsgraf shouldn’t have stood there.

Kelly Pingel

Student focused. Eckstein prepared. Challenge accepted.

Josh Lurie

Where I became a caffeine junkie.

Brycen Breazeale

Come to our meeting, free food!

Larry Whitley

Law school: life experience, life changing.

Jordan Feest

Yes, overwhelming; yet, so extremely rewarding.

Ian Kalis

Challenging and new; focus, get through.

Kyle Thelen

Shaping legal landscapes from grass clippings.

Molly Madonia

Coffee read read read read coffee.

Rex Hupy

The law is a fickle beast.

Jordana Rostant-Nunes

I’m having 1L of a ride.

Trace Hummel

Law—compromise of mind and heart.

Jessica Jurevis

More you learn. Less you know.

Cassie Van Gompel

Legal education: a complete mental metamorphosis.

Asma Kadri

Who is this magical reasonable person?

John Woodson

School was easy. Then things changed.

Craig Dietrich

Yesterday, I posted a six-word story challenge on this blog. We received a number of wonderful six-word stories posted in the comment section.  Through the wonders of the internet, the post came to the attention of a reporter at the Wall Street Journal, who wrote about it on the paper’s blog and included some more law school six-word stories.  Check it out here.

Keep those stories coming in. As I noted yesterday, I’ll post them in new posts throughout the year as I receive them.

One of the things we try to teach our law students is how to write concisely. And nothing is more concise than a story in six words. If you aren’t familiar with six-word stories, let me briefly (in six words) explain.  Ernest Hemingway wrote one; won bet.  Okay, more fully, it’s said that in the 1920s, Hemingway’s colleagues bet him he couldn’t write a story in six words.  He wrote:  For sale: baby shoes, never used. Some say that Hemingway considered it his best work. (But see here for evidence that Hemingway never wrote those six words.)

Writing a six-word story is creative and fun—and great practice at being concise. Here are several six-word stories about law school or other law-related themes, contributed by faculty and students. My goal is to continue to collect such stories and post them as they come in. Please consider writing your own six-word story and posting it as a comment. Or email it to me at lisa.mazzie@marquette.edu.

Answer:  “It depends”

worked

most days

Professor Rebecca Blemberg

Old dog, new liberalism; Antonin Scalia.

Gil Simpson, 2L

I loved fearlessly, despite the law.

Professor Ed Fallone

Fourteenth circuit moot court is real.

Brittany Kachingwe, 3L

Cost-benefit analysis rules the case.

Professor Melissa Greipp

Personal jurisdiction in six words? Ha!

Professor Irene Ten Cate

UPDATE (9/21/13):  The six-word stories keep rolling in.  Here are some more.  Please keep them coming!

Don’t outsource, let our lawyers work.

Angelina Joseph

“Habeas Corpus,” the third-year student cried.

Professor David Austin, California Western School of Law

Hanging shingles, he fell into debt.

Professor David Austin, California Western School of Law

Legal writer, for sale, bores family.

Submitted by the children of Professor Ruth Anne Robbins, Rutgers School of Law – Camden

Friday night, legal writing: the usual.

Submitted by the children of Professor Ruth Anne Robbins, Rutgers School of Law – Camden

I worked hard. It paid off.

Professor Candace Centeno, Villanova

Perseverance in law: Constance, Thurgood, and Desegregation.

Professor Bernadette Gargano, SUNY Buffalo Law School

No better preparation for serving humanity.

Professor Kirsten K. Davis, Stetson University College of Law

“Heads full of mush” learn clarity.
Professor Sue Liemer, School of Law, Southern Illinois University

Students never saw Paper Chase, alas.

Professor Bruce Ching, Michigan State University College of Law

Ruth Anne Robbins submits the following, written by her 2L and 3L students:

1L: scared; 2L: burnt; 3L: done.

2L. One month deep, doggy-paddling. Quicksand?

Sanity sustained by pounds of coffee.

Work Harder Than Ever, No Guarantees.

1L, 2L, 3L, Bar Exam, Floor.

Should have read the “Slacker’s Guide.”