Photography, Self, January Prompt
Show Yourself: January Prompt
January Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Self”
Snow cave above field of green.
The snow cave was inspired by Anne Bonfert with her igloo story. I wish I could play in that glorious igloo she built in Germany. I told Anne that it never snows enough where I live to be able to build an igloo — but this December — it did!
My six word story was inspired by Christina, a fellow BC writer who commented on my December Snow & White Prompt story where I wrote that “it rarely snows where I live.”
Christina said, “Tis the season for people on the West Coast to share their photos of green grass with the rest of Canada.”
This year Vancouver’s West Coast broke the rules and we got Xmas snow for the first time since 2008. The snow nestled about 5–10 centimeters well above our green grass. My son told me his six words about that day, “A weird piece of snow art.”
To build the snow cave, my son and I (mostly me!) shoveled snow into a big pile, then dug a tunnel out with the shovel. My son used his boots to kick in the snow and dig deeper toward the center (from each end) until the tunnel was created and then we filled in one side of the tunnel with snow. It was a tight squeeze, but we both fit inside our hut and it was the first-time-ever igloo I’ve built since living in Vancouver, Canada! We’ve built a total of three igloos since.
Note: I’m back from my winter break and today is the official day that Six Word Photo Story Challenge publication will be accepting submissions again!
This leads us to January’s Challenge
Happy New Year — can you spark a fire and reveal yourself for 2022! It’s been over four months since I started this publication and I’d love to get to know our writers better.
January’s challenge is to capture a photo that features yourself in some way.
Tell me what makes you shine, spark, laugh, play, create, and empower — the real you.
Ideally, the photo you capture occurs in nature (or elsewhere), doing something you love, challenges, or scares you in some way.
Can you publish a photo that represents a part of “YOU” and tell a story about it in six words?
Grab those cameras or dig into your archives and see what you can come up with — you may be surprised what happens.
I dare you — it’s SHOWTIME!
One, two, three — go! Use your insight, intuition, and wonder — look inside yourselves — what do you want readers to know about YOU? If you’re shy or scared, that’s okay. That’s the point of this challenge — let’s push each other to share those parts of us that capture our character in a meaningful, adventurous, joyful, or vulnerable way. Be funny, creative, daring.
I see profiles, headshots, tattoos, backsides, yoga poses, action shots, candid shots, feet, hands, funny faces, hair, baby photos…what do you see?
The photo must be of YOURSELF either taken by yourself as a “selfie” OR taken by someone else and please include a photo credit. For your subtitle: Please use January Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Self” (like the subtitle used in this article.) Please tag your story using this tag: Monthly Challenge.
Typically, only ONE PHOTO should be featured in your story. For the January Challenge, you may feature up to 3 photos, but they must have an obvious connection to each other, such as the 3 photos featured in this story: 1) Me inside igloo 2) Me doing a headstand in front of igloo 3) The igloo. The 1-3 photos must be laid out in the same format (above) as in this story — NO EXCEPTIONS.
The January “Self” challenge is open for submissions from Tues, January 4, and closes Mon, January 31, 2021, at NOON, PACIFIC STANDARD TIME.
Freestyle Stories
You also have the option to write a six-word photo story featuring a photo and topic of your own choosing — as long as the photo and story are connected in some way. The story doesn’t need to be related to the monthly challenge prompt. For your subtitle: Please use your own subtitle followed by the word: Freestyle OR use Six Word Photo Story: Freestyle. Please tag your story using this tag: Freestyle.
Submissions are always open for Freestyle stories.
On writing your Six Word Photo Story
Read and follow the submission guidelines. Your story must be six words only. If your six word story has a backstory, the backstory can be between 1–2 minutes. Anything longer than 2 minutes will not be accepted. The concept of this publication is to keep the stories short.
Format: It should be formatted like this story from the featured photo that appears ABOVE the title down to the 3 dots — which signals the end of the story. Formatting guidelines are unique to this publication — please read them thoroughly. For formatting step-by-step instructions, see Formatting Your Six Word Photo Story.
If your story requires any edits or doesn’t meet guidelines, it will delay publication and may not be accepted.
If you’d like to be added as a writer and submit to Six Word Photo Story Challenge publication, please read and follow the submission guidelines.
About the Writer
Mary Chang is an award-winning short story fiction writer, memoir writer, blogger, and editor of the Six Word Photo Story Challenge publication — inspired by her original 6-Word Photo Story Summer Challenge writing prompt (2021) on Medium.
She’s also a parent, fitness, and photography enthusiast — and loves creating monthly challenges.
Fueled by cartwheels, laughter, and encouraging people to shine. Read her blog at www.marychangstorywriter.com
