Goal
Practise distilling a story to its essence — what really mattered? What can't you leave out? Five words forces real thinking.
You'll need
Nothing needed — works right after any book, anywhere.
How to do it
When you've finished a story, set the challenge: "Can you sum up the whole thing in exactly five words?" Not roughly five — exactly five.
Give them a minute to think. "Dog finds lost ball. Hmm — that's four. Dog finally finds his ball — five!" The counting and refining is all part of it.
You have a go too. Compare your five words and talk about why you chose differently. There's no single right answer, and that's what makes it interesting. If they want to try again with four words, or seven, go for it.
