Hemingway’s Six Secrets to Better Writing
The master explains how to keep it simple yet excellent
Ernest Hemingway was authentic. By that, I mean he never put on airs. He remained true to his thoughts, feelings, and beliefs and didn’t care if you agreed with him or not.
This behavior didn’t always serve him well. Papa was known to frequently alienate even his closest friends and family.
The man was extraordinarily gifted. Talent like his can’t be learned; one must be born with it. In Hemingway’s case, talent plus authenticity equaled genius and that combination produced some of the finest literature of the twentieth century.
As a writer, I’m not fit to shine his shoes. But I am smart enough to pick up on some of his basic tenants of telling a good story.
Today, I’ll share these thoughts with you. They are not quotes from him. They are more akin to nuggets of knowledge that he left for future generations of us obsessed with crafting the written word.
Boil it down
Don’t use more words than are necessary. Make your point and move on; your readers are there for the story, not to be impressed by your vocabulary. An example of this is the famous six-word story sometimes attributed to him. “For sale: Baby shoes, never worn.”
