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Ernest Hemingway on Writing
"Throughout Hemingway's career as a writer, he maintained that it was bad luck to talk about writing -- that it takes off 'whatever butterflies have on their wings and the arrangement of hawk's feathers if you show it or talk about it.'"
Despite this belief, by the end of his life he had done just what he intended not to do. In his novels and stories, in letters to editors, friends, fellow artists, and critics, in interviews and in commissioned articles on the subject, Hemingway wrote often about writing. And he wrote as well and as incisively about the subject as any writer who ever lived....
This book contains Hemingway's reflections on the nature of the writer and on elements of the writer's life, including specific and helpful advice to writers on the craft of writing, work habits, and discipline. The Hemingway personality comes through in general wisdom, wit, humor, and insight, and in his insistence on the integrity of the writer and of the profession itself.
-- From the Preface by Larry W. Phillips
Despite this belief, by the end of his life he had done just what he intended not to do. In his novels and stories, in letters to editors, friends, fellow artists, and critics, in interviews and in commissioned articles on the subject, Hemingway wrote often about writing. And he wrote as well and as incisively about the subject as any writer who ever lived....
This book contains Hemingway's reflections on the nature of the writer and on elements of the writer's life, including specific and helpful advice to writers on the craft of writing, work habits, and discipline. The Hemingway personality comes through in general wisdom, wit, humor, and insight, and in his insistence on the integrity of the writer and of the profession itself.
-- From the Preface by Larry W. Phillips
160 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 1984
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 455 reviews
January 29, 2022
Charlie there is no future in anything. I hope you agree. That is why I like it at a war. Every day and every night there is a strong possibility that you will get killed and not have to write. I have to write to be happy whether I get paid for it or not. But it is a hell of a disease to be born with. I like to do it. Which is even worse. That makes it from a disease into a vice. Then I want to do it better than anybody has ever done it which makes it into an obsession. An obsession is terrible. Hope you haven’t gotten any. That’s the only one I’ve got left.
to Charles Scribner, 1940
*
There’s only 6 weeks more of bad weather to get through and then we will have the type of weather that makes you want to write rather than force yourself to write. I am such a simple writer that in my books the temperature and the weather of the day is nearly almost that of the weather outside. The type of weather we have had this summer I would not wish to inflict on anyone reading what I write and so I’m working in an air-conditioned room which is as false a way to work as to try to write in the pressurized cabin of a plane. You get the writing done but it’s as false as though it were done in the reverse of a greenhouse. Probably I will throw it all away, but maybe when the mornings are alive again I can use the skeleton of what I have written and fill it in with the smells and the early noises of the birds and all the lovely things of this finca which are in the cold months very much like Africa.
*
all I want is tranquility and a chance to write. You may never like any thing I write—and then suddenly you might like something very much. But you must believe that I am sincere in what I write.
*
Invention is the finest thing but you cannot invent anything that would not actually happen.
*
[...] and I am going to take pleasure in the things that I have while I have them.
*
If you say nothing it is difficult for someone to get it wrong.
to Charles Scribner, 1940
*
There’s only 6 weeks more of bad weather to get through and then we will have the type of weather that makes you want to write rather than force yourself to write. I am such a simple writer that in my books the temperature and the weather of the day is nearly almost that of the weather outside. The type of weather we have had this summer I would not wish to inflict on anyone reading what I write and so I’m working in an air-conditioned room which is as false a way to work as to try to write in the pressurized cabin of a plane. You get the writing done but it’s as false as though it were done in the reverse of a greenhouse. Probably I will throw it all away, but maybe when the mornings are alive again I can use the skeleton of what I have written and fill it in with the smells and the early noises of the birds and all the lovely things of this finca which are in the cold months very much like Africa.
*
all I want is tranquility and a chance to write. You may never like any thing I write—and then suddenly you might like something very much. But you must believe that I am sincere in what I write.
*
Invention is the finest thing but you cannot invent anything that would not actually happen.
*
[...] and I am going to take pleasure in the things that I have while I have them.
*
If you say nothing it is difficult for someone to get it wrong.
June 7, 2012
Everyone who writes would do well to read this short volume and understand the methods by which Hemingway achieves power, clarity and the trademark rough lyrical beauty of his work. He projected his entire being into his work by seeking simply to write one true sentence after another. If the writing didn't click, then he would re-read and edit after the sentence at which the writing ceased to be true. He was the master of monosyllabic words opting always for clarity and superior realism based upon first-hand experience. He totally immersed himself in living and was highly critical of authors of his day who were academic rather than more existential in their approach. That is, he believed in living life fully and then reporting on the direct experience of his total, passionate immersion in life. He engaged in active, physical pursuits and travelled worldwide in search of vibrant experience that he could translate into compelling narratives. It's intriguing to read his evolution as a writer in his letters like this one in 1927 to Maxwell Perkins: "My own experience with the literary life has not as yet included receiving royalties – but I hope by keeping down advances to some day have this take place.” He is always pithy and scant of syntax and believed in ruthless editing sometimes by tossing out tens of thousands of words at a time. "The secret is that it is poetry written into prose and it is the hardest of all things to do." I especially like his letters to F. Scott Fitzgerald: "The good parts of a book may be only something the writer is lucky enough to overhear or it may the wreck of his whole damn life -- and one is as good as the other." He has great respect for Fitzgerald, James Joyce, Ezra Pound, Tolstoy, Flaubert, Faulkner, e.e. cummings, Mann, Fielding, Twain, Turgenev and Dostoyevsky and of the last he wrote: "Dostoyevsky was was made by being sent to Siberia. Writers are forged in injustice as a sword is forged." His best advice is to write about what you know. He advises always to finish writing when it is going well, to leave writing for the day at a high point and refresh the well so you'll be eager to pick up the writing tomorrow. He claimed that all American writing comes from "Huckleberry Finn." If you love to write, then I encourage you to read this profound and pithy little book by Hemingway on writing.
March 6, 2021
A good book. An important one as well. Hard not to feel inspired to buy a typewriter and try to emulate Hemingway, however poorly. There is a lot to admire in Hemingway’s thoughts on writing, but my favourite is his idea of keeping the energy of the piece to yourself – not satisfying the inner urge to receive praise from others by sharing your ideas with them before they are written, done, finished, and published.
May 24, 2017
A glimpse into the psyche and mental preparation of a writer, and not any writer, but Hemingway himself.
Beautiful segments and quotations that make you think about writing, the process, why writers read, etc
Beautiful segments and quotations that make you think about writing, the process, why writers read, etc
Read
February 20, 2025This is a book. About writing. Written by a great writer. Born on 21 July 1899 and died on the 2 July 1961 . The same July that for him represented the end, but for me - the beginning, in a certain period of my life. Yes, the month of July was the month of both ascension and settlement of accounts for the plaintiff Hemingway. No, it wasn't the brandy who killed him, as some would think, but its poor concentration. Hemingway was the master of maximum concentration, of the absolute density in his every written paragraph.
This is one of my first readings, otherwise, from the time when I still believed that writing is just a string of words in an intelligible form.
Many times, it happened to me, and it still happens, to feverishly search for a " true sentence " , in what I read, along the time, or in what I write in reviews, lately. And something started to sprout in me, little by little, like a snowdrop in the spring, just like the water lily in Boris Vian's " LÉcume des Jours " grew in Chloé's lungs. And I realized that in a world filled with pitiful writers, those who mimic styles without understanding the essence behind them, it is crucial to turn to the masters, to the giants. These literary titans, with all their flaws and imperfections - show us that greatness is not about perfection, but about the relentless pursuit of beauty in a work. Hemingway himself was far from being perfect, instead, he was a landmark of simplicity. Is simplicity an asset ?
Proust, calm down . I know your take on simplicity. It wouldn't be hard to guess , for anyone, but I am not mentally prepared for a 708-word sentence of yours, yet. I talk about people who write stories of only six words, but six words which weigh as much as six thousand camusian boulders , as Hemingway did in his " For Sale : Baby Shoes Never Worn".
I talk about finding the courage to be vulnerable, to expose your innermost thoughts and feelings, in the gap Between words . And Hemingway is a master of it. His advice is simple, yet profound - write what you know, but with a twist. The best stories are those that feel real, even if they are entirely made up .
" On Writing " is more than just a piece of advice. It is a call to arms for every writer, to a " clean, well-lighted place ", where " the end of something " - becomes the beginning of something else.
I read the giants of literature not because they are perfect, but because they are real. Like me and you.
It is not the flawless that inspire us, but those who dare to be flawed and yet strive for greatness.
This is one of my first readings, otherwise, from the time when I still believed that writing is just a string of words in an intelligible form.
Many times, it happened to me, and it still happens, to feverishly search for a " true sentence " , in what I read, along the time, or in what I write in reviews, lately. And something started to sprout in me, little by little, like a snowdrop in the spring, just like the water lily in Boris Vian's " LÉcume des Jours " grew in Chloé's lungs. And I realized that in a world filled with pitiful writers, those who mimic styles without understanding the essence behind them, it is crucial to turn to the masters, to the giants. These literary titans, with all their flaws and imperfections - show us that greatness is not about perfection, but about the relentless pursuit of beauty in a work. Hemingway himself was far from being perfect, instead, he was a landmark of simplicity. Is simplicity an asset ?
Proust, calm down . I know your take on simplicity. It wouldn't be hard to guess , for anyone, but I am not mentally prepared for a 708-word sentence of yours, yet. I talk about people who write stories of only six words, but six words which weigh as much as six thousand camusian boulders , as Hemingway did in his " For Sale : Baby Shoes Never Worn".
I talk about finding the courage to be vulnerable, to expose your innermost thoughts and feelings, in the gap Between words . And Hemingway is a master of it. His advice is simple, yet profound - write what you know, but with a twist. The best stories are those that feel real, even if they are entirely made up .
" On Writing " is more than just a piece of advice. It is a call to arms for every writer, to a " clean, well-lighted place ", where " the end of something " - becomes the beginning of something else.
I read the giants of literature not because they are perfect, but because they are real. Like me and you.
It is not the flawless that inspire us, but those who dare to be flawed and yet strive for greatness.
December 13, 2011
After reading "A Sun Also Rises," "A Moveable Feast," "The Paris Wife," and "For Whom the Bell Tolls," I have become so enthralled with Ernest Hemingway's writing that I had to get this book. So far, so great. It offers many useful tips for writers.
Here's a good one: "Remember to get the weather into your god damned book--weather is very important." (1932, Hemingway) I need to work on that one.
Here's another one: "You see I'm trying in all my stories to get the feeling of the actual life across-not to just depict life-or criticize it- but to actually make it alive. So that when you have read something by me you actually experience the thing. You can't do this without putting in the bad and the ugly as well as what is beautiful. Because if it is all beautiful you can't believe in it. Things aren't that way. It is only by showing both sides-3 dimensions and if possible 4 that you can write the way I want to. (1925, Hemingway) (Try to explain that to hardliners in Iran - seems the only dimension they usually want to show is their own.)
Here's a good one: "Remember to get the weather into your god damned book--weather is very important." (1932, Hemingway) I need to work on that one.
Here's another one: "You see I'm trying in all my stories to get the feeling of the actual life across-not to just depict life-or criticize it- but to actually make it alive. So that when you have read something by me you actually experience the thing. You can't do this without putting in the bad and the ugly as well as what is beautiful. Because if it is all beautiful you can't believe in it. Things aren't that way. It is only by showing both sides-3 dimensions and if possible 4 that you can write the way I want to. (1925, Hemingway) (Try to explain that to hardliners in Iran - seems the only dimension they usually want to show is their own.)
June 10, 2020
Qué libro hermoso. Está lleno de perlas. La sabiduría de Hemingway es inconmesurable. Soy demasiado feliz de haber encontrado este libro, de poder subrayarlo y de tenerlo en mi estante para leer la belleza y la verdad cada vez que lo necesite.
Algunas citas maravillosas:
- "In truly good writing no matter how many times you read it, you do not know how it is done".
- "Writing is a hard business but nothing makes you feel better".
- "Need to read some bloody thing I've wrtitten in order to convince myself that ever have written anything in order to write something else".
- "Prose is architecture, not interior decoration".
- "All bad writers are in love with the epic".
- "The laws of prose writing are as inmutable as those of flight, of mathematics, of physics".
- "There is no left and right in writing. There is only good and bad writing".
- "Write about what you know and write truly".
- "Books should be about the people you know, that you love and hate; not about the people you study up about".
¿Qué aprendí? Que hay que escribir traspasando toda la emoción posible. Si alguien te lee y te cree, la historia funcionó. Pero si alguien te lee y siente que eso le pasó, entonces triunfaste. Que la escritura es disciplina y búsqueda de perfección. Que escribir requiere sacrificio, pobreza y soledad. Que es preferible escribir de lo que se sabe en lugar de lo que se estudia. Que los personajes hablan de sí mismos a través de sus acciones y no a través de sus discursos. Que hay que escribir de la forma más honesta posible. Que la escritura propia valdrá la pena si le entrega algo nuevo al mundo. Que no porque algo me haya pasado a mí significa que vale la pena escribir sobre eso. Que hay que leer e intentar superar a cada gran escritor y escritora que haya existido. Que mejor leer a los muertos que a los vivos. Que hay que escribir aunque no se reciba plata por ello inmediatamente, porque toda buena obra dará plata en algún momento. Que escribir cuando no hay nada que decir es la mayor traición a una misma. Que hay que escribir sin importar lo que piense la crítica o el resto. Que de 99 hojas escritas, al menos sale una buena. Que siempre hay que esperar lo peor. Y que si pasan diez años y vuelves a leer eso que escribiste y piensas que es bueno, entonces que nada más alrededor importe.
Algunas citas maravillosas:
- "In truly good writing no matter how many times you read it, you do not know how it is done".
- "Writing is a hard business but nothing makes you feel better".
- "Need to read some bloody thing I've wrtitten in order to convince myself that ever have written anything in order to write something else".
- "Prose is architecture, not interior decoration".
- "All bad writers are in love with the epic".
- "The laws of prose writing are as inmutable as those of flight, of mathematics, of physics".
- "There is no left and right in writing. There is only good and bad writing".
- "Write about what you know and write truly".
- "Books should be about the people you know, that you love and hate; not about the people you study up about".
¿Qué aprendí? Que hay que escribir traspasando toda la emoción posible. Si alguien te lee y te cree, la historia funcionó. Pero si alguien te lee y siente que eso le pasó, entonces triunfaste. Que la escritura es disciplina y búsqueda de perfección. Que escribir requiere sacrificio, pobreza y soledad. Que es preferible escribir de lo que se sabe en lugar de lo que se estudia. Que los personajes hablan de sí mismos a través de sus acciones y no a través de sus discursos. Que hay que escribir de la forma más honesta posible. Que la escritura propia valdrá la pena si le entrega algo nuevo al mundo. Que no porque algo me haya pasado a mí significa que vale la pena escribir sobre eso. Que hay que leer e intentar superar a cada gran escritor y escritora que haya existido. Que mejor leer a los muertos que a los vivos. Que hay que escribir aunque no se reciba plata por ello inmediatamente, porque toda buena obra dará plata en algún momento. Que escribir cuando no hay nada que decir es la mayor traición a una misma. Que hay que escribir sin importar lo que piense la crítica o el resto. Que de 99 hojas escritas, al menos sale una buena. Que siempre hay que esperar lo peor. Y que si pasan diez años y vuelves a leer eso que escribiste y piensas que es bueno, entonces que nada más alrededor importe.
January 14, 2012
I have read quite a few books about the art of writing, and what I've observed overtime is that, really, it's best to get advice from those that have done it their whole lives, instead of college professors and other pseudo-intellectuals. Hemingway, or Papa, as some call him, has a lot of opinions and thoughts on writing in here, but not a whole lot of advice. Which is fine, cause after a while you begin to agree with him: that talking about writing ruins the magic of it, ruins the drive. It's best to just do it and live by it and then you will know when you're doing good work or bad.
January 20, 2013
I felt like a voyeur reading this book. Hemingway expressly stated that he did not want anyone to publish his letters, yet here we have a collection of Hemingways' thoughts on writing as collected in his novels and correspondences. There was even a section where the letters were to his publisher, stating that he did not want his letters published; so the editor of this book is highly aware of the wishes, yet for some reason we have this book. I'm glad I got to know Hemingway a bit better, but I still felt bad for reading it. I remember thinking, "Okay, should I stop reading this? Hemingway wouldn't want me to read this. Or would he, since it's already been published?"
Anyway. Hemingway was a very opinionated man, and those opinions come across strongly in this collection. He seems a bit grumpy about certain things, yet always maintains a good sense of humor. He holds no quarter for other writers and calls shots as he sees them. The way many people refer to him (an egocentric man's-man, big game hunter, etc.) comes across in his treatment of other writers and naive youngsters, yet I don't think Hemingway was mean or overly cross. He simply had no qualms with stating his opinion, and sometimes it was a negative one.
Either way, Hemingway has a lot of good advice and some bad advice. Anyone reading what another writer thinks about writing should take into consideration that that's what worked for HIM/HER, and won't necessarily work for everyone. If you know yourself well enough to filter through the things that won't work for you, there are definitely some good tidbits of information and theories in this book. I'm just afraid people would read this book and think, "Okay I'll try that, since Hemingway said it and, well, look at him now." No. Do your own thing and take other ideas with a measure of salt, using them if they make sense and can impact your writing in a positive way. Just as Hemingway would have wanted.
Anyway. Hemingway was a very opinionated man, and those opinions come across strongly in this collection. He seems a bit grumpy about certain things, yet always maintains a good sense of humor. He holds no quarter for other writers and calls shots as he sees them. The way many people refer to him (an egocentric man's-man, big game hunter, etc.) comes across in his treatment of other writers and naive youngsters, yet I don't think Hemingway was mean or overly cross. He simply had no qualms with stating his opinion, and sometimes it was a negative one.
Either way, Hemingway has a lot of good advice and some bad advice. Anyone reading what another writer thinks about writing should take into consideration that that's what worked for HIM/HER, and won't necessarily work for everyone. If you know yourself well enough to filter through the things that won't work for you, there are definitely some good tidbits of information and theories in this book. I'm just afraid people would read this book and think, "Okay I'll try that, since Hemingway said it and, well, look at him now." No. Do your own thing and take other ideas with a measure of salt, using them if they make sense and can impact your writing in a positive way. Just as Hemingway would have wanted.
February 17, 2017
This was a neat glimpse into the mind of a legendary author. You really get a sense of his inner musings as well as his character. There are tidbits of fascinating information in here regarding his novels and other work.
What I liked most about this was that you get a sense of the humanness of Hemingway. You see the flaws in his writing (literally - in many of his letters there are grammatical and spelling errors) which can provide a sort of comfort to anyone (myself included) who dreams of writing novels.
He was a regular guy behind the famous author facade. I will say, though, that was an eccentric. A lot of what he says sounds borderline crazy (as in mental); I'm not sure if that is the genius talking, or if he was intentionally pretentious to fool people into thinking he was genius.
Regardless, I think it's well worth the read for anyone who cherishes the art of writing.
What I liked most about this was that you get a sense of the humanness of Hemingway. You see the flaws in his writing (literally - in many of his letters there are grammatical and spelling errors) which can provide a sort of comfort to anyone (myself included) who dreams of writing novels.
He was a regular guy behind the famous author facade. I will say, though, that was an eccentric. A lot of what he says sounds borderline crazy (as in mental); I'm not sure if that is the genius talking, or if he was intentionally pretentious to fool people into thinking he was genius.
Regardless, I think it's well worth the read for anyone who cherishes the art of writing.
August 13, 2021
Finally, in some other place, some other time, when you can’t work and feel like hell you will pick up (your) book and look at it and start to read and go on in a little while say to your wife, “Why this stuff is bloody marvelous.” And she will say, “Darling, I always told you it was.” Or maybe she doesn’t hear you and says, “What did you say?” and you do not repeat the remark.
😭🙏🏻
😭🙏🏻
July 24, 2021
tolstoy gibi yazarak kitabı daha büyük, daha bilgece falan filan hale getirebilirim. ama hemen sonra tolstoy'u neden atlaya atlaya okuduğumu hatırlıyorum...
tanrı gibi yazmaktan hoşlanmıyorum. eleştirmenler bunu beceremediğimi varsayıyorlar, halbuki tek sebep istememem
heyt be, ulan be, hemingway be!
önce çanlar benim için çalsın istedim aslında, sonra daha kolay bir başlangıç yapmak için bu kitaba yöneldim.
o kadar keyif aldığım bir deneyimdi ki, anlatıyorum hemen, bir saniye.
ilkokulda bilge çocuk isimli bir dergi çıkardım ben, üç sayı sürdü serüvenim ama olsun, azımsanmayacak kadar okurum -beş falan- vardı ve okul panosunda sergilenmişti dergimin kapağı, hahaha.
biraz daha kurgu öyküler üzerine yazmaya başlayınca etrafımın gazıyla bir ara -altıncı sınıf- kitap yazacağımı söyledim hatta.
sonra, türkiye'ye geldiğimiz aynı dönemde dandik bir kitapçıya gittim, taklit etmek için kitap baktım kendime, suç ve ceza yı seçtim.
HAHAHAHAHA
yazma serüvenim orada bitti.
çünkü hemingway'in de dediği gibi, neden ilk dövüşünde dostoyevski'yi istiyorsun? di mi ama...
kendisi ile tanışmak için başladığım bir kitabın ise beni bu kadar eğlendireceğini tahmin edemezdim.
korkusuz bir adammış, ibrahimoviç gibi bir ego sahibi, alkolik değil ama düzenli viski tüketicisi, küfürbaz biraz da...
nonoşlar ve entel kokanaları tavlama umuduyla kitabının adını kadınsız erkekler koyduğundan bahsediyor, edebiyat dünyasındaki ağlak okurlar ile dalga geçiyor, şiir okuyan erkek nonoşluğundan şikayetlenip düz yazı övüyor filan, tam benlik!
sürekli bir gülme hali.
f. scott fitzgerald'a yazdığı mektuplar da çok eğlenceli:
öykü yazmak fahişelik değil, sadece yanlış bir tercih. roman yazarak da geçinebilirdin ve geçinebilirsin. allahın salağı. şu kitabı yaz artık.
whatsapp konuşmaları gibi değil mi ama?
tüm bu komikliklerin üstüne didaktik tarafından bahsetmeyeceğim, yine de çok güzel şeyler öğrendiğimi söylemeliyim.
iyi ki okudum.
February 1, 2025
I received a copy of this lovely little volume from GoodReads as a giveaway. I’m very glad that I did because I’m a bit fan of Hemingway’s writing—not his lifestyle, however—and to read his thoughts on the writing process, his struggles to create, mundane thoughts that I think are beautiful, and what inspired him to create the worlds I have inhabited between the covers of his books was so very gratifying.
Each chapter is titled based on a compilation of his advice and thoughts concerning the writing process and the life of a writer. This edition’s cover, choice of paper, and font even took me to Hemingway’s cramped study, typewriter clacking away with his terse prose coming to life on each page.
I think his quotation from his “Selected Letters” to Charles Scribner made me want to read all of my favorites from him over again, “Eased off the book…in May because Dr. said I worked too hard in April, and May [is a] fine month to fish and make love to Miss Mary. I have to ease off on making love when writing hard as the two things are run by the same motor” (55). Now that is Hemingway!
Each chapter is titled based on a compilation of his advice and thoughts concerning the writing process and the life of a writer. This edition’s cover, choice of paper, and font even took me to Hemingway’s cramped study, typewriter clacking away with his terse prose coming to life on each page.
I think his quotation from his “Selected Letters” to Charles Scribner made me want to read all of my favorites from him over again, “Eased off the book…in May because Dr. said I worked too hard in April, and May [is a] fine month to fish and make love to Miss Mary. I have to ease off on making love when writing hard as the two things are run by the same motor” (55). Now that is Hemingway!
April 24, 2022
Probably about 3.2 stars. This book isn’t what I expected. Rather than a book about the writing process, it’s a collection of extracts assembled by Larry W Phillips, and then grouped into themes about writing. It’s like leafing through the pages of The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Quotations, except it’s all Ernest Hemingway quotes. It’s interesting to a point (particularly if you are fan of Hemingway), but I don’t think it will help you with your own writing.
July 10, 2017
helpful.
February 15, 2020
"Mice: What is the best early training for a writer?
Y.C.: An unhappy childhood."
Darn! I will never become a good writer.
February 6, 2022
“Tell me first what are the things, the actual, concrete things that harm a writer?”…
“Politics, women, drink, money, ambition. And the lack of politics, women, drink, money and ambition,” I said profoundly.
Some of the things he did and said was extremely funny. Mr.Hemingway was too sarcastic!
June 17, 2021
Read “A moveable feast” last year and enjoyed EHs thoughts on writing, so thought I would give this one a go. Was initially skeptical of the format, cutting out short pieces and gluing it all together without context or anything. It worked surprisingly well though. As others have already pointed out, it is hard not feeling inspired to write after reading it. Lots of sound advice, ranging from working habits, other writers, to knowing what to leave out.
June 18, 2011
For Hemingway fans - this is a must own. For aspiring writers - also, a must have. Full of Hemingway's personal letters, sections from his books... My two favorite letters speak for themselves :
---
In a letter to Malcolm Cowley in 1945 he wrote:
Been working every day and going good. Makes a hell of a dull life too. But it is more fun than anything else. Do you remember how old Ford was always writing how Conrad suffered when he wrote? How it was un metier du chien [a dog's trade:] etc. Do you suffer when you write? I don't at all. Suffer like a bastard when I don't write, or just before, and feel empty and fucked afterwards. But never as good while writing.
In another letter, this time to Charles Scribner in 1940 he wrote:
Charlie there is no future in anything. I hope you agree. That is why I like it at a war. Every day and every night there is a strong possibility that you will get killed and not have to write. I have to write to be happy whether I get paid for it or not. But it is a hell of a disease to be born with. I like to do it. Which is even worse. That makes it from a disease into a vice. Then I want to do it better than anybody has ever done it which makes in into an obsession. An obsession is terrible. Hope you haven't gotten any. That's the only one I got left.
----
It's beautiful and passionate, and any writer can relate : the power of language, the obsession in writing, the timelessness of words.
---
In a letter to Malcolm Cowley in 1945 he wrote:
Been working every day and going good. Makes a hell of a dull life too. But it is more fun than anything else. Do you remember how old Ford was always writing how Conrad suffered when he wrote? How it was un metier du chien [a dog's trade:] etc. Do you suffer when you write? I don't at all. Suffer like a bastard when I don't write, or just before, and feel empty and fucked afterwards. But never as good while writing.
In another letter, this time to Charles Scribner in 1940 he wrote:
Charlie there is no future in anything. I hope you agree. That is why I like it at a war. Every day and every night there is a strong possibility that you will get killed and not have to write. I have to write to be happy whether I get paid for it or not. But it is a hell of a disease to be born with. I like to do it. Which is even worse. That makes it from a disease into a vice. Then I want to do it better than anybody has ever done it which makes in into an obsession. An obsession is terrible. Hope you haven't gotten any. That's the only one I got left.
----
It's beautiful and passionate, and any writer can relate : the power of language, the obsession in writing, the timelessness of words.
November 20, 2020
Reading this collection of Hemingway's comments about writing is rewarding, whether you agree with him or not. He's such a character.
February 23, 2020
The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock proof shit detector. This is the writer’s radar and all great writers have had it.
from GEORGE PLIMPTON, “An Interview with Ernest Hemingway”
The Paris Review 18, 1958
In the world of tutorials and How-to literature and overall discourse, this is as close as I can get to it and still enjoy it.
Simply put, all this book offers is excerpts from Hemingway’s letters to fellow writers, critics and friends as well as interviews, structured thematically: what writing is and does,
qualities of a writer,
the pain and pleasure of writing,
what to write about,
advice to writers,
working habits,
characters,
what to leave out,
obscenity,
titles,
other writers,
politics and
the writer’s life.
So it’s a kind of a manual for an aspiring writer, but pre-processed - one still needs to chew and digest it, and make out what’s needed by themselves - with no bullet points or summaries at the end of the chapter.
And I love this idea, for writing (in fact, just like many other things commonly written about in the how-to genre) cannot be put into formulae and should not be spoon-fed.
It read like poetry - I had to read some of the excerpts several times and gaze into the distance to think for a moment; sometimes like a dialogue where I started to question or disagree with him; and yet sometimes it simply made me snort with laughter. Most certainly, it’s a book to always have at hand’s reach, to keep re- and re-reading it until the pages start falling off.
from GEORGE PLIMPTON, “An Interview with Ernest Hemingway”
The Paris Review 18, 1958
In the world of tutorials and How-to literature and overall discourse, this is as close as I can get to it and still enjoy it.
Simply put, all this book offers is excerpts from Hemingway’s letters to fellow writers, critics and friends as well as interviews, structured thematically: what writing is and does,
qualities of a writer,
the pain and pleasure of writing,
what to write about,
advice to writers,
working habits,
characters,
what to leave out,
obscenity,
titles,
other writers,
politics and
the writer’s life.
So it’s a kind of a manual for an aspiring writer, but pre-processed - one still needs to chew and digest it, and make out what’s needed by themselves - with no bullet points or summaries at the end of the chapter.
And I love this idea, for writing (in fact, just like many other things commonly written about in the how-to genre) cannot be put into formulae and should not be spoon-fed.
It read like poetry - I had to read some of the excerpts several times and gaze into the distance to think for a moment; sometimes like a dialogue where I started to question or disagree with him; and yet sometimes it simply made me snort with laughter. Most certainly, it’s a book to always have at hand’s reach, to keep re- and re-reading it until the pages start falling off.
January 14, 2023
حتّى وإن قرأتَ نصّاً مكتوباً بشكل جيّد مراراً وتكراراً، لن تستطيع أن تكتشف كيف تمّت كتابته. ذلك أنّ هناك سرّاً يكمن في كلّ النصوص الجيّدة، وذلك السرّ هو الذي يمنعنا من تحليلها. لذ�� تبقى على حالها، وهي دائماً سارية المفعول. كلّ مرةً تعاود قراءتها ترى من خلالها شيئاً لم تره من قبل أو تتعلّم شيئاً جديداً منها.
/
لطيف جدًا
أحببته
/
لطيف جدًا
أحببته
March 20, 2021
This is the best book on writing I have ever read. Yes, I said it. I honestly liked it better than Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott or On Writing by Stephen King. Those books are (very) good. This book is (very) great. Ernest Hemingway thought it was bad luck to talk about writing. So he didn’t! Or he thought he didn’t. But twenty-five years after he died journalist Larry W. Phillips combed through Hemingway’s personal letters to friends, editors, fellow writers, and critics, as well as interviews he conducted over his career, and pulled out the many wise and remarkable thoughts Hemingway shared on writing over his life. He then sort of shaped and sculpted them together by theme (“Working Habits”, “The Writer’s Life”, “Characters”, etc) to produce this slender 140-page volume of endless gold nuggets. I circled so many quotes and made so many notes in the margins that I just ended up leaving it on my bedside table when I was done in the hopes that it will slowly merge into my subconscious. A gem for anyone that writes and wants to write better. Highly recommended.
February 25, 2025
"مباهج الكتابة و أوجاعها"
يحتوي هذا الكتاب الصغير على تعليقات همنغواي حول فنّ الكتابة من مقالاته وكتبه ورسائله إلي المحررين والأصدقاء وبعض المؤلفين. وأيضا تأمّلاته حول طبيعة الكاتب والعناصر التي تُكوّن حياة الكاتب، وبعض النصائح المفيدة للكتّاب حول حرفة الكتابة وسلوكيّات العمل والانضباط المرتبط به.
يحتوي هذا الكتاب الصغير على تعليقات همنغواي حول فنّ الكتابة من مقالاته وكتبه ورسائله إلي المحررين والأصدقاء وبعض المؤلفين. وأيضا تأمّلاته حول طبيعة الكاتب والعناصر التي تُكوّن حياة الكاتب، وبعض النصائح المفيدة للكتّاب حول حرفة الكتابة وسلوكيّات العمل والانضباط المرتبط به.
May 22, 2013
Some of my favorite quotes taken from Ernest Hemingway on Writing, edited by Larry W. Phillips. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
- - -
QUOTES by HEMINGWAY
In truly good writing no matter how many times you read it you do not know how it is done. That is because there is a mystery in all great writing and that mystery does not dis-sect out. It continues and it is always valid. Each time you re-read you see or learn something new.
To Harvey Breit, 1952
(page 5)
All my life I've looked at words as though I were seeing them for the first time...
To Mary Welsh, 1945
(page 7)
...writing is something that you can never do as well as it can be done. It is a perpetual challenge and it is more difficult than anything else that I have ever done--so I do it. And it makes me happy when I do it well.
To Ivan Kashkin, 1935
(page 15)
I love to write. But it has never gotten any easier to do and you can't expect it to if you keep trying for something better than you can do.
To L.H. Brague, Jr., 1959
(page 18)
Dostoevsky was made by being sent to Siberia. Writers are forged in injustice as a sword is forged.
Green Hills of Africa, pg. 71
(page 20)
Look how it is at the start--all juice and kick to the writer and cant convey anything to the reader--you use up the juice and the kick goes but you learn how to do it and the stuff when you are no longer young is better than the young stuff--
To F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1929
(page 27)
Since I had started to break down all my writing and get rid of all facility and try to make instead of describe, writing had been wonderful to do. But it was very difficult, and I did not know how I would ever write anything as long as a novel. It often took me a full morning of work to write a paragraph.
A Moveable Feast, pg. 156
(page 33)
"...Your first seeing of a country is a very valuable one. Probably more valuable to yourself than to any one else, is the hell of it. But you ought to always write it to try to get it stated. No matter what you do with it."
Green Hills of Africa, pg. 193
(page 35)
After a book I am emotionally exhausted. If you are not you have not transferred the emotion completely to the reader. Anyway that is the way it works with me.
To Charles Scribner, Jr., 1952
(page 39)
I even read aloud the part of the novel that I had rewritten, which is about as low as a writer can get and much more dangerous for him as a writer than glacier skiing unroped before the full winter snowfall has set over the crevices.
A Moveable Feast, p. 209
(page 49)
Writing it first in pencil gives you one-third more chance to improve it.
By-Line: Ernest Hemingway, p. 216
(page 51)
The more I'm let alone and not worried the better I can function.
To Grace Hall Hemingway, 1929
(page 56)
Do not let them deceive you about what a book should be because of what is in the fashion now.
By-Line: Ernest Hemingway, p. 216
(page 111)
He [the wolf] is hunted by everyone. Everyone is against him and he is on his own as an artist is.
To Harvey Breit, 1952
(page 113)
Only two things you can do for an artist. Give him money and show his stuff. These are the only two impersonal needs.
To Ernest Walsh, 1926
(page 119)
The minute I stop writing for a month or two months and am on a trip I feel absolutely animally happy. But when you are writing and get something the way you want it to be you get a great happiness too--but it is very different; although one is as important as the other to you yourself when you have a feeling of how short your life is.
To Ivan Kashkin, 1936
(page 121)
You must be prepared to work always without applause.
By-Line: Ernest Hemingway, p. 185
(page 139)
August 19, 2019
I have learned a decent amount from this novel. The letters that Hemingway wrote to his colleagues and friends cleared the invisible fog surrounding the definition of the difference between good and bad writing. I enjoyed reading this book and found myself surprised at the sincerity Hemingway has in his letters, a very genuine author. He wanted to be the best author and competed against those whose legacies were secured (the dead) and avoided competing with the living. His writing was as true as he believed and his advice was wise. A very useful book for better understanding how to write and what an author may expect from the reader.
Some of the quotes I loved are below:
"You have to take what is not palpable and make it completely palpable and also have it seem normal and so that it can become a part of the experience of the person who reads it." p. 16
"'Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know.' So finally I would write on true sentence, and then go on from there. It was easy then because there was always one true sentence that I knew or had seen or had heard someone say. If I started to write elaborately, or like someone introducing or presenting something, I found that I could cut that scrollwork or ornament out and throw it away and start with the first true simple declarative sentence I had written." p. 28
"get rid of all facility and try to make instead of describe...it was very difficult, and I did not know how I would ever write anything as long as a novel. It often took me a full morning of work to write a paragraph" p. 33
"My attitude toward punctuation is that it ought to be as conventional as possible. The game of golf would lose a good deal if croquet mallets and billiard cues were allowed on the putting green. You ought to be able to show that you can do it a good deal better than anyone else with regular tools before you have a license to bring in your improvements." p. 38
"similies (bring me my dictionary) are like defective ammunition (the lowest thing I can think of at this time)." p. 38
"I had learned already never to empty the well of my writing, but to always stop when there was still something there in the deep part of the well, and let it refill at night from the springs that fed it." p. 43
"Prose is architecture, not interior decoration, and the Baroque is over...People in a novel, not skillfully constructed character, must be projected from the writer's assimilated experience, from his knowledge from his head, from his heart and all there is from him." p. 72
"the knowledge is what makes the underwater part of the iceberg." p. 75
"My temptation is always to write too much. I keep it under control so as not to have to cut out crap and re-write." p. 77
"It is better to produce half as much, get plenty of exercise and not go crazy than to speed up so that your head is hardly normal." p. 120
Thanks for reading!
Some of the quotes I loved are below:
"You have to take what is not palpable and make it completely palpable and also have it seem normal and so that it can become a part of the experience of the person who reads it." p. 16
"'Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know.' So finally I would write on true sentence, and then go on from there. It was easy then because there was always one true sentence that I knew or had seen or had heard someone say. If I started to write elaborately, or like someone introducing or presenting something, I found that I could cut that scrollwork or ornament out and throw it away and start with the first true simple declarative sentence I had written." p. 28
"get rid of all facility and try to make instead of describe...it was very difficult, and I did not know how I would ever write anything as long as a novel. It often took me a full morning of work to write a paragraph" p. 33
"My attitude toward punctuation is that it ought to be as conventional as possible. The game of golf would lose a good deal if croquet mallets and billiard cues were allowed on the putting green. You ought to be able to show that you can do it a good deal better than anyone else with regular tools before you have a license to bring in your improvements." p. 38
"similies (bring me my dictionary) are like defective ammunition (the lowest thing I can think of at this time)." p. 38
"I had learned already never to empty the well of my writing, but to always stop when there was still something there in the deep part of the well, and let it refill at night from the springs that fed it." p. 43
"Prose is architecture, not interior decoration, and the Baroque is over...People in a novel, not skillfully constructed character, must be projected from the writer's assimilated experience, from his knowledge from his head, from his heart and all there is from him." p. 72
"the knowledge is what makes the underwater part of the iceberg." p. 75
"My temptation is always to write too much. I keep it under control so as not to have to cut out crap and re-write." p. 77
"It is better to produce half as much, get plenty of exercise and not go crazy than to speed up so that your head is hardly normal." p. 120
Thanks for reading!
May 8, 2016
Hemingway lived to write. His eventual failing as a writer—his inability to actually write—is one of the several reasons that led to his suicide in 1961. What he did write for the most part and for much of his life was superior and often innovative seen even from the perspective of the twenty-first century. It was not merely that Hemingway was a gifted writer but he also had a profound impact on a generation of writers who cut their teeth in imitation of or in reaction to his works.
In spite of that impact, Hemingway was not often open to discussing the mechanics of his art. In an effort to correct that apparent deficiency, Larry Phillips, the editor of On Writing, collected from Hemingway’s writings—from his novels, letters, and interviews—fragments where, over the years, Hemingway did broach what might be viewed as his theories of art in general and his own ideas about writing in particular. There are chapters that collect Hemmingway’s thoughts and counsels about a variety of topics related to his wiring and to the creative process. Among them:
What Writing Is and Does
The Qualities of a Writer
The Pain and Pleasures of Writing
What to Write About
Advice to Writers
Working Habits
Knowing What to Leave Out
Obscenity
Titles
Politics
The Writer’s Life
The thin volume, given its objective, does have some value. Although the fragments reveal little about the Hemingway style that is not spelled out in his major novels, published letters and secondary studies, it does collect in one place some of what is scattered. Phillips includes for example, his 1949 note to Charles Scribner: “A writer, of course, has to make up stories for them to be rounded and not flat like photographs. But he makes them up put of what he knows.” [p.21] And he also includes the section in “Death in the Afternoon” where he talks about the “Iceberg Theory”:
If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. A writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing. [p.177]
But is seems to me that the greatest utility of the volume is that it continues to milk the Hemingway name, raising additional money for Hemingway’s heirs, publisher and managers.
In spite of that impact, Hemingway was not often open to discussing the mechanics of his art. In an effort to correct that apparent deficiency, Larry Phillips, the editor of On Writing, collected from Hemingway’s writings—from his novels, letters, and interviews—fragments where, over the years, Hemingway did broach what might be viewed as his theories of art in general and his own ideas about writing in particular. There are chapters that collect Hemmingway’s thoughts and counsels about a variety of topics related to his wiring and to the creative process. Among them:
What Writing Is and Does
The Qualities of a Writer
The Pain and Pleasures of Writing
What to Write About
Advice to Writers
Working Habits
Knowing What to Leave Out
Obscenity
Titles
Politics
The Writer’s Life
The thin volume, given its objective, does have some value. Although the fragments reveal little about the Hemingway style that is not spelled out in his major novels, published letters and secondary studies, it does collect in one place some of what is scattered. Phillips includes for example, his 1949 note to Charles Scribner: “A writer, of course, has to make up stories for them to be rounded and not flat like photographs. But he makes them up put of what he knows.” [p.21] And he also includes the section in “Death in the Afternoon” where he talks about the “Iceberg Theory”:
If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. A writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing. [p.177]
But is seems to me that the greatest utility of the volume is that it continues to milk the Hemingway name, raising additional money for Hemingway’s heirs, publisher and managers.
December 11, 2014
I was expecting something different. This is a collection of Ernest Hemingway quotations from various sources (books, interviews, letters). While they all relate to writing in some way and are grouped according to themes, the book is not a how-to and I didn't find any useful hints. In fact, after four or five chapters and then skimming ahead, I decided to ditch it.
Disappointing.
Disappointing.
November 11, 2020
"...Every novel which is truly written contributes to the total knowledge which is there at the disposal of the next writer who comes, but the next writer must pay, always, a certain nominal percentage in experience to be able to understand and assimilate what is available as his birthright and what he must, in turn, take his departure from."
February 25, 2009
I love this little book. You really see the man here--astonishing warts and all--but I love his pugilistic take on writing fiction. Laughs galore, both with and at, and lots of useful insights in how to BE a writer and keep ego up.
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