Young writers in this country, and many others, are told they should learn to write like Ernest Hemingway. Why? Was there something special about his work? Okay, fine, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature, but so have a lot of other writers. I’m not usually terribly excited by that – I don’t generally like the stuff these people write. Hell, I’ve never heard of even half of them. Maybe highbrows like this stuff, but who else would?
That’s not really the point, is it? Hemingway’s writing style is usually described as ‘masculine’ or ‘muscular’. I am inclined to call it terse. Because of his early experiences as a reporter for the Kansas City Star, he learned how to be spare and direct in everything he wrote. He preferred to write in short sentences, using as few adverbs and adjectives as he could get away with. And his works were full of manly men doing manly things in a manly way. While that sort of thing is less in vogue than it used to be, here are the things that writing teachers tend to stress:
- Write what you know – Hemingway based a lot of his stories on events and people he had seen and known first-hand.
- Use short, powerful sentences – he used strong verbs and unequivocal nouns, so that he didn’t need so many modifiers for his words.
- Be positive, not negative in your writing – say what something is, not what it isn’t.
- Keep your paragraphs short – Hemingway believed that long paragraphs were harder to read and put his readers to sleep.
- Stories should be like an iceberg: 80% unseen – he only described the actions of the characters and enough scene description to keep the reader informed – no meanings, no literary effects, no ‘purple prose’.
- Use dialog tags as little as possible – the character’s voices should be clear enough to avoid reader confusion.
And two points that teachers seem to overlook:
- If you get stuck, just “write one true sentence” – if you simply write one sentence, with total honesty, you’ll often restart your writing ‘motor’. And –
- Stop writing when it’s going well – don’t wear yourself out or drain the well. Stop writing when you know what happens next – this will give your imagination a chance to work on the script.
Okay then. That does seem like a recipe for clear, precise writing with as few literary backwaters as possible. It’s easy to see why writing teachers would like it. It’s also massively misleading.
Hemingway, like most professional writers, wrote more than was strictly necessary and then edited the rough draft down to the bone. Where does that show up? He didn’t stick to short paragraphs for everything, mainly the run-up to where the action started. He not only took out every descriptor he could find, he also removed every comma he could manage, and inserted the word ‘and’ instead. Some critics have claimed it was his favorite word. And he didn’t just write short sentences. He varied the length of his sentences to create reader interest. Also, while Hemingway was a great believer that the written page should use the shortest, simplest words possible – so that anyone could read it – his descriptions of things ended up a little flat. Finally, because he put people he knew into his stories, he had to be very careful to rearrange personality quirks and modes of speech, so he didn’t offend anyone. That’s a lot of work.
For myself, I really like Hemingway’s short stories. His sparse, one-two-punch writing style works extremely well in that format. However, I’m not as fond of his novels. His bare bones structure doesn’t work as well, I think, in longer format works. His characters lack warmth, and his descriptions need more color. That’s just me – obviously I don’t have a Nobel Prize. But I don’t think the lessons he teaches are a complete waste.
I also distrust and dislike purple prose. And I have known for some time that the best way to avoid it is to use simple sentences with as few modifiers as possible. The whole ‘show don’t tell’ rule is kinda overdone, though. Sure, there are times when it’s best to reveal character through dialog or intention through action. But there are other times when you just gotta describe a scene or indulge in a little flashback. Too direct a narrative can be just as boring as a flowery one. I also agree that you don’t need to write ‘he said’, ‘she said’ for every line of dialog. And please don’t put adjectives in dialog tags unless you just can’t avoid it. You can avoid it.
The whole ‘iceberg’ principle is a good one, I think. Don’t tell your readers everything – make them figure it out for themselves. If you do it well enough, they’ll come back for more. Just remember, everybody’s childhood was fucked up, everybody hates something about their job. It’s part of the human condition. You don’t have to beat it into your readers to remind them of the fact.
He’s right, by the way – short paragraphs are better than long. Long paragraphs are daunting. And as far as simple words being better than complicated ones? Even Stephen King said, “Any word you have to go to a thesaurus to find is the wrong word.” Don’t try to impress people with your vocabulary, just write the damn thing. If an author tries to impress me with their literary devices or fancy language, I already know the story is going to bore me.
In the end, don’t write like anyone but yourself – be truthful. Don’t try to copy Hemingway any more than you would try to copy your mother’s writing style. There’s a lot of very bad lessons to be learned from Hemingway – he was a hard drinker and a misogynist – but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take some of his writing ideas to heart. Especially this one: “There is no rule on how to write. Sometimes it comes easily and perfectly; sometimes it’s like drilling rock and then blasting it out with charges.” ― Ernest Hemingway
Be well.
bcd