Ernest Hemingway

[Pickwick]

I found this quotation from Ernest Hemingway:

 

"In going where you have to go, and doing what you have to do, seeing what you have to see, you dull and blunt the instrument you write with. But I would rather have it blunt and dulled, and know I had to put it on the grindstone and hammer it into shape, and put a whetstone to it, and know I had something to write about, than to have it bright and shining and nothing to say, or smooth and well oiled in the closet, but unused.

 

The first forty nine stories

 

I find expression in letter writing, and sometimes at a loss what to write about. Hemingway got me thinking, those things we find we have to do which we may not like, we can easily miss the smallest thing which might interest another.

 

If we enjoy writing, then often the dullest things in our lives which we are compelled to do can have a glimmer of interest if we look close enough.

[ethernautrix]

I like this quotation. Thank you for sharing it.

[Runnin_Ute]

reminded me of this one I saw in The Salt Lake Tribune (online) today - it was from article I missed in just before Memorial Day.

 

Michael Martone said one of the most useful pieces of advice he received about writing was "to lower my standards."

"Wanting only to write what is good or great or perfect leads to not writing," said the award-winning author and University of Alabama professor. "I am all for quantity, not quality. And the act of writing, the practice of writing is the end in itself, not the means to an end."

In other words "just write", there is always time to polish later.

[Pickwick]

I like this quotation. Thank you for sharing it.

Thank you for your response.

[Pickwick]

reminded me of this one I saw in The Salt Lake Tribune (online) today - it was from article I missed in just before Memorial Day.

 

Michael Martone said one of the most useful pieces of advice he received about writing was "to lower my standards."

"Wanting only to write what is good or great or perfect leads to not writing," said the award-winning author and University of Alabama professor. "I am all for quantity, not quality. And the act of writing, the practice of writing is the end in itself, not the means to an end."

 

In other words "just write", there is always time to polish later.

Another good quotation which is so true. I frequently revise, and often discard what I've written and started again.

[jrm27]

Great quote! Thanks for sharing it.

 

When I sit and write, I often feel that I have nothing to write about... as if portions of my life aren't worthy of writing about. Then I remember this quote fro Rilke, which has inspired me to enjoy writing about the things which might be considered "dull."

 

"If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches; for the Creator, there is no poverty." - Ranier Maria Rilke - Letters To A Young Poet

[Paddler]

I have a friend who is an editor for a newspaper. He once told me, "A good writer can make a story out of anything."

 

[dcwaites]

I would do this when I was a practising programmer.

I would start off, not having a clue how to start, so I would just start an extended comments block, beginning with something like

"I want to write a program to analyse xyz.

I will need to take input data from this source.

I will need to transform that data using .... "

and so on till I had told myself what I wanted to do, what I wanted to do it to, and how.

Then I could start coding.

[hermanlab]

When I was in my early 20's the editor of an international magazine asked me to write a column for him. I had never done that before and protested that I didn't even know what to write about. He said that some of Hemingway's very best writing was his letters to his editors, in which he offered lengthy and elaborate explanations as to why he wouldn't be meeting his deadlines.

 

In my opinion Hemingway was a true word alchemist. He could take a double hand full of thin air, blow on it twice - then hold it carefully to his ear and wink before saying: "There! I can hear its heart beating. I think we have a story now..."

[Pickwick]

When I was in my early 20's the editor of an international magazine asked me to write a column for him. I had never done that before and protested that I didn't even know what to write about. He said that some of Hemingway's very best writing was his letters to his editors, in which he offered lengthy and elaborate explanations as to why he wouldn't be meeting his deadlines.

 

In my opinion Hemingway was a true word alchemist. He could take a double hand full of thin air, blow on it twice - then hold it carefully to his ear and wink before saying: "There! I can hear its heart beating. I think we have a story now..."

There is a collection of Hemingway's stories written as a journalist for the Toronto Star from 1920 thru 1924. It's entitled "Dateline Toronto". You're right, He had the ability to put his observations into words which conveyed the atmosphere and thinking of that decade. He did say his goal was to report objectively and not fall into the trap of giving his own personal opinions, in order for the reader to draw their own conclusions.