Hemingway’s 4 rules for writing well
Simple genius
That’s the best way to describe the writing style of Ernest Hemingway.
Some writers love to fill their prose with flowery adjectives or complex descriptions that run on and on, but not old Ernie. He wrote simply and clearly, and reading him is like eating a meal of meat and potatoes that tastes better than anything you could order at a five-star restaurant.
A key moment in Hemingway’s development into one of the great American writers came in 1917. Then a fresh-faced reporter at the Kansas City Star, Hemingway was taught four basic rules of writing that he would carry with him the rest of his life.
Because the list of rules is so short and yet so insightful, it’s a must-read for anyone interested in writing effectively:
1. USE SHORT SENTENCES
Short sentences are easier to digest. They make it easier to follow each point of an argument or story.
Your job as a writer — or editor — is to make life easy for your audience. Forcing the reader to navigate through a bunch of long, complex sentences is like forcing him/her to hack through the jungle with a machete. Create a nice, tidy path with plenty of short sentences.
2. USE SHORT FIRST PARAGRAPHS
See opening of this post.
3. USE VIGOROUS ENGLISH
Copywriter David Garfinkel describes it like this:
“It’s muscular, forceful (writing). Vigorous English comes from passion, focus and intention.”
This rule is really a reminder to do your homework and fully understand what you are writing about. It is impossible to write with “passion, focus and intention” without having a real grasp of the subject.
In most cases, if you’ve done your homework, you will write with authority and vigor.
4. BE POSITIVE, NOT NEGATIVE
Basically, “be positive” means you should say what something is rather than what it isn’t.
– Instead of saying something is “inexpensive,” say it is “affordable.”
– Instead of describing something as “unclear,” say it is “confusing.”
This might seem like a small point, but it’s actually quite important. Being “positive” makes your writing more direct. Whether they realize it or not, readers are turned off by “roundabout writing.”
So, there you have it: eminently practical writing tips from one of the masters — or more accurately, from the Kansas City Star.
“Those were the best rules I ever learned for the business of writing,” Hemingway said in 1940. “I’ve never forgotten them. No man with any talent, who feels and writes truly about the thing he is trying to say, can fail to write well if he abides with them.”
Robert McKee’s 5 Tips for Writing Great Stories
1 Characters must be complex
The storytelling and the character complexity go hand in hand but you can’t have great storytelling of that kind unless the characters are complex because if the characters are not complex then the storytelling becomes repetitious.
MovieScope: “Robert McKee on the Golden Age of Television”
2 Creativity means making choices.
The essence of creativity is choice-making — you want your mind as open as possible, generating 10, 20, 30 different ways to write the same scene so that you can go through all of those couple of dozen variations thinking…in order to get really great choices you have to have a lot of voices.
MovieScope: “Robert McKee on the Golden Age of Television”
3 Avoid cliché.
But the great writers only concentrate on the relationship between them and their audience and they want to express their knowledge of life uniquely. They don’t have to resort to difference for the sake of difference, and a lot of bad filmmakers do. Look at long-form television. We’re witnessing some of the greatest writing ever in America. And these people who are writing these great series are not looking over their shoulder. They are out there exploring and doing things. A hundred hours of drama, doing things that no one has ever attempted before… The complexity of character in these great long-form series is infinitely greater than anything that was ever done in film, ever.
LA Screenwriter: “Hamlet, Mad Men, and Universals in Storytelling: An Interview with Robert McKee”
4 Don’t bore the audience: Hook, hold, reward.
You have to hook them, hold them, and reward them with a meaningful emotional experience of whatever kind. And that is the obligation. Hook them, hold them, and reward them for their money, the two hours of life that they gave you, and that’s true no matter what you are writing–comedy, drama, and everything in between.
ScreenCraft: “Exclusive One-on-One with Robert Mckee”
5 Story is expression, not reinvention.
Stories are metaphors for life. And until life changes in some profound way, storytelling will be storytelling will be storytelling forever. And every time somebody thinks that some anti-structure or minimalism or technology or special effects is going to change the fundamental way we tell stories, they’re blind, they just don’t get it, they don’t understand… The real problem is not reinventing. The real problem is expressing what’s already there.
MovieScope: “Robert McKee on the Golden Age of Television”
Ten tips for better writing
1. Prune.
Don’t write “He was very happy” when you can write “He was happy.” You think the word “very” adds something. It doesn’t.
“The goal isn’t to reduce the time it takes to read from beginning to end, but to reduce the friction it takes to read from one sentence to the next. That friction, not how far away the end looks, is what makes a reader drift away; if each sentence compels you to read the next one, you’ll read a 300,000-word novel. Words are what create friction, much as air does. You can’t breath without air and you can’t write without words, but too much of either slows you down.
2. If you can, always use the shorter, simpler word.
– Help rather than facilitate
– Use rather than utilize
– Start rather than commence
Scott Adams says A good argument in 5 sentences will sway more people than a brilliant argument in 100 sentences will.
3. Use inclusive language.
This applies to gender and pronouns, but also idioms, acronyms, and jargon. Language should invite people in, not leave people out.
Jargon and acronyms can exclude people who may not have specializes knowledge. Many idioms (sayings like call a spade a spade) do not translate well from one country to another.
4. Own your words.
Good writing doesn’t hedge. Phrases like “I think” or “maybe” soften your impact.
Edit down to the very essence. It’s creative and helps keeps readers’ attention and interest.
5. Write short declarative sentences.
When I was a budding journalist, I asked
CaseyNewton for the best piece of writing advice, he had ever received. Without skipping a beat, this is what he said.
Every time you write “and,” ask yourself whether you can put a period instead.
6. The goal of the first sentence is to get people to read the second.
We’ve all heard the importance of a hook. But this logic extends to the entire piece.
7. Create conflict.
The simplest definition of a story is a person with a problem. Without a problem, there is no story.
8. The key to great writing is shitty first drafts.
Good writing is 80% editing and 20% deciding what to say. Get the draft done.
Love this HarryGuinness quote: “Writing offers us one of the rare chances in life at a do-over: to get it right and say what we meant this time.”
9. Know what your next sentence is going to be before you stop writing.
This is my favourite nugget in the set. Writing is about momentum. One of the best things you can do to keep your momentum going on a long-term project is to leave yourself on a cliffhanger.
10. People don’t care about you; they care about themselves.
Cynical, sure. But the number 1 thing you can do before you start writing anything is to ask yourself: Who are my readers and what do they care about? That’s the million-dollar question.
Some wolf wisdom…..
Do NOT corner something meaner than you!
Every trail has a few puddles along the way.
Native American Story
A Native American grandfather was talking to his grandson about how he felt. He said, “I feel as if I have two wolves fighting in my heart. One wolf is the vengeful, angry, violent one. The other wolf is the loving, compassionate one.”
The grandson asked him, “Which wolf will win the fight in your heart?”
The grandfather answered: “The one I feed.”
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Never was so much owed to so few by so many
Without these little single-engined planes, the world would be a very different place. The Supermarine Spitfire (left) along with the Hawker Hurricane helped win the Battle Of Britain and changed the course of WWII.
Hope quotes
Even darkness must pass. J.R.R. Tolkien
Keep a little fire burning; however small, however hidden. Cormac McCarthy
Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without words and never stops at all. Emily Dickinson
All human wisdom is contained in these two words: wait and hope. Alexandre Dumas
I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains. Anne Frank
You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming. Pablo Neruda
Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. Helen Keller
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Favourite quotes
No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. Aesop
Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that crushed it. Mark Twain
The greatest fear dogs know is the fear that you will not come back when you go out the door without them. Stanley Coren
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Attribution: – Photos of wolves courtesy of www.All-About-Wolves.com