27 Writing Tips Inspired By Ernest Hemingway

Discover 27 writing tips inspired by Ernest Hemingway, and learn how his clear, powerful style can help you write stronger fiction and prose.

Ernest Hemingway was an American novelist and journalist whose clear, economical writing style transformed twentieth-century fiction. Born on 21 July 1899 (and died on 2 July 1961), he became one of the most influential writers of his generation.

His experiences as an ambulance driver during the First World War and as a journalist covering the Second World War shaped much of his fiction. Novels such as A Farewell To Arms explored the futility of war, while For Whom the Bell Tolls examined courage, loyalty, and sacrifice. He is also the author of The Sun Also Rises and The Old Man And The Sea.

Hemingway won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954. During his career, he published seven novels, six short story collections, and two works of non-fiction.

Below are 27 writing tips inspired by the book, Ernest Hemingway on Writing. They are drawn from his articles, interviews, letters, and books, and are based on Joanna Paterson‘s ’27 Secrets To Write Like Hemingway’. These are not direct quotations, but practical lessons distilled from Hemingway’s writing and approach to the craft.

27 Writing Tips Inspired By Ernest Hemingway

1. Start with the simplest things.
2. Boil it down.
3. Know what to leave out.
4. Write the tip of the ice-berg, leave the rest under the water.
5. Watch what happens today.
6. Write what you see.
7. Listen completely.
8. Write when there is something you know, and not before.
9. Look at words as if seeing them for the first time.
10. Use the most conventional punctuation you can.
11. Ditch the dictionary.
12. Distrust adjectives.
13. Learn to write a simple declarative sentence.
14. Tell a story in six words.
15. Write poetry into prose.
16. Read everything so you know what you need to beat.
17. Don’t try to beat Shakespeare.
18. Accept that writing is something you can never do as well as it can be done.
19. Go fishing in summer.
20. Don’t drink when you’re writing.
21. Finish what you start.
22. Don’t worry. You’ve written before and you will write again.
23. Forget posterity. Think only of writing truly.
24. Write as well as you can with no eye on the market.
25. Write clearly – and people will know if you are being true.
26. Just write the truest sentence that you know.
27. Remember that nobody really knows or understands the secret.

Recommended reads:

1. How To Write Like Hemingway With These 10 Easy Tips
2. Between Friends: Writing Advice From Hemingway To Fitzgerald
3. How Ernest Hemingway Changed The Writing Landscape

Source for tips: By George Journal
Source for Image: Lloyd Arnold, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

by Amanda Patterson

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