Hemingway’s writing style is widely admired. But what makes it so good?
This article covers:
A statistical fact on the readability of Hemingway’s writing
Why you shouldn’t shorten every sentence
Another statistical fact: Use fewer -ly words
How to follow Hemingway’s style in business writing
The secret of writing like Hemingway
Write like Hemingway
Can business writers learn from Hemingway?
The idea may seem crazy.
Hemingway was a journalist and novelist. A storyteller. He’s one of the great writers of literature. In 1953, he won the Pulitzer Prize for “The Old Man and the Sea.” In 1954, he won the Nobel Prize for literature.
Isn’t it pretentious for business writers to try learning from Hemingway?
But Hemingway takes up a special place in writing.
This Nobel Prize winner writes in such simple prose he can even entertain 10 year olds. And you and I both know, he doesn’t dumb down his texts. He shares profound wisdom using simple language. And that’s an amazing skill. Because simple writing helps engage a wider audience—young and old, educated and less educated, native and non-native speakers.
Simple language makes your content more accessible.
But how does Hemingway write so simply? And can we apply his style to business writing?
I’m clear enough in the head, he thought. Too clear. I am as clear as the stars that are my brothers.
From: “The Old Man and the Sea,” by Ernest Hemingway
A statistical fact on readability
A simple tool exists to measure how readable a text is. This tool is the Flesch-Kincaid score, and it’s available in Microsoft Word and various online tools.
The readability score uses average sentence length and the number of syllables per word to work out how simple a text is. The shorter the sentences and words, the lower the readability score. A score of 7, for instance, means the writing is suitable to 7th graders—pupils of 12 to 13 years old.
I checked the Flesch-Kincaid score for “The Old Man and the Sea” and it’s a mighty low score of 3.9. The readability score for “The Sun Also Rises” is 4.2 (as statistician Ben Blatt reports in his book “Nabokov’s Favorite Word Is Mauve”).
Think about this … Ernest Hemingway was a Nobel Prize winning author, and his books are suitable for 4th graders—pupils of 9 or 10 years old.
Why you shouldn’t shorten every sentence
Shortening your sentences may seem like an easy trick
You can use the free Hemingway App to spot your longest sentences, and simply chop them all in two.
But that would be a mistake.
Not every sentence should be short.
Hemingway writes long sentences, too:
He looked at the sky and saw the white cumulus built like friendly piles of ice cream and high above were the thin feathers of the cirrus against the high September sky.
Too many short sentences kill the rhythm of your writing, making your writing tiring to read. So, mix short and long sentences, and read your text aloud to listen how the words flow:
You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right to. Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or a calmer or more noble thing than you, brother. Come on and kill me. I do not care who kills who.
Another statistical fact: Use fewer -ly words
One more statistical fact about Hemingway’s writing style …
Statistician Ben Blatt analyzed all Hemingway’s novels, and found he uses only 80 -ly adverbs per 10,000 words.
That’s fewer than almost any other writer. The only exception Blatt found is Toni Morrison. She uses 76 -ly adverbs per 10,000 words.
Scrapping your -ly adverbs is another way to simplify your writing, and Blatt’s analysis shows that the writing greats tend to use fewer adverbs. However, it’s not a strict rule, and exceptions exist. Nobel Prize winner Sinclair Lewis, for instance, uses an average of 142 -ly adverbs per 10,000 words.
Still, Blatt concludes:
The best books—the greats of the greats—do use a lower rate of -ly adverbs. (…) an overuse of adverbs has resulted in “great” books at a far scarcer frequency.
And:
The novels that sell well in bookstores come in with 25% fewer adverbs than the average novel that amateur writers post online.
Want to remove the adverbs from your writing?
Upload your content to the Hemingway App, and it’ll tell you exactly which words are adverbs. Then, it’s up to you to decide: Keep it, change it, or delete it.
Even Hemingway uses -ly adverbs, so you don’t have to delete them all:
Slowly and conscientiously he ate all of the wedge-shaped strips of fish.
Weigh up whether a word is necessary or not. Does the meaning of a sentence change when you scrap an adverb?
How to write like Hemingway for business
Business writing tends to be full of buzzwords and gobbledygook.
But some business texts are surprisingly simple. For instance, the Dropbox team writes, at times, with simple clarity. The examples below are from the tour of their new design:
Your recent items—always within reach
Here you’ll find files, folders, and Paper docs you recently viewed.
All your files are just a click away
The Files page shows all the files and folders you have in Dropbox.
And from their About page:
What we value
We create products that are easy to use and are built on trust. When people put their files in Dropbox, they can trust they’re secure and their data is their own.
And Evernote writes straightforward user instructions:
If a thief steals a device you have Evernote installed on, they will be able to access your Evernote data as easily as your email, photos, and other applications on that device. To protect yourself against this situation, you should enable the security controls available to you in your device’s operating system. These include setting a screen or passcode lock, screensaver or auto-lock timeout, and encrypting your device’s storage.
And:
Hackers might try to lure you to log into a site that looks like Evernote, but isn’t really Evernote. We call this password-stealing attack “phishing.” Before entering your Evernote username and password into a site, be sure to verify that the URL in your browser starts with https://www.evernote.com/ or https://evernote.com.
Writing with simplicity doesn’t mean dumbing down your words. Instead, you write clearly and precisely, so your content becomes easier to read and accessible to more people.
The secret to Hemingway’s writing style
He looked across the sea and knew how alone he was now. But he could see the prisms in the deep dark water and the line stretching ahead and the strange undulation of the calm. The clouds were building up now for the trade wind and he looked ahead and saw a flight of wild ducks etching themselves against the sky over the water, then blurring, then etching again and he knew no man was ever alone on the sea.
Writing like Hemingway is about more than using short sentences and scrapping adverbs.
Hemingway makes each sentence about one tiny idea. Then he lets the next sentence build on that idea. His story unfolds in tiny, logical steps. For instance:
“I wish I had a stone for the knife,” the old man said after he had checked the lashing on the oar butt. “I should have brought a stone.” You should have brought many things, he thought. But you did not bring them, old man. Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.
Communicating in simple language is a lifelong journey
Writing clearly is an exercise in thinking deeply.
It’s about finding the essence of your idea and communicating it in simple words.
This is not just a matter of writing style.
It’s about learning.
And sharing your wisdom.
Recommended reading on Hemingway’s writing practices:
How to build a Hemingway bridge to maintain writing momentum
How to write one true sentence
6 quotes on writing from Ernest Hemingway
Awesome
Loved it.
And now I am a much better writer than yesterday.
Thanks a lot, Henneke for presenting this in a very palatable form
Vivek
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Vivek. Happy writing!
This was enriching.
I was hooked from the beginning to the ending.
Thank you. I am glad you enjoyed this 🙂
Very very engaging. Words are simple. But expressions are complex mechanism. Like fallen in love is simple but to mature it one needs to maintain a relationship with more complex mechanism. 😊
Thank you. So true. Simple writing looks easy but we don’t see how much work has gone into to achieve that simplicity just like we don’t see how hard people work at good relationships!
Hello,
I have been using the Hemingway app too. I started to fashion my writing after Hemingway. Like many do, because writing is hard. I enjoyed this blog.
Yes, Hemingway is a good writer to learn from. I’m glad you enjoyed this blog post. Happy writing, Christopher!
I always use the Hemingway app to edit my final work and yes, I am a victim of overusing adverbs. *hides* The app helps a lot.
Yes, be careful that you don’t need to delete all adverbs. It’s okay to keep some!
I admit that I haven’t read everything from Hemingway. The first book I read that was authored by Hemingway was “A Moveable Feast”. I understand it was at the end of his career, but I noticed that he really liked compound sentences. I cannot tell you how many times I read “and”, in that book. Which is ironic to me, because everyone always talks about his short sentences when discussing his prose.
I haven’t read everything from Hemingway either! This post was based on The Old Man and the Sea.
Hi Henneke,
There are many articles you write that I cannot understand.
I do not mean that you do not write well, perhaps because I am not deep enough to understand everything you convey.
Remember, I am a fan of your writing.
I will try to read this article many times to absorb well what you convey.
Your other posts are excellent.
Best regards,
Some articles are more advanced than others. It’s okay to focus on the easier articles first.
I have long been a Hemingway fan and cherish his well-written and comprehensive thoughts. Your writing models Hemingway’s brevity and precise use of language. Bravo!
What a big compliment! Thank you, Yolanda 🙂
I am really a lover of your works Henneke.
I like your passion for writing in such a highly emotional tone.
This blog post is going to help so many young writers and it will give great insight to older ones.
Thanks again Henneke
I’m glad you’re enjoying my blog, Precious. Thank you for stopping by.
Beware the Dunning-Kruger effect.
You wrote, “This Nobel prizewinner writes in such simple prose he can even entertain 10 year olds. And you and I both know, he doesn’t dumb down his texts. He shares profound wisdom using simple language. And that’s an amazing skill. Because simple writing helps engage a wider audience—young and old, educated and less educated, native and non-native speakers.”
A Nobel Prize is awarded by a committee. It is not “won”. There is no contest to enter. The recipient is deemed a Nobel Laureate not a Nobel Prize winner (and certainly not a Nobel prizewinner). The word “winner” does not appear on the home page of the official Nobel Prize website. No person can nominate himself/herself for a Nobel Prize.
You wrote, “In 1954, he won the Nobel prize for literature.”
My correction: In 1954, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
You wrote, “Ernest Hemingway was a Nobel prize winning author…”
My suggestion: If you insist on being inaccurate about winner then at least get the Nobel Prize part correct.
You wrote, “Nobel prizewinner Sinclair Lewis,”
Correction: Nobel Prize. Vide supra.
You wrote, “And you and I both know, he doesn’t dumb down his texts.”
Comment: You presuppose a considerable amount. What is the purpose of starting a sentence with a conjunction. Business writing is not idle conversation nor is it speechification.
You wrote, “(as statistician Ben Blatt reports in his book “Nabokov’s Favorite Word Is Mauve”).”
Comment: The parentheses are superfluous.
You wrote, “Ernest Hemingway was a Nobel prize winning author, and his books are suitable for 4th graders—pupils of 9 or 10 years old.
Comments: Why use a comma to separate then follow with a conjunction? The Flesch-Kincaid analyses provide a readability score not an assessment of suitability. From the Wikipedia article on “The Sun Also Rises”: “On the surface, the novel is a love story between the protagonist Jake Barnes—a man whose war wound has made him unable to have sex—and the promiscuous divorcée usually identified as Lady Brett Ashley.” I say not suitable. Readable but not suitable.
You wrote, “…to spot your longest sentences, and simply chop them all in two.”
Comment: Superfluous comma. The superfluous comma becomes trite and cliché. “, and” is used 20 times on your How to Write like Hemingway… home page. You wrote “, but” seven times.
You wrote, “Interesting how he makes the adjective habit sound even worse by using three adjectives: “a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit.”
Comments: Did you mean to refer to “adjective habit”? Are you stating that “habit” is an adjective and not a noun?
You wrote, “Yo may find the examples here…”
Comment: As a pronoun, it should be You. As an interjection, you could use a superfluous comma or cull one of the overpopulated exclamation points from elsewhere to separate “Yo” from “may”.
You wrote, “Also, it’s also a matter of style.” Also, it’s a matter of style would suffice. It’s a matter of style would suffice.
You wrote, “Sometimes, multiple adjectives work to stress a point (emoticon)
Question: Is an emoticon considered to be an acceptable substitute for standard punctuation marks in business writing?
You wrote, “that’s how we shape our voice.”
Questions: Do we all speak with and share only one voice or do we have voices?
Beware the Dunning-Kruger Effect!
In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king.
While Nobel Laureate may seem the correct phrase, more people refer to Nobel Prize winners (4.1 million Google search results) than Nobel Laureates (2.4 million Google search results), so I’ve chosen the most common and simpler term. You’re right that I should be consistent in my capitalization.
I’ve removed your critique of other comments. I appreciate all people who comment with good intentions, no matter how good or bad their English is. I value their contributions to the conversation. See also my comment policy (https://www.enchantingmarketing.com/terms-and-conditions/#commentpolicy)
I don’t think it’s a valuable use of my time to explain my other choices.
Brutal analyses (attacks) on an individual’s writing is what destroys potential writers’ futures. The Dunning-Kruger Effect is clearly exemplified here as the work is being berated with an
“illusory superiority” demonstrating “cognitive ability as greater than it is.”
Dr Niles has managed to construct the most inane, cringe-inducing comment I’ve ever read. Great work, doctor!
It’s an amazing comment, isn’t it? So much effort has been put into it.
I hope you enjoyed my post on Hemingway’s writing. 🙂
Hi.
Niles, get a personality.
Then get a job.
Thanks for uploading this comment. It’s entertaining. Your writing style is also entertaining Henneke.
PS: Funny comment.
Alex
Niles, you have done yourself no favours with this comment. King One-Eye yourself.
Is this guy Dr. Niles for real?
Thanks for one of the most uncomfortable moments i’ve ever had. Pick whatever award you want, however you want it awarded.
You won.
I don’t think it’s his real name but he does seem a tad unhappy with my writing.
I’m not in any competition 🙂
Well said. I apologize for not thanking you for your insight earlier. I got distracted, derailed.
Thanks again Henneke.
I totally understand that!
The writing simple is not easy. Coming down to simple is a sign of courage.
I am amazed, the big novelist writer, how can write simple clarity.
Memorable advice, I think.
Good luck
Yes, simplicity is hard work!
Brilliant article.
I agree wholeheartedly (oops). Simple is better. As you say it’s a great way to expand our audience.
We must be ruthless by removing superfluous words that add nothing to the content.
I’m glad you like this one, Kim! Simple writing is easier to read but harder to write. It does take effort.
What an insight! Truly one life is shorter to learn everything about writing good. Thanks Henneke for sharing this. I will surely try Hemingway App
Yes, that’s both the challenge and beauty of writing … there’s always more to learn. Enjoy!
Henneke,
Thank you for making it simple. I now understand what is required to make a good write up.
It’s about learning, I have a lot to learn from you.
Thank you, Confidence. Happy writing!
Well this was the nicest stuff so far.
Thanks.
I am glad you liked this article. Happy writing!
Mark Twain had the same advice for adjectives.
He wrote this to a student named D.W. Bowser:
“I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English—it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don’t let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in.”
And then he said:
“When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don’t mean utterly, but kill most of them—then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice.”
These are great quotes from Mark Twain. Thank you for sharing, Tim. I appreciate it!
Interesting how he makes the adjective habit sound even worse by using three adjectives: “a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit.”
Sometimes, multiple adjectives work to stress a point 🙂
Wow!
Writing like Hemingway is a daunting task. His mastery of words seems difficult but not impossible to match.
Are we ready for the challenge? I am. Are you?
~ J. Gail Norris
I agree it’s a tough challenge, especially because there’s so much wisdom in his simple words. I’ll keep trying. 😉
Thank you for stopping by, Gail. Happy writing!
This is something i keep struggling with.
The balance between simplicity and vivid writing when you’re writing a text that’s supposed to sell. Simplicity seems elegant. And i like the “no hype” type of marketing. It’s clean.
On the other hand your client is often competing with a lot of like minded businesses where vivid writing might help set it apart.
Or at least not make it feel too bland.
How do you approach these situations?
Vivid writing doesn’t need to be complicated. You can also sketch vibrant images with simple words. You may find the examples here useful: https://www.enchantingmarketing.com/vivid-language/
Also, you don’t have to write as simply as Hemingway!
Great advice. Love Hemingway.
I especially love his “The Old Man and the Sea”
We so often hear about using short sentences and scrapping adverbs. A great critique. If all sentences were short, that would be boring. Instead, we should be finding the right balance between long and short sentences.
Yes, I agree. Some of the advice in blog posts is a little too strict about short sentences and adverbs. As writers, we should always decide whether suggested changes work or not. Also, it’s also a matter of style. Not everyone has to write like Hemingway. Some writers like a few more embellishments – that’s how we shape our voice.
Thank you for stopping by again!
LOVE this!
You’re the best, Henneke.
I recommend you to all my writer friends.
Thank you, Marcella, for your lovely comment and for recommending me to all your writer friends 🙂
Thank you, Henneke. What a simple and brilliant post. Indeed, why don’t learn from the best?
I read “The Old Man and the Sea” when I was child, and I still remember feelings of admiration and delight. Mostly because of the language, simple and so visual at the same time. I think, I’m going to reread Hemingway in English soon. And, of course, I already made notes in my mind on what to remember when I write.
Thank you again.
Hi Irina, I found it such a treat to re-read “The Old Man and the Sea.” I appreciate it even more now than when I read it before. I guess it’s partly because I realize how hard it is to write so simply and yet so beautifully. There’s so much to learn from him.
Hemingway said about his own writing: “I write one page of masterpiece to ninety-one pages of shit. I try to put the shit in the wastebasket.”
Thank you for stopping by again, Irina!
Hello, Henneke!
I learned so much from this blog post. So thank you so much for sharing.
I’ve noticed that bloggers like James Clear, Darren Rowse, and Sue Dunlevie use simple language. This blog post instantaneously reminded me of these bloggers. In addition to that, I always admire your writing as well.
What I learned from this blog post is that simplicity in writing has its importance. My takeaway is that one should be open to learning new perspectives. For example, I have read that a blogger must be writing short sentences to keep the readers engaged. But today I heard the same thing in a broader perspective.
Great work, Henneke!
I’m a big fan of short sentences, but good writing includes both long and short sentences. I like how Roy Peter Clark (author and writing teacher) puts it:
“Long sentences take readers on a journey. Short ones tell the gospel truth.”
Thank you for stopping by, Hassaan. I appreciate it!
Thank you for the Hemingway quotes and such
an inspiring post. Enjoyable read as usual.
And the excellent comments too.
Such an audience you have!
I feel lucky with my commenters – they add valuable input and make my content better over time 🙂
Good to see you again, Barry!
Hi Henneke
Another brilliant post. Your posts have become compulsory reading for me. I love the way you weaved the excerpts from The Old Man and the Sea into the post. I’m going to reread the book too. A great lesson in the art of simple writing. Thank you for ‘ sharing your wisdom ‘ Henneke.
I keep re-reading and re-reading those excerpts from The Old Man and the Sea. Just love them.
Thank you for your lovely comment, Poovanesh.
Hi Henneke,
Your posts are a must read for me.
They have absolute power and punch. I have to read your posts several times just so that some of your writing skills can rub off on me.
I had one question to ask.
What books do you read?
It would be great if you could share it on your blog or even in your regular emails about them.
Even if I read one of the ten books you mention, it would add a lot of value to my writing.
Always a student of writing.
Thank you so much for your lovely comment, Amit. It’s on my list to write a post about the books I recommend for business writers. But it might be a while before I put that together.
So, here’s a list of recent fiction books I’ve enjoyed (I’m quite an eclectic reader) – in no particular order:
Plainsong, by Kent Haruf
Eventide, also by Kent Haruf
Absolute Power, by David Baldacci
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce
The Scandal, by Fredrik Backman
The Dry, by Jane Harper
Or are you more interested in non-fiction?
That’s a big list. Thank you. This will be enough to keep me busy till you come out with your post.
Only go for the books that appeal to you. It’s not home work 🙂
Enjoy!
Henneke:
Well, obviously the big lesson for me is I use the word exactly wayyyyy too much! Lol
But, seriously, I second Cathy Miller and I really love the quote Jansie added.
I also agree with you that reading writing that’s not always business-only lends great ideas and styling to consider for our own writing endeavors even for business context.
Still, you remain the queen in concise and clear biz writing and I can only aspire to join your court!
I love your posts and am amazed how consistently they speak to me. Thanks, Henneke
P.S. geez, I have an -ly problem beyond “exactly!”
Haha! Exactly is one of my problem words, too. It keeps sneaking into my writing. The other sneaky -ly adverb is totally. I have to edit these two out of each piece of writing.
It still amazes me that people like you keep reading my posts. How come I’m not boring you to death yet? I guess we all have a similar fascination for writing.
I appreciate your support, Sue-Ann.
Writing like Hemingway, especially for business purposes, what a fascinating subject, Henneke! Thank you for putting this together.
Fabulous artwork on Ernest!!
(fast heads up: did you mean “syllable” instead of “syllabus”?)
This was the first time I tried to draw a real person. It was quite a challenge. It’s not the same as drawing a cartoon character (which is way easier).
Thanks for the heads up – you’re right, and I’ve corrected it.
Good to see you again, Stan!
The Old Man and the Sea is one of my all-time favorite books. Thanks for sharing a few delicious quotes and bringing it back to mind again, and for making it more clear what makes it so good.
It’s probably on my top ten list of favorites, too. I’m curious … what else would be on your list?
Hemingway & Henneke – a match made in heaven. 🙂
You’re making me blush, Cathy!
Thank you, this post was beautiful and helpful!! <3 And I also adore Hemingway's style of writing, it's like a dance.
Yes, I love his writing style, too. I’m now binge reading his books 🙂
Brilliant post, as usual. Writing style to aspire to.
Yes, I agree – something we can all aspire, too. I’m also still learning!
Great post!
And I do agree about Hemingway App: most sentences are “too long” and “hard to read” if they are longer than 10 words, which drives me nuts! The rhythm of my text weakens when I check them with this application.
But it’s a great tool to find weak adverbs 🙂 So, everything has its pros and cons.
Thank you for sharing this article with us, Henneke!
P.S. Hemingway himself was a genius, indeed. (IMHO)
Yes, I agree with you. The Hemingway app is useful to point out adverbs (and long sentences) but it’s always up to us, as writers, to decide whether we make any changes or not.
Writing is still an art (or craft). Following the advice from apps and measuring stats doesn’t make average writing good 🙂
Thank you for stopping by, Lesley. I appreciate it!
Great article Henneke! Switching gears with Hemingway to find rhythm. If writing were design or physics, we could say.
“Simple can be harder than complex; you have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple.” ~ Steve Jobs
“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” Albert Einstein
which both come back to Occam’s Razor.
P.S. Totally unrelated, but how do you pronounce your first name Henneke?
Yes, great quotes! Simplicity is such a fascinating topic, isn’t it?
The quote I’ve been thinking of is: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” ~ Leonardo da Vinci.
On my home page you’ll find a small audio button (close to my picture) and you can listen to how you pronounce my name 🙂
Thank you for stopping by, Sean.
I am puzzled by the readability scores.
In my opinion they come from “ancient” knowledge. With current short attention span (some researchers state that it is down to 9 seconds) and falling literacy, it is a miracle that someone is still reading.
England is 22nd for literacy and 21st for numeracy out of 24 developed countries. USA is 24th…
If you are writing for Oxford graduates, it works like a miracle but for “normal” audience you really need to go low.
When I ran the 10 best monetizing blogs, they have very low readability scores consistently.
I think the attention span mainly refers to the time it takes to capture people’s attention. If you don’t capture attention within 9 seconds (some say 7 seconds), then you’ve lost your opportunity to communicate. But once you’ve captured attention, you can try to keep people’s attention for a much longer spell. Even so, a reader’s mind will always wander. According to Daniel Goleman (a science journalist) readers’ minds wander 20 – 40% of the time.
When writing for an academic or technical audience, it’s natural to use more complicated words as these are often more precise (and perhaps quicker understood) than simple words, so the readability score will be higher. But there’s no reason to make sentences complicated. Academics can also learn from Hemingway 😉
Well, I’ll be going and reading ‘The Old Man and the Sea’ again. 🙂 Excellent advice for business writers (I love how you made the connection), but any type of writer would learn a lot from this post. (Loved the adverb stats!) Every time I read one of your posts, your passion for writing shines through and inspires me!
PS Loved your image this week!
I’ve just downloaded “For Whom the Bells Toll” – I don’t think I’ve ever read that. I can’t wait to read it 🙂
I feel so lucky to have found a topic (or rather: a business) I’m passionate about. I keep learning more about writing. I learned a lot by studying Hemingway’s writing and by writing this article. It also makes me question how I write. Ben Blatt’s book has a lot more interesting stats about readability, adverbs, exclamation marks etc.
I’m glad you like the image. I took me a long time before I realized how I could draw “Write Like Hemingway.” It was a good challenge!
This piece of wisdom comes from a fresh perspective: prose. I didn’t think Hemingway could be helpful for business writing but after reading your post I realize that now I’ve been writing so much prose, writing about business is becoming quite easy. Also, I didn’t know there was an app of him too 😉
I found very helpful the summary link at the bottom – your blog is quite big by now.
Hope everything is well with you 🙂
Yes, my blog has become quite big. What surprises me is that there’s still so much left to write about! I don’t seem to run out of blog post ideas.
I think it’s “dangerous” to read only business texts as it influences how we write. Business texts tend to be too wordy, with too many flourishes. Reading Hemingway is a refreshing change.
What we read influences our writing style, so we should be choose our reading with care.
Thank you for stopping by again, Virginia. Always good to see you 🙂
The reading aloud tip struck me hard. When I do this with my next post, I’ll also record and listen to see how understandable my voice sounds inside a reader’s head. Jotted down other action steps too, Henneke. Thank you so much!
Listening to your own writing makes a huge difference. I often read my text aloud twice so I can hear and check the changes I’ve made.
Happy writing, Hena. And thank you for stopping by.
Excellent post.
I sharpen my writing on Hemingway’s whetstone.
I bought the Hemingway app, and use it for all my writing (except commenting :))
But…
You’re right. One should not sacrifice rhythm for brevity.
I love the story about what Faulkner said about Hemingway, and how the latter responded.
Hemingway said, “Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don’t know the ten-dollar words. I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use.”
One thing Hemingway didn’t see coming, was the WWW. Hence, he could not predict how important one more aspect of writing would be.
That’s where a copywriting hero of mine’s advice became a rule to live by.
Break up long text.
And because I write be the rules mentioned in this post, and follow the advice of my copywriting hero, I now write for him in a freelance capacity.
Of course, your book,”How to Write Seductive Web Copy”, added to my knowledge and understanding, so I’m thankful to you for that.
Yes, that’s a great quote from Hemingway about Faulkner. I’m reading “Hemingway on Writing” and there’s a few more interesting quotes in there. For instance:
“all bad writers are in love with the epic”
and:
“Eschew the monumental. Shun the Epic. All the guys who can paint great big pictures can paint great small ones.”
It feels like there’s a lot more to learn from Hemingway than I could fit in one post.
Thank you for adding your thoughts, Jansie. I appreciate it!
Just added that to my wishlist. Thanks!