On Writing Like Hemingway

Post date: Oct 26, 2015 4:50:32 PM

I've been thinking recently about Ernest Hemingway. Mostly due to my writing (obviously). Once, in college, a professor reprimanded me for writing too Hemingway-esque. Which, I took to mean succinctly. I, honestly, felt it was a compliment. Who doesn't want to get to the point? I suppose it just wasn't the best approach when writing research papers...

Recently, I've begun to wonder, however, if I leave out too much in my stories. Details are rich and vivid in my mind, but don't always make it to the page. Yes, some do, but not all. I fear bogging down the pacing and boring the reader.

I mean, sure I could relate each scene to all the five senses every time I introduce a character to a new place; after all, that's how we experience things. But, I believe it's better to unfurl a space over time and let the scene tell me when each sense needs to come in...or maybe that's too ethereal and weird.

Who knows?

Probably a publisher or agent out there will let me know (by way of rejection).

I can only write and revise until my fingers bleed, and continue long after my bones wear away and my fingers are nubs while chasing that elusive unicorn, the best-seller.