Understanding Hemingway

“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.” - Hemingway

I never enjoyed Hemingway, never even gave him a chance, but somehow I know it's time to revisit his works.

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My time at the newspapers trained me to write straight to the point. KISS. Keep it short and sweet. It was a skillset I learned.

But still, in the dark of the night, on my own, my mind favoured convoluted sentences. In conversations, with others, my words were a maze, bewildering to the one who was really trying to listen.

I've since realised that someone hides behind words when they don’t know who they are, when they don’t know what they truly want to say, when they cannot even admit all of this to themselves.

Today, I think a clear thought and I write it down. One word after the other. Each word owns the space it takes. 

Write what you know, they say. 

I no longer believe a writer has to experience everything to write about it well. 

Now, I know all a writer needs to do is find their voice. 

When you know what you have to say, everything you write is what you know.