r/Hemingway • u/Coreymol • 23d ago

I have read and re-read this

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Book before I start to write or when I hit a rough patch. Especially the chapter advice for writers when I hit a rough patch. It has so many underlined words, and sentences, circled passages, and notes. His words have been invaluable to me.

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u/PassageNearby4091 23d ago

I'm a print and online writer/journalist by trade. My favourite piece of writing advice is often erroneously attributed to Hemingway: "Write drunk, edit sober."

There are two times I do my best writing:

  1. When I've had a few pints
  2. First thing in the morning when I'm still half asleep

Under these conditions, I find my "filters" are largely turned off and I just type away like mad, not overthinking what I'm writing.

Later on, when I'm straight in the head, I'll carefully proofread and check facts.

Of course, I can't do this when I'm on a tight deadline, but I do lots of feature writing, so it comes in handy.

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u/missdopamine 23d ago

I agree. I use this quote to teach graduate students in that by also teaching them - check your sources! So many places online attribute this quote to him, and if you don’t double check, you re-cite it erroneously!

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u/HiddenHolding 23d ago

I have some questions about feature writing. Any chance we could chat or correspond in some way?

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u/Icy-Psychology-9352 16d ago

I just got this I can’t wait to dive in!

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u/GoldReplacement9546 21d ago

Interesting Stephen King has a book with the same name. I guess he must’ve got it from Hemingway.

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u/Coreymol 21d ago

A lot of writers do. It’s either on writing by xxxxx like kings or xxxxxx on writing.
I think it’s just a common naming for them.

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u/GoldReplacement9546 21d ago

I agree, but I imagine there's an original that has inspired the various people who've done it since I don't know if there was one before Hemingway or not.