Business Book Review: Ernest Hemingway on Writing by Larry W. Phillips
Carefully curated lessons from one of the most influential writers of the last century. A gift to the next generation of writers.
My Rating: ★★★
Length: 122 Pages
Publisher: Scribner
Released: 2002
Key Takeaway for Personal Branding
Hemingway famously conveyed that some writers are born simply to help another writer write just one sentence. As one of the most influential writers of the last century, he achieved much more than that. But the Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winner left several clues for the next generation. To learn from his remarkable life. And the challenges and triumphs that come with the life of a creator.
Larry W. Phillips’ Ernest Hemingway on Writing explores all corners of Hemingway’s words. He curates Hemingway's guide for other creators. A unique chance to learn from a giant who went before us.
As the content curator of your own personal brand, there are several key takeaways.
Write for these two people
Hemingway reminds you to write for two people:
Write for yourself.
Write for whom you love (whether they can read it or not or are alive or dead).
Content creation takes resilience. At times you wonder if anyone actually cares about what you have to say. Hemingway reminds us that these two most important people do.
Stop while you’re going good
Hemingway’s secret to maintaining momentum is to stop while you know what’s coming next. So you know what tomorrow’s writing can entail. Working on it subconsciously in the meantime, you won’t have to face the dreaded blank page.
Write one true sentence
You may try to write the perfect opening but it will likely be thrown out. Instead, begin with the truest sentence you have ever known. And let everything else flow from there.
Favourite Quotes
Some writers, as Hemingway said in Green Hills of Africa, are born only to help another writer to write one sentence.
Every novel which is truly written contributes to the total knowledge which is there at the disposal of the next writer who comes.
I believe that basically you write for two people; yourself to try to make it absolutely perfect; or if not that then wonderful. Then you write for who you love whether she can read or write or not and whether she is alive or dead.
All stories, if continued far enough, end in death, and he is no true-story teller who would keep that from you.
Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.
Always stop while you are going good and don’t think about it or worry about it until you start to write the next day. That way your subconscious will work on it all the time.
When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature.
Phillips has such obvious admiration for Hemingway. This book is clearly a labour of love. So, learning more about his unique interpretation would have been an interesting addition. But, it’s perhaps out of his deep respect for the great writer that he allows the words to speak for themselves. And leaves the reader to draw their own conclusions.
Ernest Hemingway on Writing is meticulously curated. From the mind of one of the most significant writers of our time, it’s a gift to the next generation of writers.
Ernest Hemingway on Writing by Larry W. Phillips: Available on Amazon.
