Best Hemingway Quotes On Writing that Are Actually His
When searching online for the best Ernest Hemingway quotes, I was astounded to find how many quotes typically attributed to Hemingway are actually not his at all. Some of my favorites, even, it turns out aren’t his.
I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me that Ernest Hemingway is one of the most misquoted writers on the internet. After all, he was larger than life. Despite his public image as a big game hunter, adventurer, fisherman, and war correspondent, however, it’s easy to forget what Hemingway was before he was all of those things – a writer.
While he may not have been disciplined in everything that he did Hemingway was an incredibly disciplined writer. It’s his quotes on writing that standout to me the most, and many of them could be the official motto of this website. Here are some of his best – and these are ACTUALLY Hemingway quotes (we did the research).
Best Ernest Hemingway Quotes on Writing
Ernest Hemingway on When to Stop Writing
“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. But if you think about it consciously or worry about it you will kill it and your brain will be tired before you start” – By-Line: Ernest Hemingway
Of all his quotes, this is the one I think about most often. I’ve seen this one misquoted online, but I think the direct quote from the source says it best. Despite what you see in the movies, people lost in “flow” or a creative mood writing and writing through the night, this is perhaps the worst thing you can do to yourself. It will mentally drain you and not set you up for the marathon that any writing project is.
Hemingway on Cowardice in Writing
“Once you are into the novel, it is cowardly to worry about whether you can go on the next day as to worry about having to go into inevitable action. You have to go on. So there is no sense to worry.” – By-Line: Ernest Hemingway
Writing is a scary, tough profession. That holds true wether you are a novelist or a content writer. I think there is a fear at the heart of every writer that somehow the ability to do it will one day just abandon you. Hemingway understood that. And his way of handling it the right way – just don’t worry about it.
As a writer, your job is to write. So it doesn’t matter really whether you “think” you can or not. You just have to.
Hemingway on Early Drafts
“After writing a story I was always empty and both sad and happy, as though I had made love, and I was sure this was a very good story although I would not know truly how good until I read it over the next day.” – A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway
Writing is draining, no matter what you’re writing. It involves the full interaction of your entire mind. But you don’t always get it right on the first draft. Hemingway’s insight here is priceless, especially in the world of instant publishing that we live in.
When you finish writing that blog post or social media post, you’re best off leaving it for the next day. You will save yourself from writing a lot of bad pieces if you do this.
Hemingway on Taking Feedback
“He started to talk about my writing and I stopped listening. It made me feel sick for people to talk about my writing to my face…” – A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway
This is a very funny one to me. In reality, we can pretend as much as we want to be “profesional” – but any writer who is a good writer is personally invested in his/her writing. Hemingway understood this, and expresses it in a very Hemingwayesque manner.
Hemingway on the the Essence of Talent in Writing
“His talent was as natural as the pattern that was made by the dust of a butterfly’s wings. At one time he understood it no more than the butterfly did and he did not know when it was brushed or marred. Later he became conscious of his damaged wings and of their construction and he learned to think and could not fly any more because the love of flight was gone and he could only remember when it had been effortless.” – A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway
Here, Hemingway is touching on the ultimate reality and ungraspable thing that makes one writer great, and another simply good. It’s akin to something in nature that’s perfect. You don’t wonder why its perfect, you don’t see how it is made. It is perfect because it just is.
