Sunday, July 30, 2017

What Writers Say, Part 17: Ernest Hemingway on Writing with the Iceberg in Mind

Concluding this Ernest Hemingway 7-part series within a 25-part series, I could not end on a better note. Hemingway once said, "I always try to write on the principle of the iceberg. There is seven-eighths of it underwater for every part that shows. Anything you know you can eliminate and it only strengthens your iceberg."

This simple yet profound needs no explanation. Writers just need to remember if they know it, their readers likely will too, so they need not explain it. Just show, don't tell; tell what happened, not why. Your readers are as smart as you.