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writers on writing: "a five finger exercise"
220 sats \ 1 comment \ @unschooled 30 Jul the_stacker_muse
"Watch what happens today. If we get into a fish see exact it is that everyone does. If you get a kick out of it while he is jumping remember back until you see exactly what the action was that gave you that emotion. Whether it was the rising of the line from the water and the way it tightened like a fiddle string until drops started from it, or the way he smashed and threw water when he jumped. Remember what the noises were and what was said. Find what gave you the emotion, what the action was that gave you the excitement. Then write it down making it clear so the reader will see it too and have the same feeling you had. Thatʼs a five finger exercise.”
--Ernest Hemingway "Monologue to the Maestro: A High Seas Letter"
he certainly had a knack for peeling away all the needless veneer and showing us what had substance. take it or leave it, this was his advice.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @unschooled OP 30 Jul
Mice (undeterred): Tell me some more about the mechanics of writing.
Y.C.: What do you mean? Like pencil or typewriter? For chrissake.
Mice: Yes.
Y.C.: Listen. When you start to write you get all the kick and the reader gets none. So you might as well use a typewriter because it is that much easier and you enjoy it that much more. After you learn to write your whole object is to convey everything, every sensation, sight, feeling, place and emotion to the reader. To do this you have to work over what you write. If you write with a pencil you get three different sights at it to see if the reader is getting what you wanted him to. First when you read it over; then when it is typed you get another chance to improve it, and again in the proof. Writing it first in pencil gives you one-third more chance to improve it. That is .333 which is a damned good average for a hitter. It also keeps it fluid longer so that you can better it easier.
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