Creativity & Inspiration

Ernest Hemingway’s posthumous novel The Garden of Eden contains a passage which perfectly describes the very essence of his writing.

“It had gone so simply and easily that he thought it was probably worthless. Be careful, he said to himself, it is all very well for you to write simply and the simpler the better. But do not start to think so damned simply. Know how complicated it is and then state it simply. Do you suppose the Grau du Roi time was all simple because you could write a little of it simply?”

Subtlety is powerful. The ability to write about or describe complex concepts, emotions, and experiences in few words is a difficult skill to master, one that not only improves the integrity of your writing, but also enhances its impact on the reader.

Hemingway called this the Iceberg Theory.

Read more ρ

If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that great writing takes chances.

Great writing does not fall in line. It does not follow rules. It does not bother with what is accepted or perceived as correct. It simply is.

Our modern standards for writing were not always the standards, anyway.

Guidelines, rules, and procedures are constantly evolving. It’s amazing how far our language, and writing specifically, has changed over the centuries. It’s foolish to assume they won’t change again.

The history of writing is defined by the writers who took their own paths.

They did not follow roads — they built them.

Read more ρ