Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Hemingway's Best Guide on Writing


I was reading Paul Johnson's Intellectuals this evening -- a NY Times Bestseller from 1988, described as "A fascinating portrait about the minds that have shaped the modern world.... intriguing series of case studies [on], Rousseau, Shelley, Marx, Ibsen, Tolstoy, Hemingway, Bertrand Russell, Brecht, Sartre, Edmund Wilson..." -- and I came across this interesting bit of information. "....Hemingway had had the advantage of an excellent training on the Kansas City Star. Its successive editors had compiled a house-style book of 110 rules designed to force reporters to use plain, simple, direct and cliche-free English, and these rules were strictly enforced. Hemingway later called them 'the best rules I ever learned in the business of writing.'"  I found the rules after a short search...here's an excerpt:


  • Use short sentences. Use short first paragraphs. Use vigorous English. Be positive, not negative.
  • Never use old slang. Slang to be enjoyable must be fresh.
  • Eliminate every superfluous word as "Funeral services will be at 2 o'clock Tuesday," not "Thefuneral services will be held at the hour of 2 o'clock on Tuesday." He said is better than he said in the course of conversation.
  • Be careful of the word also. It usually modifies the word it follows closest. "He, also, went" means "He, too, went." "He went also" means he went in addition to taking some other action.
  • Be careful of the word "only". "He only had $10," means he alone was the possessor of such wealth; "He had only $10," means the ten was all the cash he possessed.
  • Avoid the use of adjectives, especially such extravagant ones as splendid, gorgeous, grand, magnificent, etc.
  • Say "She was born in Ireland and came to Jackson County in 1874," not "but came to Jackson County." She didn't come here to make amends for being born in Ireland. This is common abuse of the conjunction.
  • Don't say "He had his leg cut off in an accident." He wouldn't have had it done for anything.
  • "He suffered a broken leg in a fall," not "he broke his leg in a fall." He didn't break the leg, the fall did. Say a leg, not his leg, because presumably the man has two legs.
  • In writing of animals, use the neuter gender except when you are writing of a pet that has a name.
  • A long quotation without introducing the speaker makes a poor lead especially and is bad at any time. Break into the quotation as soon as you can, thus: "I should prefer," the speaker said, "to let the reader know who I am as soon as possible."
  • Try to preserve the atmosphere of the speech in your quotation. For instance, in quoting a child, do not let him say "Inadvertently, I picked up the stone and threw it."
  • Such words as "tots," 'urchins," "mites of humanity" are not to be used in writing of children. In such cases, where "kid" conveys the proper shading and fits the story, it is permissible.
  • He died of heart disease, not heart failure--everybody dies of "heart failure."
  • Resolutions are adopted, not passed. Bills are passed and laws are enacted. The house or senate passed a bill; congress or the legislature enacted a law.
  • Both simplicity and good taste suggest house rather than residence, and lives rather thanresides.
  • A Woman of the Name of Mary Jones--Disrespect is attached to the individual in such cases. Avoid it. Never use it even in referring to street walkers.


Here's the original style sheet, although hard to read, from the KC Star.

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