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If he were alive today, would Ernest Hemingway be great at writing Tweets?
I like to think that he would. After all, he is attributed with writing the famous 6-word novel: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn” (though his authorship of the story is speculation).
We’ve all been assigned one or more Ernest Hemingway novels in school. It is there we were introduced to his minimalist style of writing, known as the ‘iceberg theory’ of writing. The iceberg theory, or theory of omission, can be summed up with the following quote (which I share with my students) from Death in the Afternoon:
“If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of the iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water.”
Hemingway, there’s an app for that:
My Writing Across Platforms class (syllabus) teaches students to write news releases, for social media, content marketing blogging, and white papers. As stated in my Spring 2015 overview of the course, it is my goal to help my students focus on writing concise, specific, clear, powerful text across their assignments.
Enter, the HemingwayApp. This free online tool helps “make your writing bold and clear” (There is a paid desktop version, too). The app is easy to use.
Type or paste your text into the website and click “edit.”
The app highlights the following:
- Wordy or convoluted writing.
- Unnecessary adverbs
- Unnecessarily complex terms
- Passive voice
A readability score is assigned based on the above. The app assigns a readability score (thanks Hemingway app!)
The app is great. You can see the improvements to your score based on changes you’ve made, allowing for quick feedback and improvement throughout the writing and editing process.
How I’m using The App and emphasizing concise communication:
In my writing class, I talk on the first day about the power and importance of each word. I use a blind date or another situation where first impressions count. I have students write the first 2 sentences they’d say in the situation, providing a specific goal they want to achieve – e.g., make a positive first impression to set the tone for the date. This fun exercise gets them thinking about goal-driven writing and what all they need to communicate – overt and subtle – with only a handful of words.
We then discuss how this applies to other forms of writing – from news releases to Tweets – where first impressions mean everything and failure to grab attention means failure, every word counts.
I have students write 3-4 sentences about where they’d go if they had a car full of gas, but no money.
Then, I provide a quote that we discuss including writing tips to achieve this:
The quote (from the Elements of Style – a great read) is: “If your every sentence admits a doubt, your writing will lack authority.”
Tips, derived largely from Elements of Style, include:
- Active Voice – subject performs action.
- Rewrite/reorganize whenever possible to convey the message with fewer words.
- “ought to” = “should”; “It would be good if you” or “I was wondering” = “Will you”
- Clarify the vague .
- Replace adjectives with precise verbs.
- Specific examples should replace vague or unspecific nouns.
- Replace vague pronouns.
- Remove NEGATIVE writing – when they say ‘not’ put it into the positive.
- Example: “Not good.” replace with “bad”; “not present” replace with “absent”
Students switch their writing with a partner. Their goal is to use the writing tips I provide to remove any unnecessary word and strengthen sentences. We talk about how much they were able to cut from their partner’s writing. (Note: Sometimes they cut too much – which ties to the Hemingway quote below, and can be discussed with the quote).
In a follow-up class, I introduce the Iceberg theory and we chat a little about Hemingway’s style, as most students have read his work. I provide the quote above, and point out the below part of the quote I omitted when I first introduced the quote above, and we discuss this critical point and the trouble of knowing what to omit, from the exercise above:
“The writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing.”
After this, I have students implement the Hemingway App in their writing exercises in class. I provide strict word limits, such as for a news release exercise we did in class last Tuesday.
So far, we’ve just started using the app. And already I see students tinkering to strengthen their writing. It is my sense that the app will be a great help as they move along, so long as they commit to using it.
I plan to continue to remind them of the goal for concise, clear, powerful writing with new angles or tips during writing exercises throughout the semester.
I plan to continue to use the app for my own writing, too. I tell my students that becoming a great writer is a lifelong journey we all must be on.
Have you used the Hemingway app to teach writing? How have you found it? What tips do you have?
Fiction Aside:
So what’s my favorite Hemingway novel? If you’ve read my bio, you know I prefer Fitzgerald (a great book on their friendship turned sour is Hemingway vs. Fitzgerald). But I loved the autobiographical A Moveable Feast – perhaps because there is a section on his adventures with Fitzgerald! 😛
What’s your favorite Hemingway story?