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Ernest Hemingway’s brutal letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald on h

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Honey69
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07 Jun 2025, 9:09 pm

Ernest Hemingway’s brutal letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald on how to write better

https://medium.com/@mentalgarden/ernest ... f5870be3b2


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Kraichgauer
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07 Jun 2025, 10:39 pm

I can appreciate what Hemingway was telling Fitzgerald. Still, I've always thought Hemingway was an ass, just the same.


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kokopelli
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08 Jun 2025, 2:49 am

One interesting thing to me is that much of the advice also applies to writing computer code. Years ago, I was much better about getting the code written even if it weren't perfect. Then I worked at a place with thirty or forty coders and the general practice was to try to get it perfect. People would take good code and rewrite it over and over.

Quote:
“I write one page of masterpiece to ninety pages of s**t.” — Ernest Hemingway

You can’t get more direct than that.

Hemingway knew (from years of experience) that the genius who only produces gold is a myth. He made that very clear to his friend Fitzgerald, who was hesitant to write because he felt insecure when his work didn’t meet the standards he expected.

Fitzgerald was caught in what I call “the perfection trap.”



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08 Jun 2025, 3:33 am

It's funny isn't it? I don't read any of that as brutal at all. It's pure love and honesty. Hemmingway could undoubtedly be unpleasant but you can feel the love and respect he has for Fitzgerald in those words.


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